In celebration of American Wind Week, here’s a look at resources the Energy Department has on offer to learn about wind energy and careers.
August 6, 2018
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Want to be in the second fastest-growing job field in America? Then you’re going to be a wind turbine technician! Last year, 107,000 workers had jobs at wind energy firms in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy and Employment Report.
In celebration of American Wind Week, here’s a look at resources the Energy Department offers to teach kids, parents, teachers, and workers about wind energy and wind careers. You’re going to want to save this list & get swept away by wind power with us.
Wind Energy Basics: What is wind energy, anyway? How do we harness the wind? Read all about it from our website, where we cover wind energy research, how wind works, and resources to learn about wind energy. This animation of how a wind turbine works is not to be missed.
Wind for Schools: From kindergarten to college, students get hands-on experience in the wind industry. Colleges and Universities join Wind Application Centers and serve as project consultants to install small wind turbines at rural elementary and secondary schools. Teachers get training and classroom lessons. Since 2008 the schools’ turbines have generated 951,657 kWh of energy – enough to play video on a smartphone continuously for 136,925 years.
WINDExchange: This is your spot to learn about higher education and training programs and K-12 resources, including the Wonders of Wind teachers’ guide for K-4 and 5-8 classroom activities and a teachers’ guide for two-three weeks’ worth of content for high school students around Exploring Wind Energy.
Collegiate Wind Competition: This annual national event challenges interdisciplinary teams of undergraduate students to design solutions to complex wind energy projects. Build, design, test, run market research, develop your business, and try your hand at marketing/communications. Watch our Blades of Glory mini-documentary and you won’t want to miss out.
Wind Career Map: Convinced to join the fun? Get over to this site, where you can explore an expanding universe of wind energy occupations, and plot your next steps to get the high-quality training necessary to launch your career.
Get Inspired: One of the best ways to learn about wind energy is to learn about the people behind it. For instance, you can read our interview with Caroline Draxl, a senior researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory National Wind Technology Center. Trained in meteorology, Caroline researches weather models and how data from multiple geographic scales can be used to inform wind energy forecasts.
AnneMarie Horowitz
AnneMarie Horowitz is the Chief of Staff for the Arctic Energy Office. She joined the Arctic Energy Office in May 2023, and previously served as the Acting Communications Director until September 2023. AnneMarie has been with the Energy Department since 2010, and was previously on the digital team of the Office of Public Affairs, where she managed digital projects and internal employee communications efforts. AnneMarie was the Digital Communications Manager from March 2023 - September 2023 for the Department of Health and Human Affairs' Public Education Campaign, We Can Do This, to share information about the COVID vaccine.
AnneMarie founded two active employee resource groups at the Department of Energy: POWER (Professional Opportunities for Women in Energy Realized) and the Emerging Professionals Group. From 2015 - 2017 she served as the Special Advisor on workforce issues for Deputy Secretary of Energy Dr. Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall. She has also previously worked in the Under Secretary for Management and Performance and the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity.
AnneMarie created the STEM Rising: Women @ Energy series, featuring profiles of women from the agency who work in STEM careers. She was critical to establishing the Equality in Energy Transitions Initiative, a dual-hatted effort of the International Energy Agency and the Clean Energy Ministerial to advance the transition to a clean energy economy by engaging more women in clean energy, and is involved with the U.S. C3E Initiative as an award reviewer and communication. During the Obama Administration she was a DOE designee to the White House Council on Women and Girls. AnneMarie was a U.S. delegate to the APEC Women in the Economy Forum in 2014 in Beijing, China.
AnneMarie has a BA in Political Science from the University of Portland and a Masters of Government from Johns Hopkins University. She resides in Philadelphia.