Women @ Energy: Corinne Drennan

Corinne Drennan works to solve environmental problems to reduce waste and reclaim energy from otherwise abandoned materials. As sector lead of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory's (PNNL’s) bioenergy technologies programs, she builds teams that develop catalysts and processes for reclaiming energy from waste products like sewage sludge, manures, and waste gases. Before joining PNNL, Corinne was a process engineer for the manufacturing of high explosives. Corinne earned her BS in chemical engineering and her MS in chemical and environmental engineering from UC Riverside. She also earned an MBA from Washington State University.

Curiosity. It’s really that simple. I wound up as an engineer, but I didn’t plan it. Many engineers are goal-oriented and sometimes driven into STEM by parents, desire to make money, or to change the world. I started college at 21 as an English major because I’d been working in the service industry for a while and I thought it would be fun to go to college. I could pay per credit at community college, so I wasn’t limited in following my curiosity about why and how things work. I worked at night and went to class all day. I loved it. I was like a hog in heaven.

I enjoy my work because I figure out how to get things done in spite of technical, social, and bureaucratic obstacles. Overcoming these challenges is a great place to funnel my creativity. I love building teams that can examine a problem from multiple angles. There’s a tendency for science to fall into what I call a “tyranny of experts,” where a complex problem is reduced into something that’s only looked at deeply from one field of expertise. In real life nothing is as simple as a reduced problem, so we risk doing things that don’t make sense if we overspecialize.  I’m a huge advocate for multidisciplinary teams where I can bring together and motivate people with different ways of thinking about risks, problems, and ideas. Multiple perspectives elucidate all the systems at play so we can arrive at a path forward that makes sense and reduces unintended consequences. And I love to engage the culture and practitioners of what’s already happening. The people comprising and engaging systems around them have to be able to own the knowledge and have a democratic approach about any development efforts. I like being part of the solution without just imposing a solution.

Women are making tremendous contributions in more sectors than ever before. For the women that are interested in STEM, let’s nurture that curiosity. This interest can be identified very early. For example, my love of disassembling transistor radios and dissecting things in summer school could have been a clear indicator of what I would become. I wouldn’t change my meandering academic path for anything, but others might prefer a more direct route. There are two things incumbent on a scientist: communicate what you learn and mentor the next generation of scientists so that they do good work, be with grace, and train the next generation after them. This isn’t just about implementing formal programs, it’s about building relationships and developing confident practitioners. And as scientists, we need to move forward together; doors are opened by men, too. As more women come into STEM, we shouldn’t discount men and their power and responsibility to mentor and to be mentored.

One thing that a lot of scientists don’t do enough of is have different experiences. Especially outside of STEM. Learn how to do your work, but don’t underestimate the importance of getting out, experiencing more, and disconnecting instead of staring at the problem you’re trying to solve. So many advances are made when dots are connected between what seemed to be unrelated disciplines or ideas. Practice examining a problem for a while and look at it from many different perspectives before coming up with alternatives. Work toward precise research questions. This practice will make you more efficient when engaging literature and developing hypotheses. Also, cultivate a desire to have holes poked in your work before it goes out into the world. Often, arguing and difficult conversations are an important part of any advancement. It is us, as people, that actually bring the difficulty. Discussing ideas needn’t be difficult at all; rather an opportunity to stretch and exercise our creativity and precision.

I don’t have a ton of free time because I’m still in school. I earned my MBA with PNNL’s academic funding assistance. Now I’m working on a PhD in leadership for social and ecological sustainability, also with PNNL assistance. It’s a great combination of technical, nontechnical, social, and natural sciences. When I’m not studying, I love to cook—chemistry you can eat! I enjoy history and philosophy. I’m drawn to biographies and documentaries. I’m just really curious.

Learn more about our programs & resources for women and girls in STEM at /women