Women @ Energy: Anne Ruffing

Anne Ruffing is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff in the Department of Bioenergy and Defense Technologies at Sandia National Laboratories. Anne has worked at Sandia since 2010, when she was awarded the President Harry S. Truman Fellowship in National Security Science and Engineering. In her work at Sandia, Anne applies her expertise in metabolic engineering and synthetic biology to advance energy and national security. Her research projects focus on engineering photosynthetic and heterotrophic organisms for advanced biofuel production and developing biosensors for the detection of chemicals.

I come from a family of accountants, so I suppose I’m going against my genetics by being a chemical engineer. But engineering, like accounting, is governed by logical rules. I have always been drawn to the fundamental logic of basic scientific principles and have enjoyed problem solving. I was fortunate to have opportunities in high school to engage in extracurricular STEM activities such as Science Olympiad, and as nerdy as this may sound, I attended a summer engineering camp at Michigan State University for high school students. Throughout my education, I had teachers and professors who challenged me in both STEM and non-STEM courses.

Very few people can say that their work may help to ‘save the world’ one day. Renewable energy may do just that, providing the world with a sustainable future and helping to mitigate the anthropogenic impact on the Earth. I think that’s pretty cool. My biosensor work allows me to integrate synthetic biology with other fields like optics, electronics, and chemistry. It’s exciting to have the opportunity to expand my research into new areas (like biosensors) and to work with talented scientists across a range of disciplines.

The integration of STEM into early education and development programs is key. While traditional educational subjects provide the foundation for STEM, many of the engineering and technology career paths are not accessible to students. Therefore, extracurricular opportunities such as career shadowing, career days, science and mathematics clubs, and science and engineering competitions and camps are essential for communicating these career options to women, girls, and underrepresented groups. Mentoring and community outreach programs are supported by the national labs, providing additional opportunities to encourage careers in STEM.

If you’re interested in biotechnology (or any STEM field), I have two pieces of advice: 1) get some experience and 2) find a mentor. It is very difficult to know if you’ll enjoy something unless you actually try it. For this reason alone, it is good to have some experience in a field before committing to it. As an added benefit, future employers will often be looking to hire someone with experience; even if you only have an internship, this may help to differentiate you from other applicants. During this experience, you will hopefully find a mentor. There’s a lot of truth to the saying that ‘hindsight is 20/20’. If you can get advice from an experienced mentor, you can avoid some major setbacks in pursuing your career path. This mentor may also be useful as a reference when applying for jobs in the future.

After a long day at work, I like to go for a run. It helps to relieve stress and clear my head. On the weekends, I’m usually taking my dogs for a hike in the Sandia mountains or working on home improvements. I also enjoy group activities with my lab like indoor rock climbing or attending an Isotopes baseball game.

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