From electric school buses to swanky carbon credit platforms, these under 30s are using their talents and ideas to shape the future of energy.
On this year’s list is Grace Stanke, a 21-year old nuclear engineering student—and the Miss America 2023—who wants to help America transition to zero-carbon energy and thinks nuclear is an option largely overlooked in that transition. Stanke, based in Wisconsin, uses her platform to reach all ages, from curious kindergarteners to senior citizens and politicians. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin in May, and after she spends a year touring the country as Miss America and advocating for clean energy, she has a job lined up as a nuclear fuels engineer at Constellation Energy.
“I am in a career that the average age of most positions is above 40,” she says. “In the nuclear world, we don’t have a lot of young people and we need more.”