The Arthur L. Irving Institute for Energy & Society

A central tenet of the Master of Energy Transition (MET) program is that classroom learning and real-world exposure go hand in hand — through class projects and treks to meet the stakeholders shaping the energy transition. This past spring, the California career trek proved especially memorable, deepening the way MET students think about energy systems, career paths, and the complexity of the transition itself.

Career treks are a signature feature of the MET experience. Before heading to California, students had already traveled to Boston, New York, and Houston — meeting people and organizations driving the energy transition across industries and sectors. Over spring break, the cohort headed west for their final trek, spending a week traveling around San Francisco and Sacramento. Along the way, they met with renewable energy firms, a major investor-owned utility, an independent system operator, state regulators, and grassroots advocates. They toured cutting-edge research labs, sat down with energy commissioners, and shared meals with people working at the forefront of the transition.

They came back with more than business cards — new relationships, reinforced ones, and a sharper sense of where they were headed.

Prepared to Engage

One of the most striking things about the students' experience was not simply what they learned on the trek, but how well the program had prepared them to understand it.

"Because of our economics and policy classes," said Amy Fulton GR'26, "we could translate what we learned in the classroom into real-world settings. I had a lot of confidence going into conversations and understanding the energy system. Those two classes played off each other really well, tying all the threads together so that we could have higher quality conversations."

That confidence showed up throughout the week. At Pacific Gas & Electric's San Ramon Applied Technology Services Lab, students toured facilities dedicated to grid resilience, wildfire prevention, and vehicle-to-grid innovation — seeing firsthand the infrastructure challenges facing one of America's largest utilities. At the California Independent System Operator (CAISO), they observed the control room where operators manage the state's high-voltage transmission system and wholesale power markets in real time.

For Paul Kargol GR'26, visiting CAISO was a highlight. "Going to CAISO, we could see the market functions in real life," he said. "It helped translate the academic world into a real-world context, and expanded upon what we've learned in the Energy Markets & Economics class."

The Breadth of the Energy Transition

What makes the treks distinctive is their scope. During the California career trek, in just a few days, students moved across private enterprise, regulated utilities, independent grid operators, state government, university research, and grassroots organizations.

At 3Degrees, a leading renewable energy and carbon solutions firm, students had lunch with employees and Co-Founder and Chairman Dan Kalafatas '96 — who, as an Irving Institute Advisory Board Member, has been a dedicated champion for MET students. "Dan is so involved with the students," said Paul. "He's been a great help with job searches and industry questions. 3Degrees is doing great work."

Amy added that 3Degrees offered something equally valuable: a window into what a thriving, mission-driven workplace looks like. "Dan has been very intentional about who he brings on board," she reflected. "It was wonderful to see such a happy workplace."

At E3, one of the country's leading energy economics consulting firms, students met with Senior Partner Kush Patel '01, Th '02, and his team, gaining insight into how sophisticated modeling shapes decisions across the energy sector. At Halcyon, a climate tech startup, students attended a happy hour alumni mixer and spoke with CEO Bruce Falck and Chief Strategy Officer Nat Bullard. It was a reminder that the frontier of energy innovation is being built right now, by people not so different from themselves.

Then came the regulatory world. Students were welcomed into the home of California Energy Commission (CEC) Commissioner Andrew McAllister '87 — also an Irving Institute Advisory Board Member — whose residence is a showcase of high-performance, energy-efficient design. They sat down with California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) Commissioner Darcie Houck and CEC Commissioner, Vice Chair Siva Gunda. These weren't lectures. They were conversations.

"Talking with the commissioners and learning how they bring stakeholders to the table — California has made so much progress because of how they work with people to design policy," Amy observed.

For Paul, the encounter with regulators was illuminating. "Meeting with Commissioner McAllister really underscored how much policy and regulation are involved in advancing the energy transition," he said. "How critical policy is to put technology to use…you cannot put technology into practice without supporting policy or regulatory frameworks."

The trek also ventured into the research frontier, with visits to the UC Davis California Lighting Technology Center and Energy and Efficiency Institute, including its Western Cooling Efficiency Center and Smart Home. Students also spent time with 350Sacramento, a grassroots climate advocacy organization — a reminder that the energy transition is not only a technical and economic challenge, but a human and political one.

What Comes into Focus

Treks like this don't just inform students, they move them. Sometimes reinforcing what they already believed, sometimes sparking something entirely new.

Paul came to the MET program with a technical background in geoscience. "I've grown an interest in energy markets and the economics side now," he said. "I had never taken a finance class before the MET, so this has been an unexpected expansion of my interests that's developed over the course of the program." The trek propelled that growth. "The treks are the best way to get real-world insight and gain an understanding of what future careers might look like. You can only do so much in the classroom."

For Amy, the week sharpened her focus. "Andrew McAllister was very inspiring and reinforced my interest in energy policy," she said.

Both students pointed to something that can't be replicated in any syllabus: the experience of seeing the whole system at once — the utilities, the markets, the regulators, the startups, the advocates — and understanding how they interact.

Paul noted that the regulatory dimension surprised him most. Meeting the people behind the policy underscored the complexity of real-world energy systems and the importance of an interdisciplinary program like the MET.

Amy noted another theme that surfaced at nearly every organization they visited: "Data centers and the growth of AI — it came up in every conversation." The energy transition is not operating in isolation. It is intersecting with one of the most significant technological shifts of our time.

More Than a Field Trip — A Community

Some of the most lasting impacts of the California Career Trek are the hardest to quantify. The relationships formed, within the cohort and with the people they met along the way, will extend well beyond the trip itself.

Graduate school can sometimes feel like a solitary pursuit. But the treks transform the cohort into something more: a group of people who have stood in the same rooms, heard the same things, and asked hard questions together — and who have begun to build relationships with the professionals doing the work they're training to do.

The energy transition needs people who can navigate all of those worlds — private industry, utilities, policy, research, and community advocacy. The MET program, and treks like this one, are how it builds them.

We'd like to extend a heartfelt thanks to Dartmouth alumni Jordan Swett '19, T'25 and Halcyon; Dan Kalafatas '96 and 3Degrees; and California Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister '87 for going above and beyond to make this exceptional experience possible.