Marine Energy Alumni Fellows
2025 Fellows
Additional Information
Courtney Beringer
Proposed Research Topic
Exploring marine energy opportunities in Alaska through community-driven resource assessments, stakeholder engagement, grid integration studies, and field work.
Host Facility
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR) - Fairbanks, Alaska
Jason Gonsalves
Proposed Research Topic
Advancing the current state of understanding on the socioeconomic effects of marine energy internationally and to improve upon current approaches for identifying effects.
Host Facility
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Aditi Kalle
Proposed Research Topic
Optimizing marine monitoring with a Virtual Twin simulation.This project integrates measured power
profiles of AI processing hardware (Nvidia Jetson Orin) with modeled renewable resources to create highly efficient, long-term operational plans, directly supporting sustainable marine energy.
Host Facility
MarineSitu, Inc.
Michelle Kryl
Proposed Research Topic
Development of a streamlined measurement-based method for tidal energy resource assessments using short-term velocity and tidal water level data to estimate energy potential for small-scale tidal applications.
Host Facility
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) - Albuquerque, New Mexico
Julia Gionet-Gonzales
Proposed Research Topic
Development of a numerical model using open-source software to de-risk and guide the design of wave energy converter prototypes.
Host Facility
iPro Tech
Olanrewaju Muili
Proposed Research Topic
Development and experimental validation of deeply embedded anchors for floating offshore energy platforms, integrating finite-element soil–structure interaction, mooring dynamics and uncertainty-aware optimization to improve installation reliability, reduce cost, and enhance lifecycle performance.
Host Facility
Deep Anchor Solutions
Alexander Nordone
Proposed Research Topic
Analyzing changes in inorganic carbon chemistry due to Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement as a method for carbon sequestration utilized in Marine Carbon Dioxide Removal
Host Facility
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL)
Jeremy Simmons
Proposed Research Topic
Development and optimization of hydraulic power systems for marine energy converters, integrating dynamic system modeling with real-world deployment insights to accelerate technology commercialization pathways in the offshore renewable energy sector.
Host Facility
Blackfish Engineering
Vishnu Vijayasankar
Proposed Research Topic
Advancing sustainable wave energy solutions tailored to remote and tribal communities. This project integrates social, environmental, and technical perspectives to support equitable energy planning and deployment.
Host Facility
National Laboratory of the Rockies (NLR)
Olivia Vitale
Proposed Research Topic
Analysis and development of ocean-deployed wave energy converters with emphasis on generator design, data analysis, and WEC-Sim modeling.
Host Facility
Triton Systems, Inc.
2024 Fellows
Ashley Chong / Texas A&M University
Proposed Research Topic
Experimentation of wave energy devices in a wave flume and the utilization of computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and potential flow theory with WEC-Sim to model the OWC.
Host Facility
National Laboratory of the Rockies
Isabel Hess / University of Florida
Proposed Research Topic
Investigating HASEL Transducers for Underwater Energy Generation
Host Facility
National Laboratory of the Rockies
Spencer Siemer / Texas A&M University
Proposed Research Topic
Development of Cost-Effective Anchor for Floating Marine Energy Systems
Host Facility
Deep Anchor Solutions
Griffin Bourjeaurd / University of Hawaii at Manoa
Proposed Research Topic
Integrating wave energy conversion and electrochemistry is a technically and economically feasible solution to sustainably harvest the ocean’s resources.
Host Facility
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
Julia Gionet-Gonzales / Texas A&M University
Proposed Research Topic
Advancing wave energy research and exploring alternative, clean approaches to contribute energy to the grid.
Host Facility
Kelson Marine
2023 Fellows
Hannah Brachfeld / Oregon State University
Proposed Research Topic
Roles and responsibilities of the DOD (United States Navy) and DHS (United States Coast Guard) in MRE policy and planning.
Host Facility
U.S. Fleet Forces Command, Office of Fleet Installations and Environment.
Brittany Lydon / University of Washington
Proposed Research Topic
Evaluate OSWEC performance and the potential for data-driven modeling in optimal WEC control.
Host Facility
National Laboratory of the Rockies
Nicole Marone / University of New Hampshire
Proposed Research Topic
Develop FSI models for a cross-flow turbine (CFT).
Host Facility
Ocean Renewable Power Company and Sandia National Laboratories
Alexander Robinson / University of Washington
Proposed Research Topic
Develop reliable quantification methods for changes to concentration of major and trace elements in natural seawater matrix.
Host Facility
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Sequim campus
