Maya Whalenkipp

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M.Awk My Engagement Last updated: 11/21/2022 Ms. Maya Whalenkipp BIPOC in ECJ Professional Information U.S. Department of Energy Ocean Renewable Energy Workforce Development lead United States Profession:   Government Area of expertise:   Climate Adaptation and Resilience Building, Conservation and Biodiversity, Energy Democracy, Gender and Climate, Labor and Workforce, Organizational Development, Policy, Science and Data, Transition from Extractive Economy Opportunity Type:   Board Membership, Fellowships, Guest Authorships, Part Time Positions, Permanent Positions, Professional Awards, Research, Scholarships, Speaking Engagements, Technical Assistance, Training/Consulting I am a full or part time freelance specialist:   Yes Specialization :   Policy Personal Information Washington District of Columbia United States Pronouns:   She/Them/Theirs Gender Identity:   woman Racial Identity:   Afro Caribbean, Afro Indigenous, BIPOC, Person of European Origin Differently Abled?:   Prefer not to disclose 2SLGBTQIA+:   Yes Additional Information Education/Experience MS Climate & Energy Policy BS Biology NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Fellow 2021 Clean Energy Leadership Fellow 2021 Current 2022-2023 NRDC Environmental Entrepreneurship Fellowship Social/Volunteer Organizations Broad member of BioGals, and DC chapter of Start out. Active member of Black Oak and Black Women in Environmental and Marine Science (BWEEMS) More Information Maya Whalen-Kipp is an environmental scientist from South Queens, NY who has been working in the intersection of decarbonization and justice for over a decade from a local and international perspective. She earned her graduate degree in Environmental Policy from Bard College where Maya refined her interests as she studied topics across environmental and climate policy focusing on coastal and fisheries conservation in small island developing nations. In partial pursuit of her research, she served as a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer in Fiji where she worked as a community health educator and developed her thesis on integrating indigenous iTaukei culture into endangered sea cucumber conservation initiatives taking into account the illegal fishing practices for international Bache-de-Mar export industry. In this experience, Maya managed program evaluation and grant funding for local projects along with coordination with local governments and funding agencies. In addition, she has conducted coastal conservation research in Mexico, New Zealand, Panama, and Cambodia. In these short-term research and development work centered around costal species conservation in coordination with local economic development and the water-energy-food nexus. In 2021, Maya was a NOAA Sea Grant Knauss Marine Policy Fellow serving at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) as an intergovernmental lesion, advocate and representative of ocean renewable energy in the formative federal marine and ocean policy space during the first year of the Biden administration. She then stayed at DOE to continue as an Oakridge National Laboratory Science Technology & Policy fellow in the Water Power Technology Offices working on marine energy commercialization initiatives and the implementation of Justice40.