Oriana Holmes-Price, a 2021 Rutgers–Camden political science graduate working on a master’s degree in public affairs/community development, plays a key role at Attentive Energy, a leading company in the development of offshore wind energy in New Jersey.
When Oriana Holmes-Price was an undergraduate studying political science at Rutgers University–Camden, she took advantage of opportunities to work for the campus chapter of NJPIRG, serving as the public interest group’s campus chair in addition to chair and vice chair of its statewide board. In these roles, she found her passion advocating for environmental causes that connected with her home state.
“We see the flooding that New Jersey is experiencing,” says Holmes-Price, who grew up in and lives in Burlington Township. “It’s just so apparent that we need to act on climate change.”
In her final semester in 2021, she used this experience to help land an internship with Attentive Energy, a subsidiary of the global energy company TotalEnergies, which recently won a bid to provide offshore wind energy to New Jersey in the state’s third offshore solicitation. After her internship, Holmes-Price continued on with Attentive Energy in a full-time role, and now, three years later, serves as the company’s New York-based coordinator of external affairs.
“It’s really exciting to be part of a project that is working to advance clean energy,” Holmes-Price says. “We need to have real solutions put in place to protect our state, to protect our nation, and the world as a whole. Being a part of the Attentive Energy team is a great way to address climate change by developing clean energy and retiring fossil fuels.”
In addition to the Attentive Energy Two project that was awarded on January 24 by the state of New Jersey, Attentive Energy won a bid last year to provide offshore wind energy to the state of New York. Holmes-Price’s role includes working with Attentive Energy’s External Affairs team and assisting the Permitting and Development team with stakeholder relations, preparing for and attending meetings with stakeholders in New York and New Jersey, and helping to submit state and federal documents.
Holmes-Price was part of the Attentive Energy team that visited the Rutgers–New Brunswick campus in November to connect with faculty, students, and administrators at the Rutgers School of Engineering and the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences (SEBS). These sessions included leaders of the Rutgers Offshore Wind Energy Collaborative, a universitywide initiative of faculty and researchers who work together to address the many challenges and opportunities of offshore wind energy development while building the future workforce. The collaborative combines vast areas of expertise at Rutgers including marine sciences, economics and policy, and materials and engineering.
Holmes-Price says she was impressed with the work that faculty and students are doing in offshore wind energy and is thrilled with the connection that Attentive Energy and the university are forming. “I’m super excited about this partnership and seeing other students being able to really benefit from the opportunities that the industry and our project will bring,” she says. “This will allow them to grow and thrive in something new. It’s not every day a new industry is being made.”
In addition, Holmes-Price says she is excited about the potential for Rutgers to play a role in offshore wind. “New Jersey is in a unique position to be a leader in the clean energy transition. Rutgers can really drive some of these innovative technologies to put New Jersey on the map as a leader in clean energy.”
She says it is particularly gratifying for her to connect on wind energy projects with Rutgers, which she says prepared her and helped her start her career. “I owe a lot to Rutgers for allowing me to have this opportunity,” says Holmes-Price, who is on track to graduate with a master’s in public affairs/community development from Rutgers–Camden in May.
Please visit the Attentive Energy web site to read “Offshore Wind Innovation at the Intersection of Industry and Academia” by Oriana Holmes-Price. For more information about the Rutgers Offshore Wind Energy Collaborative, visit osw.rutgers.edu.
This article was published by the Rutgers University Foundation on February 7, 2024.