Behind the Scenes: What's a Typical Day Like for an Energy & Climate Analyst

Behind the Scenes: What's a Typical Day Like for an Energy & Climate Analyst?

Johnstown, PA April 24, 2024

Our remarkable and dedicated employees are constantly working to help solve our clients' toughest challenges. Their work is important, up-to-the-minute, and oftentimes fascinating.

In this "Behind the Scenes" series, we're giving you a glimpse behind the curtain of some of the varied roles that our Concurrent Technologies Corporation and Enterprise Ventures Corporation employees perform.

Lynn Porta's accomplishments at CTC and in the industry itself are impressive. If you're looking for a career in energy or the climate or you're just curious about some of the projects we're working on, keep reading!

Tell us a little about your role as an Energy and Climate Analyst.

I support a Department of the Air Force (DAF) client to develop water resilience as an enterprise, as it faces shifting energy policies and climate change. Much of what I do is either extremely site-specific or involves synthesizing information from different fields and technical areas to advise on broad approaches to policy. I also support partnership and stakeholder management for the organization, as resilience for water, climate, and energy areas are highly complex with intertwined topics, requiring cooperation and engagement from multiple parties.

What does a typical day at the office look like for you?

Some days I am almost entirely focused on background research or developing written materials to support client interests and questions. Other days, I manage small- to large-scale meetings with the client and partner or stakeholder organizations to collect their input or maintain coordination for complex event executions or program development. Many days are a mixture of both types of tasks. Internal coordination and consultation with the broader team supporting the DAF client is a part of just about every day, which helps me continually learn more about our client and the space we work in as contractor support analysts.

What are some of the challenges and rewards in your role?

Many efforts I'm involved with are highly partnership-dependent or at least greatly enhanced through partnerships with other teams, organizations outside of CTC or our client, and more. This can mean that keeping up with changing priorities and interests can be a significant task. Whether I am steering one of these partnership-based efforts, or part of one led by another team, the execution is always rewarding, especially after months or years of planning and preparation.

Tell us a little about your team collaborations.

One of the projects that I lead for our client, the Water Resilience Readiness Exercise pilot effort , is very collaborative. Within the water-focused team supporting our client, I have leaned on others with expertise in utility infrastructure and water treatment protocols to build specific materials for the exercises. I also coordinate to execute specific exercises with another DAF-supporting team, for their experience in working with individual installations, and access to key contacts through their ongoing projects. Finally, the development of the program in its early stages involved collecting input from multiple partners, requiring the building of a unique team with equities in this program to begin this effort in the first place.

Where do you envision this role over the next 5-10 years?

Honestly, I have no idea what this role could look like in 5-10 years! Water resilience, and priorities and preferences for how to achieve this, constantly evolves as do federal policies and client priorities. I imagine this role will continue to work to improve the resilience of DAF against disruptions to water supply, particularly in the face of climate impacts from severe storms and aridification. Partnership management and policy review will always be part of the job. But the field is also facing changes to how we do our work, so my crystal ball is very foggy on any given day.

Tell us something that not everyone would know about you.

I am an advocate of Victory Gardens-and I think that the 21st century Victory Garden should be employed as a tactic against climate change, to empower communities and community-building, and address our current unstable, overpriced food system. I am always open to talking about community gardens with anyone, please chat me on Teams!

I also write novels in my spare time, especially in the winter when it is too cold for me to enjoy my hiking and backpacking spots. I have published a fiction novel under a pen name.

Anything else you would like to share?

I founded a non-profit organization when I was in graduate school, the USA-operating side of the North American Youth Parliament for Water (NAYPW) . We are a regional chapter of the World Youth Parliament for Water; we advocate for the increased inclusion and consideration of youth and young professions (35 years or younger) in decision-making spaces for water resources in North America. My term as USA Co-President of the organization ends this summer, but the new leadership will take the work we have done in the Columbia River Basin and Rio Grande Basin and expand in their own priorities. I am excited to support them from the sidelines. I'm so proud of this organization and the inroads we made from 2020-2024 during my leadership term, and I will sing about it to anyone who asks.

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