By Chloé Burton, Clean-Energy Youth Engagement Officer, Atlantica Centre for Energy

I have been working in communications at the Atlantica Centre for Energy since completing my co-op placement as part of NBCC‘s Business Administration-Marketing program in May of 2021. Prior to graduation, I worked as the Digital Marketing Lead for a zero-waste skincare company. My passion for creating compelling communication and education materials, coupled with a desire to make a positive and sustainable difference to our environment, led me to pursue an impactful role in the region’s energy sector.

Some of my responsibilities include strengthening the Centre’s website, developing monthly e-newsletters (just like this one), and creating consistent and engaging social media content (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram). My main goal is to ensure that the Centre’s voice was up to date with relevant, timely and engaging energy information pertaining to Atlantic Canada and the American Northeast. I’m also involved with key activities of the Centre including Atlantic Clean Energy Alliance (ACEA) and the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance (AHA).

I was able to quench my thirst for knowledge through engaging with the Centre’s network and UNB’s Energy Fundamentals for Leaders program, and I hope my fresh perspective shows tremendous value to our energy literacy efforts. As more opportunities arose for the Atlantica Centre for Energy during the Fall of 2021, funding was sourced to support my full-time role as Clean-Energy & Youth Engagement Officer through the Clean Foundation’s Science Horizons Internship program.

This transition has enabled us to seize more opportunities on behalf of the Atlantica Centre for Energy, like our partnership with New Brunswick’s Centre of Excellence for Energy. I am leading this collaboration and fostering youth interest in the energy sector by helping connect learners with unique experiential learning opportunities and resources.

Through additional involvement with the ACEA, I developed an infographic to raise awareness of the forecasted benefits of Small Modular Reactors in New Brunswick. This resource was then used as educational material by students during an experiential learning event, Nuclear Science Week, co-organized by Atlantica Centre for Energy. Another positive initiative that I helped facilitate was the International Day of Women and Girls in Science in February 2022, influencing more females to become involved with careers in STEM.

This is an exciting time to be involved in the energy sector and I am thrilled to be part of the change happening in our region. Recently, I led the development of an interactive web map series to showcase the regions’ total energy infrastructure. This unique resource is a highlight on the Atlantica Centre for Energy website and exists for the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. These web maps have been featured in a newly released asset, Atlantic Canada’s Energy Transition, a whole catalogue of resources that I designed for Earth Day 2022.

Recently, I was recruited as a member of the Atlantic Hydrogen Alliance’s Marketing Communications Committee, after helping manage its Twitter platform and designing various visual materials for its launch in October of 2021. Now, I am enabling the Atlantica Centre for Energy to provide quality promotional materials for the upcoming aSMR Supply Chain Event.

The Atlantica Centre for Energy invites you to meet Chloé Burton, Clean-Energy Youth Engagement Officer, in person at the “Big Ideas at Play” event hosted at the Science East Science Centre in Fredericton NB on Saturday, May 14, 2022. This opportunity will be leveraged to give an overview of the many innovations happening within Atlantic Canada’s energy sector.

If you are interested in getting involved with additional youth engagement or energy literacy initiatives, please reach out to chloe.burton@atlanticaenergy.org