“Energy is My Passion”

Seth Kassels ’01 brings light to people. An environmental physics major, Kassels now uses his knowledge of technical energy, physics, and economics to bring renewable-energy resources to developing countries. “Energy is my passion,” he says.

With both energy and passion, Kassels describes his work in Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. A few days after CC graduation, he moved to Ecuador to teach sixth-grade science at the Colegio Americano. As a diversion, he helped Fundacion Natura, a non-profit organization, install solar panels on the Galapagos Islands. He’s bounced between the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, and his Boulder, Colo., home — often with fiancée Stephanie Goehrig ’01 — ever since, helping communities implement sustainable living systems.

Kassels’s busy life is rooted in the Block Plan. Balancing academics with intramurals and the outdoor recreation committee, Kassels says, “taught me to stay on top of my work. The Block Plan was a perfect match for me.” For his senior project, he designed an environmental science mobile lab. With the financial support of the college and the moral and technical support of professors Sally Meyer and Val Veirs, the design became reality, and won him CC’s Distinguished Service Award in Environ-mental Science.

After living in Ecuador, Kassels started work on a master’s degree in engineering from the University of Colorado’s building systems program. Today, he is Green Empowerment’s official international representative of Ecuador, a job that often returns him to the area to work on water and energy projects. He also plans to work on several projects in the Amazon this year.

While energy is his passion, his love is for people: “It’s cool to go to these communities and know that you are part of bringing these people light.”