Past Scholarship Winners
Since 2021, YPE SF Bay Area has supported students entering the clean energy workforce, with a focus on financial need and expanding access to opportunities.
2025 Winners
The 2025 Scholarship was made possible by Sunrun.
Timothy Wiley
Undergraduate Recipient Timothy “Timmy” Wiley is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Earth Systems at Stanford University, with a focus on community-based environmental justice. A first-generation college student from Kapolei, Hawai‘i, Timmy transferred from Leeward Community College and is now a Stanford STEM Fellow. He has contributed to ecological research as a Harvard Forest Intern and is actively engaged with the Stanford Environmental Justice Working Group. His academic and extracurricular efforts are grounded in a deep commitment to uplifting underrepresented communities and advancing sustainable solutions for Hawai‘i and beyond.
Steven Liu
Master’s Recipient
Steven Liu is a masters student at Stanford University pursuing an M.S. in Management Science & Engineering. He is currently a researcher in the Yi Cui Lab, where he focuses on next-generation lithium metal batteries. Steven has held internships at Tesla and Anthro, where he contributed to battery development. He brings together deep technical expertise, entrepreneurial ambition, and policy fluency to accelerate battery innovation for grid resilience and electrified transportation. A Pittsburgh native, Steven is motivated by a personal connection to climate-driven grid failures and aims to build energy storage systems that keep communities powered through increasingly extreme weather.
2024 Winner
Britti Paudyal
Undergraduate Recipient Britti Paudyal is a senior at Minerva University in San Francisco, pursuing a degree in Biological and Environmental Solutions. Her academic journey has been marked by a focus on clean energy solutions and a commitment to addressing global climate challenges.
During her time at Minerva, Britti has gained valuable experience through internships at New Energy Risk and Activate, where she honed her skills in business development and partnerships. These experiences have equipped her with a deep understanding of scaling access to clean technologies and navigating the complex landscapes of hard tech innovation, financing, and commercialization.
Britti's global perspective is shaped by her Nepalese heritage and her immersive experiences living and studying in diverse cities such as London, Seoul, Taipei, Buenos Aires, and Hyderabad. This unique background has fueled her drive to contribute to solutions that transcend geographic, social, and economic barriers in the energy transition sector.
Her professional experience is complemented by her volunteering initiatives, including mentoring young innovators at the Earth Foundation and spearheading research symposiums at Minerva University to encourage public discourse in STEM fields. Her experiences have honed her skills in relationship-building, strategic problem-solving, and industry knowledge. Britti aims to leverage her abilities in full-time positions at companies that drive meaningful, equitable, and science-based climate action. She is particularly interested in roles where she can contribute to driving impactful, scalable solutions in climate’s renewable energy and carbon management verticals.
2023 Winners
The 2023 Scholarship was made possible by Sunrun and Ava Community Energy.
Christina Pelliccio
Scholarship sponsored by Ava Community Energy
Christina Pelliccio is a fourth-year undergraduate student at the University of California, Berkeley majoring in Society & Environment with minors in Energy & Resources and Public Policy. During the course of her academic career, she has immersed herself in the nexus of energy and environmental policy, and hopes to enter the renewable energy field post graduation.
For the past three years, Christina has worked as a Policy Assistant for the Center for Environmental Health, where she has gained experience researching federal and state legislation on energy issues, drafting bill comments, and litigating with environmental justice communities. In 2022, she worked as a Communications and Policy Intern at the Environmental and Energy Study Institute, where she helped execute the organization’s informative and acclaimed Congressional briefings, a key source of climate and energy information for policymakers in the federal government. For the past couple years, Christina has worked at Berkeley’s College of Natural Resources in the Environmental Science, Policy, and Management (ESPM) department, as well as served as Co-President for Berkeley’s chapter of Citizen’s Climate Lobby (CCL). This semester, she is conducting research for the College of Natural Resources on solar deployment in middle-income countries.
After graduating from Berkeley in December, Christina can envision herself working at an NGO, government agency, or clean energy provider. Christina is currently looking for mentorship and career opportunities with a focus on advancing crucial areas such as renewable energy deployment, climate policy, environmental law, and sustainable development. As an attorney or policy analyst, she hopes to bring a diverse skill set to the field while embracing the historical energy transition that is upon us.
Alexis Rollings
Scholarship sponsored by Sunrun
Alexis Rollings is an undergraduate student at Stanford University majoring in Earth Systems. As a student, she volunteers with the Rollings Foundation to increase food access in rural areas of South Africa and educate farmers about sustainable agricultural practices. In her hometown in Texas, she volunteers at a Dallas food pantry, transferring their ordering system online to increase food access for those with transportation issues. In her free time, Alexis loves to go to the gym, listen to podcasts, and spend time outside with friends.
Alexis is looking for mentors who can advise her on navigating the environmental law space. She is interested in studying the intersection of environmental science and public policy. As Alexis plans to have a career in environmental policy, addressing the race-based discrepancies present in current federal and local governments, she seeks a mentor with some experience in this area.
Alexis is currently searching for paid internships for Summer 2024 related to environmental policy and/or food justice in the climate space. She hopes to learn more about advocating for underrepresented groups through environmental regulation.
2022 Winners
Ria Nakahara
Undergraduate Recipient
Ria Nakahara is a second-year undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. She is double majoring in Environmental Science and Data Science. In her free time, Ria loves to run, hike, and read. Ria is actively involved with the Society of Women Engineers chapter on campus and currently serves as a Conservation Coordinator at the Housing and Dining Sustainability division of Cal Dining. Ria is a student researcher at the Sedlak Research Group, who are assessing the efficacy of constructed wetlands in filtering carcinogenic compounds from a wastewater treatment plant in the East Bay.
Ria is looking for mentors who could support her interests in the intersection between data and clean energy. As an international student, an ideal mentor for Ria would be someone who shares a similar background and/or someone willing to offer guidance on how to navigate the energy space.
Ria is currently looking for paid internships for Summer 2023 related to data science/analysis in the energy space. She is open to remote work but prefers staying in the Bay Area/California. With the YPE scholarship, Ria plans to pursue either a Master's or Ph.D in data science and climate science (or a combination of the two).
Peter Pham
Undergraduate Recipient
Peter Pham is an undergraduate student at University of California, Berkeley, majoring in Public Health and Molecular Environmental Biology with a concentration in Environmental Health. He is the son of working class immigrants and learned the value of hard work and community throughout his life. These experiences shape his motivations to serve his communities and others like it across the country.
As a student, he researches LongCOVID. He previously conducted a regional surveillance study of COVID-19, and the data was shared with public health departments to inform the public health response to the pandemic’s evolving conditions. He has worked on Pfizer’s phase 2/3 pediatric vaccine trial, which contributed to the US Food and Drug Administration granting Emergency Use Authorization for children 5-11 years of age. He has complemented his clinical research work with patient-facing experience as a medical interpreter and COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution volunteer.
Outside of medicine, Peter has served as a redistricting commissioner for his county, drawing new electoral boundaries for one of the most populous and most diverse counties in the country. He serves on citizens advisory commissions for his regional transportation and public land agencies. He engages in the youth climate movement to pass climate action at the municipal, county, and state levels, and is a board member of a youth-led nonprofit focused on empowering and organizing young people to fight climate change. He also served as an observer delegate to COP27: the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference.
In his free time, Peter enjoys baking with new recipes, going down rabbit holes on Wikipedia, and learning languages. Peter is looking for mentors who can advise on how to navigate the clean energy space and current policy issues regarding clean energy development. He hopes to build more connections to discern what role he hopes to play in the work of building clean energy.
2021 Winners
Melissa Cervantes
Undergraduate Recipient
Melissa Cervantes is a third-year undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. She is double majoring in Society & Environment and Conservation & Resource Studies. Melissa is actively involved with the Latinxs & the Environment Initiative at UC Berkeley and is currently co-lead of the Latinxs & the Environment seminar. Melissa is a student researcher with the Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program, and also produced a documentary on the Napa Valley wildfires with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment.
Melissa is looking for mentors who could help her grow intellectually and professionally. An ideal mentor for Melissa would be someone who shares a similar background or someone who is willing to offer guidance and resources on how to navigate the environmental sector. Although Melissa is a bit timid, she is not afraid to go out of her comfort zone and is always looking for ways to grow.
Melissa is also currently looking for a full-time, paid internship for Summer 2022 related to agricultural management/policy, environmental education, or fieldwork. She is open to remote work but would appreciate the opportunity to travel to new places, as she is the only one in her family with the privilege to do so. Melissa plans to obtain a Ph.D. in the future and is open to research positions and mentorship for graduate school.
Catherine (Cathy) Luo
Undergraduate Recipient
Cathy Luo is a rising junior at Stanford University studying Economics with a focus in environmental policy. With the YPE scholarship, she plans to finish a master's degree in Earth Systems from Stanford and work as an energy policy analyst after graduation. Her work is driven by a deep dedication to environmental justice as well as optimism for an equitable, sustainable world. In the future, she aspires to work on sustainable development in Southeast Asia and negotiate international climate treaties. In her free time, Cathy enjoys journaling, hiking, jogging, and trying new restaurants in the Bay (cooking is not her forte).
Cathy is seeking mentorship and opportunities to explore the clean energy space, from local renewable energy companies to international sustainable development. With previous research and academic experiences, she hopes to deepen her technical skills and apply her interdisciplinary way of thinking to advocate for tangible change in public policy.