Office of Indian Energy Updates
Don’t Delay! Applications Due May 3 for Tribal Clean Energy Innovator Fellows
Increasing Access to Tribal Clean Energy Career Opportunities
 Recent and soon-to-be graduates, as well as energy professionals, can now apply to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Clean Energy Innovator Fellowship program.
Applications are due by May 3, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. ET.
Paid Fellows will spend up to two years at critical energy organizations supporting projects that will help decarbonize power systems and bolster energy resilience. Opportunities are available with Tribes, intertribal organizations, and state energy offices. Applicants can select up to five of their preferred projects during the application process.
Learn more and apply today!
Tribal Host Institutions participating in 2024 include:
- Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
- Cherokee Nation’s Office of the Secretary of Natural Resources
- Coeur d’Alene Tribe
- Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission
- Great Lakes Inter-Tribal Council, Inc.
- Knik Tribe
- Native Village of Atka
- Navajo Nation Government—Minerals Department
- Nez Perce Tribe
- RESCo–Rosebud Sioux Tribe Utility
- The Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation
- Tule River Tribal Nation.
News and Resources
Hopi Tribe Housing Project Awarded Grand Prize at Solar Decathlon 2024 Design Challenge
 The team from The University of Arizona earned the Grand Winner award in the 2024 Design Challenge. Photo by NREL
On April 22, DOE announced the University of Arizona won top honors in the 2024 Solar Decathlon Design Challenge—out of 40 finalist teams from around the world—taking home the Grand Winner trophy for their partnership with the Hopi Tribe on 24 eco-friendly rowhouses that integrate passive design techniques and a microgrid to promote energy sovereignty for the community.
The Solar Decathlon challenges the next generation of building professionals to design high-performance, low-carbon buildings powered by renewable energy, promoting student innovation, STEM education, and workforce development opportunities in the buildings industry. The Solar Decathlon’s Design Challenge is a one- to two-semester design-only competition.
Apply for 2024 Zero Energy Design Designation
 Does your institution have educational programs that teach zero-energy design best practices? If so, don’t miss out on the chance to differentiate your program by earning a 2024 Zero Energy Design Designation (ZEDD) from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
DOE recognizes programs that are best preparing the next generation’s workforce by teaching a building-science educational curriculum that showcases best practices in zero-energy design and requires a zero-energy design practicum.
“Having ZEDD has helped me as a professor to create new opportunities for students,” said Professor Nea Maloo from Howard University.
Since 2022, 39 programs of study from 26 institutions have received the three-year designation.
Learn More!
Questions? Email ZEDD@NREL.gov.
New Report Highlights Ways to Address Wind Energy Workforce Gap 👷
A new report from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory finds that, while there is likely to be a significant shortage of wind energy workers in the coming decades, impactful opportunities exist to close the wind energy workforce gap.
The National Wind Workforce Assessment: Challenges, Opportunities, and Future Needs report builds on past reports looking at the wind energy workforce gap, which found that wind energy employers had difficulty hiring both entry- and non-entry-level employees, and entry- and non-entry-level job seekers had difficulty landing jobs in wind energy-related careers.
By identifying the potential impacts that collaborative partnerships, adequate training, and other key actions can have on workforce trends, the report outlines steps that will be necessary to bridge the gap.
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DOE Awards $5 Million to Minority Serving Institutions in Support of Clean Energy Education and Workforce Development Programs
DOE announced $5 million in funding for two minority-serving universities to support the development of programs that will equip students with the skills needed to succeed in clean energy careers.
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Tennessee State University's workforce development program will serve as a pathway to STEM degrees and equip African American, Hispanic, and Native American students with the skills needed for entry-level positions in the clean energy sector. Using a virtual reality platform, the project will offer an online training certificate coupled with in-person workshops in solar energy (including design, installation, and energy storage). The course will be made available to partner institutions, which include TCUs, through a course-sharing agreement. Additionally, the project includes an entrepreneurship component, encouraging students to develop clean energy businesses to increase the number of clean energy businesses run by minorities.
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The University of Texas at El Paso aims to strategically train students and build the workforce development capacity at six Hispanic-serving institutions in Texas, New Mexico, and Puerto Rico. These institutions will develop programs to increase students' awareness of career paths in the energy industry, expand their knowledge through systematically designed curricula on power and energy, expose students to cutting-edge clean energy research, and enhance their leadership skills.
For more details on STEM diversity and workforce development work, visit the Why Clean Energy Matters page.
EnergyTech University Prize 2024 Student Winners Announced
 The student winners in the EnergyTech University Prize 2024 were announced at the prize’s National Pitch Event on April 15. Three national winners and 13 bonus prize winners were selected for their innovative business plans for bringing a DOE national laboratory-developed or other high-potential energy technology to market.
This year’s winners were chosen from a starting cohort of 225 competing teams made up of students attending 117 different schools from across the country.
Collegiate Wind Competition Seeks Next Round of Applicants
 DOE is accepting applications for the 2025 Collegiate Wind Competition, an annual competition that provides students with real-world experience in renewable energy technologies, project development, and outreach to prepare them for a potential career in wind energy. The deadline for academic teams to submit applications is June 13, 2024.
Applications Now Open for 2025 Hydropower and Marine Energy Collegiate Competitions
DOE's Water Power Technologies Office opened applications for the third annual Hydropower Collegiate Competition and sixth annual Marine Energy Collegiate Competition.
The competitions engage and educate students about real-world challenges facing these sectors and the many career opportunities in water power, with the goal of encouraging the next generation to join the hydropower and marine energy workforces.
Applications for both competitions are due May 6, 2024.
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Funding Opportunities
Stay up to date on the latest clean energy funding opportunities for tribes and tribal entities on the Office of Indian Energy Current Funding Opportunities page.
DOE Program Award for Higher Education Scholarships
Scholarships up to $20,000 annual tuition.
Applications close May 15.
The Program Award for Technical and Higher-Education, sponsored by the National Nuclear Security Administration, offers scholarships to students from Minority Serving Institutions pursuing a technical certificate, or an associate, bachelor, or graduate degree in a STEM discipline.
 Clean Energy and Manufacturing Workforce Training and Technical Assistance Awards
$24 million
Applications due May 16, 2024.
This program will establish new industrial training and assessment centers, as part of the Industrial Assessment Centers network, to train students and incumbent workers for high-quality careers in clean energy, energy efficiency, and advanced manufacturing that do not require a four-year degree.
DOE aims to support community and technical colleges (including Minority Serving Institutions); trade schools; union training programs (including labor-management training programs); apprenticeship readiness, apprenticeship and internship programs; and their employer and workforce system partners through planning awards of up to $200,000, execution awards of up to $2 million, and cohort awards of up to $7 million.
 Upskill Prize to Accelerate Expansion of U.S. Solar Manufacturing Workforce
$5 million
Submissions due May 21, 2024.
A new prize from DOE’s Solar Energy Technologies Office will support the expansion of the U.S. solar manufacturing workforce and equip workers with the skills necessary to revitalize the domestic solar manufacturing supply chain.
Competitors in the $5 million Upskill Prize for the Solar Manufacturing Workforce will propose comprehensive workforce training plans to help new and incumbent workers bring their skills up to the level needed to meet the growing demand for solar energy.
- Community colleges, trade schools, and other U.S.-based training organizations are eligible to lead prize teams.
Minority Serving Institution Partnership Program: Consortia Grant Program Funding Opportunity
$25 million
Opportunity closes June 15.
This funding opportunity from the National Nuclear Security Administration aims to award new or renewal grant awards to consortia consisting of Minority Serving Institutions and TCUs to grow the number of students that graduate with STEM degrees and enter the Nuclear Security Enterprise workforce, and to strengthen research and educational capacities of Minority Serving Institutions and TCUs.
Events
Bioenergy Research and Education Bridge (BRIDGES) Program Office Hours
📅 May 2, 16, 30; June 13 | 4–5 p.m. ET
One-on-one assistance from national laboratory experts will be available to learn how to incorporate the Bioenergy Research and Education Bridge Program case studies into your clean energy classroom curriculum.
Collegiate Wind Competition 2024 Final Event
📅 May 6–9 | Minneapolis, Minnesota
Join DOE’s Wind Energy Technology Office at the DOE Collegiate Wind Competition 2024 final event, which will be held with the American Clean Power Association’s CLEANPOWER Conference and Exhibition. Teams of college students will test their wind turbine prototypes and present their wind turbine designs, wind energy project development plans, and outreach efforts to panels of experts.
Community of Change Leaders: TCU and Nontribal Institutions Forum
📅 May 23 |12:30–1:30 p.m. ET | Virtual
The DOE Office of Energy Justice and Equity's Minority Educational Institutions Division is holding an open forum for students, faculty, and others to join and discuss ways to collaborate, ask questions, and review other opportunities.
Find more STEM events and deadlines on the DOE STEM calendar.
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