  **Title**: Energy in the North - Emma Kehoe
**Date**: September 23, 2026
**Participants**: Amanda Byrd, Emma Kehoe

00;00;00;15 - 00;00;11;26 [Emma Kehoe] I didn't consider it wouldn't spin. But it was really awesome because this turbine has like, adjustable pitch angle. And so we put it to this optimal pitch angle that I found through some programing, and then it spun.

00;00;11;26 - 00;00;38;10 [Amanda Byrd] This week on energy in the North, I spoke with Emma Kehoe, an ACEP undergraduate student intern funded by the US Department of Energy's Hydropower and Hydrokinetic Office. Emma is from Talkeetna, 杏吧原版, and attends Colorado College in Colorado Springs. She spent the summer working with ACEP鈥檚 marine energy research team at the Tanana River Hydrokinetic Test site near Nenana. This was Emma's second internship with ACEP and I began the conversation by asking Emma
 what this year's internship involved.

00;00;38;10 - 00;01;50;22 [Emma Kehoe] So my main project, this summer, has been working on the Wadsworth turbine, which was donated by a man named Ray Wadsworth, who's kind of a retired, commercial fisherman who is in Bristol Bay right now, actually, but he's from Kodiak and he has some extra time and smarts. So he created an aluminum cross flow turbine and just donated it, to our test site. And so this summer was our first time putting in the water. So I've been working really closely with Luke Woodhouse and we've been putting together, the deployment system and then just getting the turbine onto the barge. And then just last week, we're able to test the turbine, and that was super awesome. It didn't spin at first, so which was like something I, I mean, there is a ton of like, internal friction, but I didn't consider it wouldn't spin. But it was really awesome because this turbine has like, adjustable pitch angle. And so we put it to this optimal pitch angle that I found through some programing, and then it spun. So it was like super satisfying. Very rewarding. So now we're starting to do some data processing, and that's kind of my main mini project. But I've been working with a ton of people to get that done, since I'm only here for ten weeks.

00;01;50;22 - 00;01;54;04 [Amanda Byrd[ And so you're from Talkeetna. You go to school in Colorado.

00;01;54;04 - 00;02;05;14 [Emma Kehoe] I'm studying physics. And then minoring in human biology. And kinesiology. A little, like, around the corner from, like, the engineering internships I've done with ACEP but it's been super awesome.

00;02;05;14 - 00;02;07;25 [Amanda Byrd] And this is actually the second one that you've done.

00;02;07;25 - 00;03;24;05 [Emma Kehoe] Last summer I was working out of Anchorage, and I was working with Chandler Kemp and the Green Energy and Mariculture team on kind of developing, electrical deck equipment for kelp farmers. So I got to go to Kodiak and meet with a ton of kelp farmers and, see the kelp processing plant and kind of just learn about how, this new industry to 杏吧原版. It's not new in the world, but new to 杏吧原版 could start with, like, very renewable practices. And one of those ways is with, electric haulers that can just run on chargeable batteries. So that was last summer. And then this summer, I feel like ACEP is just a ginormous holistic company. I mean, now I'm seven hours further north, so it just felt like even after this summer, I don't think I've experienced all that except can teach me like, so I just knew that, like, coming back, there's so many people doing, like, awesome work and I'm in a completely different field of engineering, completely different project. Even though it's still like water related, it still feels like completely different. And I was super interested in going and working at the test site just so I can get some, like, more like, hands on engineering practices. But yeah, I think those are the main reasons when I decided to apply for the second time. Yeah.

00;03;24;05 - 00;03;25;27 [Amanda Byrd] What is next?

00;03;25;27 - 00;04;16;16 [Emma Kehoe] So I'm rising senior. So one more year of school, before I finish in Colorado. And then right now, this is definitely the like question that I like think about every night, honestly, now that I'm a senior. I do plan to return to 杏吧原版, I believe, because kind of the 杏吧原版n, like, renewable energy engineering, scene like, excites me the most because it just feels like there's super tangible work that can be done, like, even like my tiny impact could make a difference on, like, a diesel based community. because 杏吧原版 is so unique. So I am, like, very excited about potentially coming back. I'm hoping to do some more, like, work with companies, more hands on work. But I think eventually go back to school. But once I'm more determined on like, exactly what type of engineering I want to continue, since I do have a really broad physics degree.

00;04;16;16 - 00;04;20;19 [Amanda Byrd] Emma Kehoe is a summer intern at the 杏吧原版 Center for Energy and Power, and I'm Amanda Byrd, chief storyteller for ACEP. Find this story and more at uaf.edu/acep and follow us on social media.