This vice president helps convert clean energy into high heat to…

Canary Media Landing column highlights gender diversity and significant career moves in the climate technology sector. Have a person or event you’d like us to cover, or a hot job tip? Please let us know!

Nicole Geneau: The Swiss Army Knife of Clean Energy

Nicole Geneau is vice president of commercial development at Antora Energy. This interview has been edited and condensed for brevity.

How did you get on this career path?

I have had an environmental problem since high school. After graduation, I studied finance and accounting, but I was not satisfied. So I slowly returned to environmental issues, working on the first Global Sustainable Development Summit in Johannesburg and with companies on their corporate social responsibility strategies, and then more directly on the energy transition.

I joined Antory in November last year after becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of cost-effective and effective technological solutions for the industrial scope 1 emissions. Until Antora, there was no perfect solution for baseload steam generation in industrial production plants other than burning natural gas. I have been working on fleet electrification in the transportation space, but after some deep research I found that industrial emissions is another undervalued sector where there are few commercially available technologies. Then I discovered Antora.

I met ours CEO, Andrew Ponec, and we clicked immediately. I joined as vice president commercial development, jack-of-all-trade role. I believe that being a Swiss Army Knife is valuable because it can be applied to a variety of situations, challenges and opportunities. I am currently working on everything the company needs to implement our technology in facilities and ensure their commerciality and functionality.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?

“Get to the point.” As a Canadian, I feel the need to explain and give a history lesson before I ask for something. One of my bosses told me to stop and said: ​“I don’t need a history lesson. I just need a point. What do you want?” This advice appeared 15 years ago and I still think about it. It defines the way I communicate and I find it very effective.

What barrier did you face and how did you overcome it?

I think this issue has to do with the broader challenges that women face in society STEM flap. Early in my career, when I joined the industry doing actual development, there was skepticism about whether a woman could lead, go to community meetings, interact with engineers and landowners.

It was just about 15 Years ago. It was a huge barrier to overcome. The roles that were deemed more suitable for women included legal or marketing positions, which are very valuable, but the satisfaction I gained over the course of my career being a person working in the field, negotiating with landowners and actually building was enormous.

I believe we need to continue to invest STEM programs and mentoring for young women so that they are not discouraged from joining this space, even though they will encounter some biases when they arise. It’s still there and we have to work on it.

What do you think are some interesting and overlooked career opportunities in the ClimateTech industry?