My name is Mae Macfarlane and I am Clean Energy Economy Minnesota’s (CEEM) new Digital Content Specialist. In this new role, I will be working with the CEEM team to create and distribute digital content in the form of blogs, newsletters, social media and our website.

I have always had a passion for the outdoors and the environment and I knew that I wanted to work in a space that would support environmental and sustainability initiatives. As a midwesterner, I have been able to see first hand the effects of climate change and how this affects all aspects of our lives. This past summer, I was finishing my Americorps service term and was working outdoors daily. The smoke from the Canadian wildfires and heavy ozone made working conditions near impossible. Mix that with record breaking heat, and you can’t deny that something is happening, and it made me wonder, what can I do to help make that change more manageable.

CEEM caught my eye through its impressive use of mixed media to tell their story as well as their members’ stories. This unique group has the amazing ability to be the connecting piece between Minnesota companies (big and small), other clean energy organizations and the Minnesota Legislature. I could tell that this was a group that took the clean energy transition seriously and were working hard to lead change. Through my work here, I hope to learn more about energy policy in Minnesota and help to convey that information to CEEM’s broad audience.

About Mae:

Growing up, I had the opportunity to participate in nature education camps and explore local state parks and native prairies. These experiences led me to want to learn more about the environment and how we interact with it. As I got older, I fell in love with the art of storytelling and how our experiences with nature can inform others about the beauty and importance of spaces around us. I went on to pursue a degree in journalism from the University of St. Thomas and during my time there I was able to explore different storytelling methods and I was also able to take environmental and sustainability focused courses to round out my interests.

After graduation I did a service year working as a community forestry member with the climate impact corps and Americorps. During my time there I served in the Frogtown Neighborhood of St. Paul with an organization called Frogtown Green. We worked to maintain community gardens, provide nature education and increase the local tree canopy. This service year was the perfect opportunity for me to get hands-on experience making small spaces greener. I was also able to gain new perspectives on environmental challenges and how we as individuals can do a lot to make our day to day better, but need support from local and state governments to continue that work. Now that I am working with CEEM, I hope that I can work to continue to close the gap from small communities to state level organizations to make life a little easier for us all!