About Christine
I began my career as a scientist because I care deeply about renewable energy.
I didn’t just want to do science. As many scientists, I wanted to do science that mattered — work that aligned with my values and contributed to something that would have widespread impact. That commitment led me to spend nearly two decades at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the U.S. Department of Energy, advancing climate and energy technologies.
I love the work and I believe in the mission. And I am ambitious.
But over the course of my career, juggling many projects, aging parents and young children, I burned out twice — to the point where my health was compromised and I had to step away for extended periods of time. Each time, I was ashamed that I couldn’t do it all and felt like I had failed. I had built an identity around being capable, driven, and resilient. Admitting that I could not simply push through was humbling and painful.
Those experiences changed me.
I began asking different questions:
How do we navigate funding uncertainty without operating from a place of scarcity?
How do we work and lead projects and teams through pressure without sacrificing our health?
How do we work through team conflict without letting it decrease our energy?
How do we stay centered and say no in an environment that rewards yes? And expectations keep rising?
For nearly the last decade of my time at NREL, I balanced my technical work with a parallel exploration: how to create a workplace culture that supports both personal and professional well being of each employee. I led organizational initiatives, developed leadership programs, coached team members, and worked to shift conversations around workload and well-being.
What I learned is that while institutions matter and culture matters, ultimately, each of us has to build the internal capacity to navigate the system we’re in.
That realization led me to take my passion for personal growth and development a step further.
I began formal coaching training through the ICF-accredited Integral Coaching program at New Ventures West. I am studying neuro-linguistic programming and high-performance coaching practices. I have immersed myself in learning how stress lives in the body for over a decade and how pressure narrows thinking, and how capacity can be expanded intentionally.
Today, I bring all of that — my scientific background, my lived experience with burnout, my leadership inside complex institutions, and my coaching training — to the people behind the work.
I understand life of juggling too many things, wanting to do it all but not being physically capable of doing it all- because I live it.
And I care deeply about helping scientists, engineers, and innovators succeed in ways that don’t cost them their health, their clarity, or the people they love.
Outside of my professional work, I’m a mother, a swim coach for my daughters’ team, and someone who restores herself through movement and nature. Skiing, dancing, mountain biking, paddleboarding, and what I call “tame adventures” remind me that resilience is built both in laboratories and on trails.
I look forward to being a thought partner for those who resonate with my story and approach and are ready to do the work to reach their goals!
