PNNL

The National Hydropower Association awarded the Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters award in public education to Alison Colotelo, hydropower program lead and STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) ambassador at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), and Kristy Pentico, outreach coordinator at Benton Conservation District (BCD). They received the award at the 2024 Clean Currents conference—a national waterpower tradeshow and conference—for their work on Salmon Summit, an annual educational event for elementary school students. This award also recognizes the hard work of Rachel Little, formerly of BCD, who was the long-time lead for Salmon Summit. Outstanding Stewards of America’s Waters highlights initiatives across the hydropower industry that are advancing public education, recreation, environmental stewardship, and historical preservation.  

“Salmon Summit is a unique event for 4^th and 5^th grade students that highlights the exciting science careers in our community, and PNNL’s activity stations are the most highly requested,” said Pentico. “The number of students we reach at this event has more than doubled thanks to PNNL’s engaging live streaming interface, which encourages students to communicate with a real-life scientist—sparking their curiosity.”

Salmon Summit is a two-day event which serves as the culmination to the “Salmon in the Classroom” curriculum administered by BCD in eastern Washington. Classrooms grow salmon from eggs to juveniles before the fish are released into the Columbia River during Salmon Summit. At the event, fish and hydropower experts, who also serve as STEM ambassadors at PNNL, demonstrate how they tag the fish. The STEM ambassadors also teach students why collecting data from migrating salmon informs our understanding of fish populations and their passage through hydropower facilities. The event also promotes STEM opportunities and the diversity of waterpower careers, which aligns with PNNL’s dedication to developing a future diverse STEM workforce to meet the nation’s needs. PNNL’s participation in the Salmon Summit is sponsored by the Department of Energy Water Power Technologies Office, and conducted in partnership with PNNL’s Office of STEM Education. 

The event took a brief hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, but Colotelo and Little turned the challenge into an opportunity. They livestreamed the salmon tagging station to students across the region, with Stephanie Liss-Larson, an Earth scientist at PNNL, acting as host and fielding questions from students in real time. The successful livestream has continued every year since, bringing Salmon Summit to classrooms across the country. At the 26^th annual Salmon Summit in April 2024, over 20 PNNL staff contributed their expertise and engaged over 7,000 students in-person and via livestream.

Colotelo says, “The summit takes a huge team effort to be a success, and I’m so excited to see how the event continues to grow, with more PNNL researchers, staff, and STEM ambassadors involved, and more students engaged in the activities.”

As the hydropower program lead at PNNL, Colotelo supports hydropower research and development efforts, leads PNNL’s Sustainable Waterpower Operations team, and spearheads multiple hydropower outreach and educational programming efforts. 

Also recognized in the public education category at the award showcase this year at Clean Currents was the Foundation for Water and Energy Education for its Hydropower and Career STEM Academy. The foundation received support to scale up the STEM Academy’s efforts and to develop a case study for adoption by hydropower generators nationally. PNNL contributed to this effort with Colotelo supporting a half-day session during the 2024 Tri-Cities STEM Academy.