![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2025\/09\/IMG_2885-1024x768.jpg\")
Kipper grew up near the ocean surfing the waters of the Pacific near Huntington Beach, California\u2014a place she describes as very energy focused. There the focus was less on sustainable energy and more on fossil fuels. Her middle school mascot was the Oilers, and in high school it was the Chargers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen you drive around, you see oil rigs and oil drills still there,\u201d says Kipper. \u201cI think I related to energy in that way so when deciding on what I wanted to study, I thought renewable energy seemed like the way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This past summer, Kipper found herself in a position few students, and even fewer women, ever do; standing inside one of those turbines she once viewed from shore not once, but twice\u2014up close and personal.<\/p>\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/news\/sites\/16\/2025\/09\/IMG_2590-768x1024.jpg\")
Her voyage to the wind farm was part of a 10-week internship she completed with \u00d8rsted, the Danish energy firm. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipper secured her internship thanks in part to Chris Baxter, the department chair for civil and environmental engineering, and 溏心vlog免费B站 graduate Julie-Ann Knight \u201917. Kipper does research for Baxter\u2014where a lot of his work focuses on renewable energy. Kipper also says Knight spoke to her freshman ocean engineering class. The two stayed in touch ever since.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the course of 10 weeks, Kipper not only studied the science behind offshore wind but experienced it firsthand. She interned in the offshore asset management department, focusing on offshore projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou just see the turbines from the outside, but when you’re in it, you’re like, \u2018oh, I’m in a power plant right now,\u2019\u201d says Kipper. \u201cIt’s really a mini power plant in the ocean; it was an experience so far from anything I had ever had before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The turbines are massive and boarding one is no small feat. The only way up is a series of ladders bolted to the foundation that you step onto as the boat that took you there rocks back and forth on the waves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Kipper, visiting the Block Island Wind Farm and entering one of its turbines was unforgettable. She vividly recalls her first time climbing aboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey’re quite tall and the boat is also moving, so it’s like a little bit of a jump onto a ladder,\u201d says Kipper. \u201cSomeone told me you have to commit because if you hesitate you can get hurt if the boat comes up with a swell.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipper says the physical challenge was real, but so was the mental one. \u00d8rsted provides training for those who work on the turbines every day and for those who are on them sporadically. Because of this Kipper did a week\u2019s worth of intensive training.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAll of a sudden you have a ton of people watching you and you think, if I only use two points of contact, they’re going to know,\u201d says Kipper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
OSHA recommends a three-point contact when on a ladder\u2013two hands and one foot, or two feet and one hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once on the foundation Kipper was able to explore the inside of the turbine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her favorite memory was her second time going out to the wind farm. By then, she had found her sea legs and mastered the ladder climb. What stood out most for her wasn\u2019t the climb, but the view from the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She described the moment as unexpectedly tranquil, suspended more than a hundred feet above the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt’s incredibly peaceful to watch the water,\u201d says Kipper. \u201cThere are a ton of fish around the turbines, and it was cool to see the recreational fishing boats. Then you look off and see Block Island. It’s beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipper finished her internship with \u00d8rsted in early August. Though she has her senior year ahead, she\u2019s already contemplating her next steps. A return to \u00d8rsted is on the table, if they\u2019re hiring. However, this senior also understands the dynamics going on in the real world with wind farms in the Northeast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently a stop work on the nearly complete Revolution Wind project off Rhode Island\u2019s coast was sent to \u00d8rsted from the U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kipper is taking memories of world-class views and an up-close look at the energy sector with her. Kipper is passionate about the ocean, sustainable energy and the science and engineering that supports both.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c<\/strong>I worked really hard and feel privileged and lucky to be a woman in this industry and to achieve the certifications I’ve been able to,\u201d says Kipper. \u201cI hope the field continues to expand and provide new opportunities \u2014and that I can inspire other women to feel like they can succeed in this industry as well.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 Sept. 15, 2025 \u2013 On clear days, standing on the bluffs of Block Island, Rhode Island, wind turbines jut out of the blue-green ocean. They sit perfectly still in the swaying of the ocean current. Sitting 15 nautical miles offshore, the wind is a constant companion for the turbines that generate renewable […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":104021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[25],"class_list":["post-104020","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-college-of-engineering"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104020","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/25"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104020"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104020\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104027,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104020\/revisions\/104027"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104020"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104020"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104020"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}