As an avid snowboarder and soccer player, Robyn Moss combined her love of the outdoors with her background in chemistry to forge a career in clean tech. Whether she’s on the mountain, soccer field or in the lab, Robyn’s always working to improve her skills, which drew her to Electra.
“Electra does a very good job at building your strengths and skills by challenging you and pushing you out of your comfort zone, but always with the support of your team.” Robyn says.
Two years before joining Electra, Robyn was completing her chemistry degree at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine. After leading a research project on alternative cathode materials for batteries, she knew she wanted to work in clean tech.
“When I graduated from college during the pandemic, I wanted to work on a climate solution,” Robyn says. “But the job market was tough, and I wasn’t ready to commit to grad school.”
Instead, she moved to Tahoe, California, where she worked as a snowboarding instructor and the coach of a youth soccer team in between shifts as a restaurant server for a year.
“That was extremely fulfilling for me,” she says. “I really enjoy teaching people things and seeing the lightbulb go off when they get it.”
Robyn lived in Tahoe for the start of the 2021 California wildfire season, which burned more than 2 million acres of forest in the Golden State. The California fires also destroyed more than 2,000 homes and covered huge areas of the West with dangerous air pollution.
“The air quality was so bad it wasn’t safe to leave your house,” she recalls. “I remember thinking: What’s the point of living in Tahoe if you can’t go outside?”
Witnessing the impacts of climate change and recognizing the urgent need for new green technologies, Robyn moved from Tahoe to Denver, Colorado to work for a green battery developer. From there, she interviewed at Electra and was impressed by the mission and the culture.
“What I like about working here is the support system. It’s not sink or swim. The culture of mentorship, collaboration, and teamwork encourages you to tackle harder problems,” she says. “When an experiment goes sideways, it’s an opportunity to understand what can go wrong and why so that we can build a better technology.”
Away from work, you’ll find Robyn playing sport – soccer, volleyball and tennis are her current favorites – going out to concerts or staying home to bake and read.