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From planting seeds to installing solar panels: Sean McDonald’s journey into ����ֱ��’s energy future

By George Reising and Julie Engelhardt
February 11, 2026

When Sean McDonald joined Upward Bound and , in 2020 as a freshman in Wrangell, ����ֱ��, he had no idea that a virtual summer program during COVID-19 would help launch him toward a future in renewable energy.

Four years later, Sean is an electrical engineering college student spending his summers helping build solar arrays across rural ����ֱ�� — proof that hands-on learning can change a young person’s entire trajectory.

Sean’s T3 story is one of momentum, where each learning opportunity became a seed for future fruition. He dove into drone work, energy clubs, microgrid courses and real-world community projects, embracing every opportunity that came his way.

From mapping U.S. Forest Service remote cabins and trails, to capturing drone footage at Anan Bear Observatory and LeConte Glacier, to completing the Cordova energy audit, Sean consistently pushed himself to learn by doing. Many of these experiences were supported by ACEP’s , which supports hands-on energy education opportunities across ����ֱ��. Along the way, he attended the ����ֱ�� Sustainable Energy Conference, worked with the “House of the Reising Sun” energy team, completed and even helped install a solar panel system to power a greenhouse dehumidifier at his high school.

Those experiences and the support of ACEP staff helped clarify his path. Sean originally thought he wanted to pursue computer engineering, but the hands-on projects, coding experiences and T3’s growth-mindset approach uncovered a new awareness. What excited him most wasn’t sitting behind a screen — it was building, creating and solving real-world problems.

Sean explained that T3 and ACEP gave him opportunities that traditional school settings couldn’t.

“It was a great outlet for a different kind of learning — not classroom education, not quite college either,” he said. “It was about getting out, talking to people and doing stuff. T3’s teaching methodology was easy to apply because it was real-world experience working with ACEP partners.”

After graduating in 2024, Sean headed to Boise State University to study electrical engineering. His first semester wasn’t smooth.

“Two math classes per semester is too much!” he laughed.

But the setback didn’t stop him. Drawing on the growth mindset he’d built through T3, Sean regrouped over winter break, planned better and headed into summer with a clear sense of purpose.

That’s when the career seeds he planted earlier really started to grow.

This past summer, Sean worked as a laborer with , an electrical contractor based in Palmer, ����ֱ��, supporting renewable energy projects across the state. In Tok, he helped build a 1-megawatt solar array for the local school. In Anchorage, he supported array clean-up efforts. In Galena, he helped prepare equipment for barging up from Nenana. By mid-to-late July, he was helping construct a new solar array, gaining skills and experience that will serve him long after college.

He’s not an electrical apprentice yet, so he can’t touch the wiring. But he’s building structures, maintaining sites and learning the rhythm of the work.

“I’m doing clean-up, structural building, all the hands-on stuff,” Sean said. “It’s a good stepping stone.”

From microgrids to solar fields stretching across tundra communities, Sean’s journey shows how early sparks of curiosity — nurtured through opportunity, mentorship and hands-on learning — can grow into a career helping power ����ֱ��’s energy future.

 

George Reising is the lead curriculum developer with the UAF ����ֱ�� Center for Energy and Power and Julie Engelhardt is the ����ֱ�� storyteller and data manager.