Our team is driven by a collective desire to deliver sustainable solutions that work.

Gia Schneider is a co-founder and the CEO of Natel Energy. Gia holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemical Engineering from MIT and has 20 years of experience in the energy industry. While in the utility practice at Accenture, she provided strategic solutions around asset management to major energy companies. After Accenture, she worked at Constellation Energy on optimizing generation asset value.

Gia left Constellation in 2004 to help start the energy trading desk at Credit Suisse; and in 2005, she started the carbon emissions trading desk at Credit Suisse, growing it to a profitable business in its first year. Gia co-founded Natel in 2009 with her brother, Abe Schneider, motivated by the theme of climate change driving changes in water patterns and focused on the opportunity for innovative hydropower solutions to be force multipliers for positive change given hydro's position at the energy-water nexus.

Gia is passionate about finding economically viable solutions to mitigate climate change, foster sustainable development and produce inexpensive renewable energy. In her spare time, she can be found surfing, kiting, and cooking with friends and family.

Abe Schneider is co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Natel Energy, driving the company's commitment to the conviction that hydropower production can co-exist with biodiverse, healthy rivers. Abe leads the company’s technical teams, overseeing hydraulic design and fish passage testing for Natel’s fish-safe Restoration Hydro Turbine (RHT).

Prior to co-founding Natel Energy in 2009 with his sister, Gia, Abe worked as a mechanical engineer for both large firms such as The Timken Company and innovative startups including Makani Power, which was later acquired by Google.

Abe developed and holds numerous engineering and design patents and has authored and contributed to several publications on hydropower and fish-safe turbine design. Abe earned his undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Abe enjoys the outdoors and loves wing surfing, climbing, and fly fishing with his wife and kids. Abe and his family live in San Francisco, CA.

‍

Kizzie Bozeman Brown, MBA, has an extensive finance background spanning both corporate finance and investment banking. Kizzie began her career on Wall Street at Morgan Stanley, Inc. where she helped to raise capital for global companies in the fixed income market. She continued her career at Deutsche Bank Securities, Inc. where she provided financial advisory and capital raises for public and private real estate investment trusts. After a 10-year career in investment banking, Kizzie shifted her focus from advising large, global corporations to acting as a Chief Financial Officer for solar development firms hep Petra and ReNew Petra, and real estate firm, Bundy Development Corporation. Kizzie led the companies’ operational functions and project finance efforts, including structuring debt and tax equity capital for solar transactions.

As Chief Financial Officer at Natel Energy, Kizzie works across the hydro team and Upstream Tech, providing leadership for fundraising efforts, back-office operations, as well as project finance for the company’s hydro repowering and green field development projects.

Kizzie is a very active member of her community, with a special emphasis on promoting economic development in minority communities. She also enjoys entertaining and traveling.  

Kizzie has a Masters in Business Administration from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelors in Business Administration from Howard University.

Gregor is Natel's Chief Operating Officer as well as VP of Engineering. As a team and project leader, Gregor's dual role allows him to closely align turbine design and testing with commercial efforts.

‍
Gregor holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from MIT and has a track record of bringing new technologies to life. He began his career designing and building next generation light aircraft, focusing on aerodynamics, composite structures, and flight testing. Gregor shifted into renewables in 2013 at Makani Power / Google X; there he grew and led an 18-person airframe team, designing and flying state of the art airborne wind turbine systems while also bridging gaps across departments and leadership. He joined Natel in 2018, first leading the engineering team while taking on increasing operational responsibilities.

In addition to being passionate about climate solutions and biodiversity, Gregor enjoys scuba diving, biking, sailing, and hiking.

‍

Harry is based in the UK and specializes in Natel's sales in Europe, although he also works on North American projects. Harry has more than 15 years of experience in the small hydropower sector, beginning with the publication of his undergraduate thesis on powering up old watermills in his home county of Dorset, in the South of England. Prior to joining Natel, Harry was a director of the UK-based hydropower consultancy Hydroplan, where he was involved in the design and construction more than 50 hydropower projects, delivering over 40MW of renewable power to the grid. Harry holds a degree in environmental science from the University of Leeds and an Advanced Apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering. Outside of work, Harry plays the drums and helps his wife to raise their three young sons.

Prior to joining Natel, Will launched several R&D programs at Google [x], with projects that ranged from wearable headsets to passenger ferry services. He is a co-inventor of a floating photovoltaic power generation system, holds a long list of certifications relevant to large hardware projects, and brings enthusiasm for adventuring the unknown.

Outside of work, Will enjoys learning to speak Norwegian, shaping surfboards in his garage, and spending time with family and friends.

Jin works as an Civil/Environmental Engineer supporting both Natel's Project Development arm and Natel's sales team. Jin graduated from UC Berkeley with a M.S. degree in environmental engineering in 2015. He holds a B.S. degree in civil engineering from University of Michigan, and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Shanghai Jiaotong University.

Miles's primary duties include promoting legislative, regulatory, and budgetary policies to enable and support growth of Natel's business, expanding relationships with key stakeholders, and deepening the company's work with federal and state agencies, industry groups, and with the national labs. Prior to Natel, Miles was a DOE contractor to the Water Power Technologies Office, where he helped develop and execute stakeholder engagement campaigns as well as tech-to-market programs for the hydropower and marine energy sectors. He holds undergraduate degrees in economics and Spanish and a Master’s of Business Administration from the University of New Mexico.

In his spare time, Miles enjoys playing and watching soccer, discovering new bands, and spending too much money on craft beer.

Betsy is a California native with a BA in English from Carleton College in Minnesota. She began her communications career at non-profit organizations and universities, and since 2008 has been working as a writer, project manager, and multimedia generalist at research and development projects in the Bay Area. In support of flying wind turbines, kite- and battery-powered hydrofoils, wave power devices, and electric air taxis, she has photographed and filmed engineering tests in Hawaii, Norway, and throughout California. Betsy loves rock climbing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and traveling in her van.

Kate Stirr is the Director of Communications & External Affairs  at Natel. She leads storytelling for the company, working to build relationships and communicate science concepts through an artist’s lens. Prior to Natel, Kate was an educator at the Exploratorium before spending seven years at Alphabet, where she prototyped hardware for early-stage X projects and later managed flight testing logistics and led external communications for the airborne wind turbine project, Makani. Kate holds undergraduate degrees in art and Spanish from Lewis & Clark College, as well as a Post Baccalaureate Certificate in sculpture from San Francisco Art Institute. She earned her Master of Fine Arts from Mills College.

Kate is interested in telling stories about technology that can strengthen connections to the natural world and facilitate balanced access to the world’s resources as our planet rapidly changes.

Outside of work, Kate enjoys exploring beaches and forests with her husband and toddler, cooking, and climbing and paddling when she has the opportunity.

As a technician for Natel, Chris draws from experience in a broad range of fields including the building trades, motion picture production and the automotive industry. He is excited to be working in clean energy.

Chris is an East Bay native and, before joining Natel, maintained his own workshop in Alameda for 10 years where he performed general fabrication and prototyping for a variety of clients including designers and scientists.

Chris enjoys eating out, cycling, motorcycling, dreaming up mechanical design projects, and rescuing stray cats.

Alex is a testing and mechanical technician at Natel. He spends his time fabricating and assembling hydroEngine machinery, as well as running and maintaining Natel’s various hydraulic and fatigue testing equipment. He has experience operating both manual and CNC machine tools, welding, and repairing electronic components. Prior to Natel, Alex worked as a bicycle mechanic.

In his free time Alex enjoys building and flying quadcopters, watching documentary films, reading nonfiction books, and mountain biking.

Owen's primary focus at Natel is mechanical design. Owen holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Santa Clara University. Prior to joining Natel, he worked on the iPhone systems engineering team where he shipped several generations of iPhone and patented several designs for both shipping and future products. So if you have a gripe about your iPhone, he’s the one you can blame ;). Prior to that experience, Owen worked for a few Bay Area startups, primarily in the fields of subsea robotics and aviation.

Outside of work you can probably find Owen building things and tinkering in his garage, backpacking in the Sierras, or training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Simone's primary focus at Natel is on fish passage testing. She received her B.S. in environmental engineering from MIT with a minor in design. She became interested in fluids research specifically pertaining to fish at MIT, and Simone was awarded the Civil and Environmental Engineering Best Undergraduate Research Award for her work on sediment transport in fish bypasses. Simone is excited by nature-based solutions to climate change, engineering that champions diversity and biodiversity, and the pronunciation of the word “ichthyology” (the study of fish). Outside of work, she enjoys making zines, biking around the Bay, and playing cards.

Johannes is a mechanical engineer at Natel working on testing, control systems, and mechanical design. Prior to joining Natel he spent five years working at a startup, building a high-compression ratio, liquid tolerant natural gas compressor and gaining experience with taking a new technology from concept to field operation.

Johannes holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering.

Outside of work, he enjoys building an riding his bikes, photography, and eating delicious food.

Ryan is a Technical Program Manager working with the product development team to deliver Natel’s Restoration Hydro Turbine to a growing list of customers. Passionate about  ongoing process improvement, driving data-based decisions, and collaborative development, Ryan is energized by the opportunity to apply his experience to renewable energy. Ryan holds a BSME from Northeastern University and prior to working at Natel, he gained extensive experience as a product development consultant bringing kitchen appliances, juvenile products, IoT devices, micromobility vehicles, and vertical farms to market.

Outside of work, Ryan enjoys cycling, graphic design projects, evaluating jelly beans, and the (fringe) sport of Goaltimate.

Bobby helps to commission and test new hydro turbine systems at site installations and at Natel headquarters in Alameda, CA. Prior to starting at Natel he worked at an Alphabet company called Makani, filling engineering roles designing, building, and testing flight electronics assemblies and packaging on prototype 600kW energy kites. He helped to commission energy kites in Alameda, Southern California, Hawaii, and in Norway. 2 years prior to that he worked as a technician helping to build a prototyping shop and then an electronics technician assembling avionics. Bobby studied English literature and sculpture at San Francisco State University and worked at Half Price Books for 8 years. In his free time he works on (and sometimes drives) an OEM 2000 Ford Ranger EV. He also makes art and music and likes going on hikes with his family and friends in the Oakland redwoods.

Onur is a Mechanical Engineer at Natel whose primary focus is mechanical design and design for manufacturing. He graduated from Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering with a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering. At Olin, he found a passion for alternative energy generation and storage, and designed the chassis and suspension geometry subsystems for his Formula SAE Electric team.

In his free time, Onur likes to read and explore cities on foot. He also loves trying out new recipes, particularly Turkish ones, and cooking large meals for his friends.

Jue is a hydraulic design engineer at Natel. He earned his Ph.D. degree in civil engineering, specialized in hydraulics and hydrology. Jue has over 10 years of experience in Computation Fluid Dynamics (CFD). He mainly uses CFD methods to assist and validate the design of fluid structures. Prior to Natel, he worked as a water engineer at Jacobs Engineering for four years. Jue likes cooking for families in his spare time.

Sterling is a mechanical engineer at Natel, interested in mechanical and system design for sustainable energy technologies. Prior to joining Natel, she was a graduate student at MIT focusing on village-scale, solar-powered desalination system design and optimization for the developing world. Sterling earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from MIT.

Alex leads the prototyping technician team at Natel’s Alameda, CA headquarters, building and testing new turbine hardware. Alex holds a BSME from UC Santa Barbara where he gained a passion for environmental preservation and renewable energy technology. Prior to joining Natel, Alex spent 10 years at Makani Power, building and testing energy kites in California, Hawaii, and Norway.

Outside of work, Alex enjoys camping with his family, backyard gardening and entertaining, and restoring vintage VW campers.

Nick holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University. He has a broad set of previous experiences managing complex hydropower, commercial, industrial, institutional, and government projects to successfully achieve corporate goals and objectives. He is adept at cultivating partnerships and building lasting relationships with customers and colleagues, and experienced with leading continuous improvement objectives to consistently transform productivity, improve efficiency and drive profitability. At Natel, Nick develops robust project execution mechanisms and leads the execution of projects that are developed by Natel or sold by Natel to its customers.

Nick also enjoys watching his two daughters play competitive soccer, watching his son play basketball and lacrosse, snowboarding, mountain biking, riding electric skateboards, hiking with his family and three dogs, working out, camping and four-wheeling.

Pat is the Director of Hydro Plant Operations for Natel Energy. Recently he managed Wind Farms in New England for Siemens Gamesa. Prior to that, he was with Enel and CHI Energy for 18 years, serving in various roles in Hydropower Operations and Maintenance. Pat is an advocate for Hydropower. He has lobbied for Energy bills at the Massachusetts Statehouse. He also has led dozens of walking tours and speaking events at various sites to further the understanding of how hydropower and communities coexist. At Natel, Pat is responsible for the day-to-day Operations of the Portfolio, as well as agency and utility relationships, fish passage performance, maintenance planning, community/stakeholder engagement, and strategic alliances.

He lives in Massachusetts with his wife and three children.

Ian is a mechanical engineer at Natel. His work focuses on the installation, operation, and maintenance of the RHT fleet and the plants that they are operated in. He particularly enjoys working in the field and working with the on-site teams that install and operate Natel’s turbines. Ian developed his passion for this type of work during his masters degree at the University of New Hampshire where he helped to deploy what, at the time, was one of the only grid connected tidal turbines in the US. Ian is a licensed Professional Engineer in the state of California. Outside of work he spends his time cooking, cycling, surfing (sort of), and ski touring all over Tahoe.

Tatiana supports Natel’s Business Development team through the provision of GIS-based analysis and related research of prospective project sites and the ecosystem service endowments associated with these sites. She also uses her background in civil engineering to support our development team on one-off projects. She graduated with an MS in Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University and earned bachelor's degree in Civil Engineering from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. In her free time, she enjoys good food, books, and traveling.

Jessica is the US Project Development Manager and builds strategic partnerships for Natel Energy. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Spanish from the University of Oregon and a Master of Science in Energy Systems Management from the University of San Francisco.

In her free time, she can be found exploring oceans and the water as Captain Jess and working with organizations to bring awareness to plastic pollution and ways to manage the damaging elements of plastics in the ocean. She is passionate about sharing her respect of water, and helping others understand the importance of conservation and conscious living.

Adam is a project engineer at Natel, focused on project diligence, interconnection, and construction design. Prior to joining Natel, Adam was lead electrical engineer for the distributed generation solar group at NextEra Energy Resources. He  spent 12 years as a senior engineer in the solar industry on many sides of the table - EPC contractor, developer, and owner. Adam’s expertise includes solar design, electrical engineering, grid interconnection, electrical code compliance and production modeling, and he has a portfolio of over 600 projects totaling over 300 MW.

Adam holds a M.S. in Engineering from the Building Systems Program at the University of Colorado at Boulder and a B.A. in Environmental Studies from Dartmouth College.

Dana is Natel’s Office Manager. Prior to Natel, Dana worked in finance for a healthcare management consulting firm. Dana received her BA in International Relations from San Francisco State University. She is interested in learning about the development of social, healthcare and environmental policies.

Dave manages finance and administration functions for Natel. He has 25 years experience in finance and operations for both public and privately held technology and energy companies, with extensive experience with growing businesses from $10 to $200 million in revenue. As CFO for emerging companies, he has managed finance, administration, IT, legal and corporate development activities, raised funds from a variety of sources, and established a foreign subsidiary to support manufacturing and back office functions. He managed strategic partnerships and international sales through distributors for 40 countries. Earlier, Dave held progressively responsible finance, corporate development and general management positions for publicly reporting energy and technology companies including Gulf Oil Corporation, Eastern Gas and Fuel Associates, Triad Systems and Epicor (formerly Activant).

Dave received his BS in Economics from MIT, an MBA from Stanford, and began his career in the San Francisco office of KPMG. Dave was awarded a patent for a system that optimizes supply chains with predictive models combining demographic and demand data.

At Natel, Ben is in charge of managing and maintaining the warehouse, shop, office, and test spaces and services. After several years of service in the US Navy, Ben graduated from Johnson & Wales University. He also holds a solar installation NABCEP certification. Previously Ben focused on the build out and launch of critically acclaimed Bay Area restaurants, emphasizing the use of renewables and sustainable practices.