Our Consensus Writer’s Fellowship is a collaborative initiative between American University and the United States Energy Association, designed as a structured program in which participants prepare monthly articles about topics related to USEA’s Consensus on Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) Program to develop their knowledge on clean energy technologies and carbon capture, utilization, and storage. Fellows will write for the United States Energy Association’s website to produce monthly articles on CCUS topics and making fossil energy clean.

Relevant topics students could write about include:

• Carbon transport and storage
• Carbon conversion
• Point source carbon capture
• Hydrogen and clean fossil energy
• Outlooks for Domestic versus International Coal Markets

The main goals of the fellowship are:

• To take American University students who have an interest but little knowledge of CCUS and turn them into subject matter experts through research and writing.
• To have students develop a professional and published writing portfolio they may use when applying to graduate programs and/or beginning their careers.
• To strengthen students’ writing abilities when covering technical and policy topics in the energy industry

Fellows work remotely (or from USEA’s offices 3 blocks from the White House) and commit a minimum of 5-10 hours per article and will coordinate with USEA staff to achieve their writing and knowledge goals. All articles will be published on USEA’s website under the student's name.

Requirements:

USEA will select two fellows: one undergraduate student and one graduate student.

• All applicants must be a registered student at the American University for the duration of the fellowship period (August 2025 – December 2025). Students who graduate earlier than December 2025 will not be accepted.
• Applicants must have a demonstrated interest in energy. Experience with Department of Energy programs, familiarity with federal funding or with CCS topics is not a requirement but a plus.
• Students must be willing to commit 5-10 hours per month at minimum and produce 1 article every month in order to maintain their fellow status.
• A commitment to quality, pride in one’s own work, strong time management skills and a selfstarting attitude are desired. Students will be working remotely and are expected to take ownership of their work ensuring timely submission of articles and proactively diving into new and relevant topics.
• Students will be evaluated holistically based on their demonstrated interest in energy, their ideas for articles they pitch in their explanation, their writing capabilities, and their explanation of how this fellowship will support their career aspirations.

How to apply:

All interested candidates should send an application that includes 1. a resume, 2. a relevant writing sample of no more than 1000 words, and 3. an explanation of why they are interested and what they hope to gain from this fellowship (250 words max). Please email all materials to Crystal Staebell at [email protected] with the subject ‘Consensus Writer’s Fellowship Application’ by no later than July 13 at 11:59 pm ET. Fellows would be expected to start in August of 2025.