Energy manager attends Penn State to propel career with NASA

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For his first career change, Wes Norton took a side step that on the surface seemed more like a leap. About 20 years ago, the computer networking expert got involved in building automation and management for a NASA contractor.

To him, it seemed reasonable. Automation is just a string of networks, although more complicated, he said.

His next career jump — as he uses skills he’s acquiring through Penn State’s energy and sustainability policy program offered in the John and Willie Leone Family Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering through Penn State World Campus — is also more of a "step" than a "leap."

He won’t be going far. He’ll remain at the same NASA facility in Huntsville, Alabama, yet he said he hopes to shift to a position of civil servant, where, after a couple of years learning the ropes, he’ll shift to a career helping to solve climate change.

Norton said he became inspired after listening to a talk from former Penn State climate scientist Michael Mann. He read a few of his books and decided just being an ally wasn’t enough. He wanted to be a part of the solution, he said.

For the past few years Norton has been taking courses online on his own time while raising a family and holding down several positions for NASA contractors. He now works for the IT consulting company LinTech Global and will graduate within the next year or so before shifting to his new role at NASA.

Norton said he’s been able to make things work within his schedule and there’s little rush. But as he approaches 50 years old, he wants to begin making an impact sooner than later. He also has another, more pressing reason: His 8-year-old daughter.

“Climate change is definitely an existential crisis for humanity, and when I had my daughter, I started to think about what I could do to help her in life,” Norton said. “I began looking at all the problems that she may face and I kept coming back to climate change. That’s what really got me honed in on helping to solve the climate crisis.”

Norton said climate change and creating a sustainable path wasn’t something his generation always thought of. Just like being a good steward of the forest, he was taught to pack out what you brought in — leave no trace — but greenhouse gases don’t work that way.

“The timescale of climate is a lot different. We think in terms of our lifespan but greenhouse gases last much longer than that,” Norton said. “We have to adjust the way we look at time. And I really stress that to my daughter. She’s pretty clever. I try to get her to remember what her life was like when she was two or three versus what it’s like now so she can see how much has changed in just a few years. It’s important for me to stress that to her.”

It’s a lesson his daughter is catching on to, he said.

“She’s always coming behind me and turning off lights or shutting off the water,” Norton said. “She won’t let me run the water when I’m brushing my teeth. I love it.”

Norton said one thing Penn State gives him to accomplish his goals is a degree that focuses on energy and sustainability. As an energy manager at NASA’s massive campus of nearly 200 buildings that is located at the U.S. Army’s Redstone Arsenal, he’s already learned a thing or two about energy. But the degree — and two certification programs he’ll take through work — will get him to where he wants to go at NASA, he said.

What that new job entails, he’s not sure. But he said he's always been able to adapt what he knows and learn what he doesn’t know. For him, one thing is certain: He’ll be in a career that makes a difference.

“One thing I want to stress is that our time is limited,” Norton said. “So, be useful. Do whatever you can do to contribute in a positive way that leaves the planet better than you found it. Make an impact because the smallest of impacts can go the longest ways.”