Jobs and People

Four influential women named 2024 Women with Hydro Vision winners

Four influential women named 2024 Women with Hydro Vision winners

This year, four impressive and deserving women will be named winners of the Women with Hydro Vision award during a luncheon at HYDROVISION International 2024.

This award has been given annually by Clarion Energy’s Hydro Group to women who have been influential in hydropower and recognizes their accomplishments and contributions to the industry. This is the tenth class of recipients for this award.

The 2024 honorees are:

Priscilla Dornas, senior engineering manager, Brasil PCH

Brasil PCH owns 13 small hydro power plants, totalling more than 300 MW of installed power. Dornas has been with the company for nearly 12 years, and her nominator said Dornas knows in depth every part of the process of hydropower generation, from the dam to the tailrace and everything in between. She is “an outstanding professional with excellent technical knowledge and an incredible ability to manage projects and people.” Before joining Brasil PCH, she was an electrical engineer with Alisa Engenharia.

Isha Shrestha, director, Nilgiri Khola Hydropower Company Limited (Nepal)

Shrestha began her career in hydropower in 2013 with the Himalayan Infrastructure Fund Ltd. She is now director of the Nilgiri Khola Hydropower Project and deputy manager of the Rahughat Mangale and Upper Rahughat hydropower projects, which are at the end of their construction phase. Her nominator said Shrestha’s skills include project management, technical expertise, renewable energy strategies, leadership roles, innovative solutions, and positive impacts on hydropower production.

Rebecca Simpson, civil engineer, Grant County PUD

Simpson has supported Grant County PUD and the Northwest U.S. region on dam safety for 14 years as a civil engineer. She started as a hydro engineering technician at Grant County PUD in 2010 and was promoted to dam safety engineering in 2011 and manager of the Civil & Dam Safety Engineering group in 2020. Simpson has been critical to Grant County PUD building a sustainable best-in-class dam safety program, her nominator said. She “is known for setting high expectations and standards for dam safety at Grant County PUD and within the region.”

Rocío Uría-Martínez, senior R&D, Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Martinez chose economics as her undergraduate major out of practicality but discovered environmental economics in her undergraduate studies and was fascinated, her nominator said. After her undergraduate studies in Spain, she moved to the U.S. to pursue a PhD in agricultural and resource economics, studying natural gas markets. Martinez began research at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) in 2010, focusing on the energy sector, water resources and environmental economics. She is the driving force behind the U.S. Hydropower Market Report.

The recipients were nominated by their peers and selected by a panel of similarly influential women, many of them past Women with Hydro Vision inductees.

A lunch will be held July 17 in their honor during HYDROVISION International 2024, which takes place July 15 to 18 in Denver, Colo., U.S. This is a perfect opportunity to meet the winners, hear their stories and network with other attendees.

Click here to register to attend the luncheon.