Kate Harasta (she/her) has long had a passion for the outdoors and helping people. For the past decade, she’s been a stay-at-home mom, but she stayed involved in her community through substitute teaching, lifeguarding, and volunteering whenever possible.
It was also within the past decade that Kate turned her lifelong love of nature into a strong desire to protect the environment. Around that time, she bought her first house, and with a new sustainability mindset, worked to make it as energy efficient as possible. She applied for assistance through NYSERDA, for which she received new insulation, light bulb upgrades, and a new hot water heater.
Kate was so pleased with the work that was done on her house that she told practically everyone she knew. She wanted to spread the word about energy efficiency and how others like her can achieve it. So, when she saw the job opening for Community Energy Advisor (CEA) in for Broome and Chenango counties, she jumped at the opportunity to continue providing the same guidance, this time on a much bigger scale.
Kate is relatively new to the Smart Energy Choices team, but she’s already hit the ground running with lots of community outreach. She said she enjoys talking to people and piquing their interest in clean energy, as well as showing them how achievable it is.
“I like getting out into the field and talking to people and piquing their interest because a lot of people don’t know about NYSERDA, or the ones that do sometimes think that you can’t do it if you rent or if they have this or that. And so we’re able to be like, ‘No, actually you do qualify for it.’ And it’s just exciting to get the word out to more people.”
Outside of work, Kate spends her free time birdwatching. She said she loves the sky and water so much that she’d love to fly and breathe underwater if she could.
Kate is looking forward to helping Broome and Chenango County residents with their energy needs. Contact Kate with any of your energy-related questions at 607-584-5003 or kih22@cornell.edu.