For nearly a decade, Ryan Lundsted worked as a middle and high school teacher in Japan, Washington State, and Maryland, mostly teaching social studies. During the pandemic, he and his wife moved to Brooktondale, New York, for what they expected to be a 6-month stint. Since that would be too short a time to take a teaching job, Ryan took a job working on a farm.
What was planned to be 6 months soon turned into 4 years. Ryan fell in love with farming, so much so that he started his own farm after a few years. He and his wife leased an orchard for two seasons, during which they sold their goods at the local farmers markets and grocery stores.
Unfortunately, Ryan and his wife recently had to give up their farm lease due to shifting economic conditions, so Ryan started to look for work once again. He asked his friends for any recommendations, including a friend he made during his first farm job. That friend later ended up working for CCE Tompkins, so he told Ryan about the open role of PowerHouse educator.
Ryan's exposure to the clean energy sector was primarily through his wife, who works in habitat restoration and environmental preservation. As PowerHouse educator, Ryan would get the chance to stretch his teaching muscles again. So, the Power House role was a nice intersection of his and his wife's work history.
““I was really excited about the PowerHouse job specifically because there’s lots of lots of possibilities to do even more than what we have been doing in the past to do education work and work with kids.””
Since Ryan joined the team in March, well before the regular outreach season, he's spent most of his first few weeks making improvements to the PowerHouse before taking it on the road. He's also working to plan larger projects like a tour of all the region's libraries and improved environmental educational materials for area teachers.
Outside of work, Ryan loves spending time with his daughter, who is now 2. He still loves farming; he just now does it at a smaller scale at home.
Contact Ryan with your Power House questions by emailing powerhouse@cornell.edu or calling 607-272-2292 ext. 151.
Since Ryan joined the team in March, well before the regular outreach season, he's spent most of his first few weeks making improvements to the PowerHouse before taking it on the road. He's also working to plan larger projects like a tour of all the region's libraries and improved environmental educational materials for area teachers.
Outside of work, Ryan loves spending time with his daughter, who is now 2. He still loves farming; he just now does it at a smaller scale at home.
Contact Ryan with your Power House questions by emailing powerhouse@cornell.edu or calling 607-272-2292 ext. 151.