Kristina Solberg

Kristina Lynn Solberg, a civil engineer from the United States, spent years working on infrastructure projects in North Carolina before deciding to take her career in a new direction. “I was doing infrastructure development, highways mainly and railroads and little bit of port work, but I was really interested in shifting towards renewable energy,” says Kristina. She didn’t have an academic background or working experience in renewable energy, which proved to be a bit of a barrier in making the shift, so she started investigating her options.

A Career Shift & Finding ISE

“I knew I wanted to get into renewable energy, I wanted a different experience, and I wanted to be in a culture where people believe in climate change because where I was people don’t take it seriously. I was raised by a German and a Norwegian so I have always felt more like the European mindset, the Scandinavian mindset is just more who I am. I basically Googled, found the ISE at Reykjavik University and met with Juliet [Newson, Director of ISE] when I was here as a tourist.”

Kristina asked Juliet if it would be a problem coming to ISE as an older student. “And Juliet was like ‘No, I did my PhD in my fifties,’ so that made me feel good. So, I decided to leave my job. I had been in government but also in consulting; the last job I had was developing a business within a consulting firm and it just wasn’t what I wanted to do.”

Kristina started her studies at ISE in July 2023. She is now in her thesis year and says she has learned a lot in her coursework, but also from her classmates, her peers, who are mostly younger than her.

Discovering the Connection Between Waste and Energy

“They have so many skillsets, like with technology, and have been very helpful. I feel like I have learned a lot from them. Reykjavik University stresses teamwork and really collaborating, and that has been nice,” says Kristina.

Now, she is focusing on her thesis and says she is really excited about her topic. “I was actually really lucky to fall into my thesis topic. I was working at Carbfix last summer and one of my coworkers said she knew someone who was working with Dr. María Guðjónsdóttir. She thought that she would be great to work with, so I reached out to her. She had an opportunity for a research project that is funded by a grant from Sorpa through the Sustainability Institute and Forum to work on exploring low-temperature geothermal combined with incineration of non-recyclable solid waste.”

In her thesis, Kristina is focusing on how to incorporate those two renewable energy sources. “Low-temperature geothermal is not commonly used in Iceland, as an energy source, but much of Iceland has low temperatures, and much of the world, but the high-temperature resources are not as common. I was a big fan of geothermal, I just didn’t know that much about it, but the fact that you can take these low-temperature resources and heat them up with the incineration of waste and make them act like high-temperature resources while reducing the amount of waste going into landfills is very appealing to me. Right now, I am looking at different thermodynamic scenarios and getting into the modeling them with Python – this is another new thing I am learning so I am learning a lot – It’s really exciting and energizing,” says Kristina.

Hands-On Experience: Research, Conferences & Industry Connections

The work with María took Kristina to a conference in Stockholm where the topic was waste-to-energy. “The conference was great! I wasn’t aware of waste-to-energy because where I come from that isn’t a thing, I think there are some of these waste-to-energy plants in the US, but I had never heard of them. So, it was a great opportunity to connect at the conference with industry experts and this whole industry that I think is a great way of dealing with non-recyclable waste because if you clean the emissions you don’t have to worry about the CO2 and you can also sell the by-products in addition to electricity and hot water, and that was a very interesting business model to see.”

Another trip was to Germany with fellow ISE students and lecturers. “That trip was very cool and enlightening. We were introduced to different companies in Germany and Austria and saw how well Europe is balancing renewables,” says Kristina who believes that there are a lot of good job prospects, especially in Europe.

Life in Iceland: Finding Community in Pools & Nature

She plans on staying in Iceland or the EU, but how has it been coming to Iceland and living here? “I love how safe it feels being a woman. I love the outdoors, it’s stunning, the weather is interesting. I actually like the cooler weather, and I have learned how to dress for it, I think it is maybe just a little bit of a challenge to adjust to the darkness,” says Kristina who recommends going to a geothermal swimming pool every day.

“I come from a water family and one of the reasons I was really excited about moving here was the pool culture. I got a part-time job at one of the pools and that was a goal of mine when coming here. Me and my sisters were all lifeguards back in the States when we were younger– so I did the lifeguard training test here. I just love the pool culture, and it is a great job to have as a student.”

As Kristina wraps up her thesis, she’s excited about the possibilities ahead. Whether she stays in Iceland or moves elsewhere in Europe, she knows she wants to continue working at the intersection of geothermal energy and waste-to-energy solutions. For her, the journey to ISE wasn’t just about switching careers, it was about finding a place where she could make an impact in sustainability.