Meet Shivani Chotalia

Shivani Chotalia graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Science degree in Green Process Engineering from Western University and an Honours Bachelor of Arts degree from Richard Ivey School of Business in 2015. She is currently th Director of Development & Partnerships at NRStor Incorporated. In her free time, Shivani enjoys yoga, camping, travelling and reading.

When did your love of STEM begin?

From a young age I was always drawn to Math. It was methodical and made sense to me; I loved that I could get an answer right or wrong and be able to point to why, as compared to other subjects in school that were much more subjective. I was also always curious to understand how things worked. Whether it was cracking open an old laptop with my dad or taking auto class in high school, I always felt like nothing needed to be a "black box" and you could get to the answer by peeling back the layers. These things, paired with a passion for "solving big problems", led me to engineering and a career in clean energy.

What is the best part about working in the field of STEM?

I love my work because it is always interesting, challenging and fun. Most of all, I believe that what my company is doing - building low carbon energy infrastructure - is important and necessary. I think our world needs people to solve our climate challenges and I am excited to be working towards the solutions.

What advice would you give young women interested in a career in STEM?

Trust yourself and go for it!!