Our Team

Carly Rixham is the Executive Director for American Solar Energy Society (ASES). She is the Publisher of Solar Today magazine. She received her Masters in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at University of Colorado at Boulder where she researched microalgae for the production of biofuel. While studying in Boulder, Rixham served as Director of Arts and Sciences at CU Energy. Rixham also was a microbiologist at BioVantage Resources, culturing algae for bio-remediation of nutrients in wastewater. Prior to her renewable energy career, She taught Biology and Ecology at the university and high school levels and worked in software development at Intuit. Rixham captained the University of Denver Pioneers Lacrosse team and coached for the University of Colorado (Go Buffs) Lacrosse Team. She enjoys travel, art, mountain sports, and nature.

Sarah Townes joined the ASES team in 2016 to promote solar energy and sustainability in our beautiful world, and started the Zero Emissions Network Program. Managing the finances for such a positive organization brings great job satisfaction. ASES’s large membership base and non-profit status require full accountability and transparency in all its dealings, financial and social, and it brings her pleasure to work in non-profit accounting in such a high-integrity organization. Outside of ASES, Sarah enjoys singing, teaching singing, and performing, and her latest album is available for sale on iTunes. Favorite recreation includes hiking, relaxing by the fire at the St. Julien, and having fun with her family, both immediate and extended. She finds inspiration daily in her young son and his friends.

Ella Nielsen, Programs Director at the American Solar Energy Society, is committed to assisting with the acceleration of equitable solar adoption and universal sustainable living. She has a bachelor of arts degree in environmental economics with a minor in statistics from St. Lawrence University in Upstate New York. During college, she had the opportunity to intern at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Department under the Weatherization Assistance Program. After college, she worked as a Fiber Engineer at a Telecom Communications company while also serving as the Co-Chair of their Sustainability Employee Resource Group. In her free time, she enjoys climbing, skiing, and hiking around the Rocky Mountains.

Jacob (Lundy) Yang is the Editor in Chief for American Solar Energy Society (ASES), bringing extensive experience in journalism and marketing from his work with award-winning global cleantech startups. Yang has cultivated a robust network of industry writers, communicators and marketers—and he’s known for making meaningful connections with these folks. Before fully transitioning to the energy sector, Yang worked at an agency where he collaborated closely with Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) companies. From this experience, Yang knew where his passion lies in his career. When he’s not advancing the incredible stories in clean energy, Yang can be found reading, biking, playing board games, or behind a drum kit.

Sunshine joined ASES in 2017 and serves as Creative Director and Webmaster, ensuring brand guidelines are consistent across all marketing collateral, including Solar Today magazine and ases.org. With more than 22 years in graphic design communication, she has given a unique voice to numerous businesses through her passionate, creative design services including brand identity, print, web, and interactive.

With over 20 years of experience in business development and marketing, I have honed my skills across diverse industries including healthcare, automotive, broadcast television and also worked at 2 different advertising agencies. I hold a Bachelor’s degree in Telecommunications and Marketing from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

In my free time, I enjoy music, golf, sports, and quality moments with my family, friends, and my dog, Bear. My passion for connecting people and ideas drives my professional journey, and I look forward to new opportunities to make an impact. I’m happy to be part of the ASES community.

Remi is a Postgraduate Researcher at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, specializing in clean energy technologies and power systems operations. He has two degrees in Mechanical Engineering. He received his B.Eng from the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria where he designed and implemented PV-powered water pumping systems for the Funaab Communities; His MSc. from CU Boulder, where he applied stochastic optimal control to the operational scheduling of long-duration energy storage systems for his thesis.
Remi has designed and installed PV mini-grids across remote communities in Nigeria and is actively contributing to the renewable energy community by volunteering with ASES, where he curates content for the Solar@Work newsletter. Remi is passionate about LoFi music; enjoys road cycling and snowboarding as hobbies.

For the past 15 years, Jay has been writing renewable energy textbooks, teaching solar, wind and renewable energy at various colleges across the Midwest, and providing consulting and online training to the industry at solarPVtraining.com, he also hosts a number of podcasts including, Solar News Weekly (sponsored by ASES), Solar Noon Tuesdays (a weekly deep dive on solar topics) and When the BioMass hits the Wind Turbine (syndicated through the Pacifica Radio Network and co-hosted by his wife Annie).

Jay and Annie live at Blue Rock Station (www.bluerockstation.com), a sustainable living center that features the first Earthship (a 2,200 sq ft passive solar home constructed out of tires and garbage) built east of the Mississippi, many straw bale buildings, a plastic bottle greenhouse, a solar shower, gardens, milk goats, lots of summer interns, and way too many cats.  In the years since establishing Blue Rock Station, more than 40,000 people have wandered through their living rooms – drawn by the vision of a truly sustainable lifestyle.

Naveen is passionate about integrating renewable energy solutions with advanced data
analytics and computational techniques. With a Master’s in Computer Science from the
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hong Kong, Naveen likes to combine his mechanical and computational insights. His master’s project focused on developing Physics-Informed Neural Networks (PINNs) to
address complex heat transfer and fluid dynamics problems, demonstrating the advantages of
machine learning over traditional engineering methods. Previously at Lalan Group, Naveen managed the operations and maintenance of a biomass boiler and steam turbine, deepening his practical experience in renewable energy systems. Currently, as a data engineer, he utilizes Azure cloud solutions and advanced analytics to drive energy efficiency and sustainability projects. Naveen enjoys networking and is eager to stay updated on evolving trends in renewable energy,
particularly the integration of data science and machine learning in energy systems. During his
free time, he enjoys working out, badminton, playing the guitar, and listening to podcasts.