Sustaining a career in engineering while studying climate policy at Crawford School was an exciting challenge for Jennifer Selway.

Jennifer (Jenny) Selway grew up in Adelaide, where she studied civil and environmental engineering with science. After graduation, she relocated to Melbourne to work as an engineer with ExxonMobil (Esso).

Jenny worked with ExxonMobil for nearly 20 years in a variety of roles that took her around the world. She worked on assets in Melbourne, the United States, Chad, Canada, and Papua New Guinea - most recently as Joint Venture Manager for Papua New Guinea.

Increasingly concerned about the effects of global climate change, Jenny left ExxonMobil in late 2020 to pursue a career that would help navigate the transition to sustainable energy in Australia.  

Channelling her concern for the climate, Jenny was inspired to study at Crawford after dialling into a webinar hosted by the Institute of Climate, Energy and Disaster Solutions.

Impressed with the practical and solution-focused content, Jenny decided to pursue a Graduate Certificate in Climate Policy as it was one of the few courses she found that focused solely on climate change.

Jenny enjoyed learning with some of the world’s leading experts, with one of her favourite subjects being Domestic Climate Change Policy with Frank Jotzo.

“Frank was an amazing teacher and being able to learn from his wealth of experience in climate policy was invaluable,” she said.

Jenny thoroughly enjoyed her time at Crawford. Even though she studied remotely from Melbourne during lockdown. “I felt fully engaged and supported in the course, and really bonded with fellow students,” she said.

Jenny is now applying her professional experience with her academic learnings to make a difference to support decarbonisation and the energy transition.

“It is heartening to see the progress currently being made in Australia with 43 per cent emission reduction 2030 commitments, but there is much work to be done to get there,” she said.

Since completing the Graduate Certificate of Climate Policy, Jenny says her life has changed dramatically.

“I now work as group manager in Victorian Connections at AEMO (the Australian Energy Market Operator), which manages electricity systems and markets across Australia. The Victorian Connection team manages the connection process for new renewable projects to connect to the transmission grid,” Jenny said.

She is also a non-executive director at The Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre – a co-operative research centre between the Commonwealth Government, industry and tertiary institutions (including ANU). Their focus is on the low carbon transition for heavy industries such as steel, alumina, and cement.

“I cannot thank everyone at Crawford School, and ANU Institute of Climate, Energy and Disaster solutions enough for their support and help during my studies and career transition,” Jenny said.

Start your pathway into your Master Degrees with a Graduate Certificate of Climate Policy at Crawford School.

This article was first published by the ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.