An environmentalist at heart: Undergraduate’s passion for protecting the Earth drives his research and work priorities

Jordan Washington faced a critical turning point during his freshman year at a university in Florida. He viewed college as an investment in his future, and he wasn’t reaping the returns he’d expected.

“I was not getting job and internship looks,” he said.

So Washington did what comes so naturally to him these days: He researched the best options for his next move.

“I found out about the biological engineering program at A&T — what they had to offer and where people went — and I knew that was where I wanted to be,” recalled Washington, a native of Baltimore and the son of an educator and an engineer.

“A&T is the No. 1 producer of Black engineers and agriculturalists. They have to be doing something good if they are producing so many Black engineers and agriculture professionals.”

Now a senior biological engineering major at N.C. A&T, Washington never looked back. His decision to transfer reaped immediate benefits — work as a research assistant, followed by one internship opportunity after another.

First, he accepted an environmental remediation internship with the Department of Energy in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Then he joined Jacobs Engineering Group in Atlanta, where he gained experience in waste solutions and sustainable materials management.

“I have had multiple internships now, and I’ve loved my companies every year. When it comes to A&T, these recruiters are coming to look for us,” he said. “I’ve met engineers who got their jobs just because they went to A&T. Everyone has super high standards here.”

Jordan Washington, right, works alongside his mentor, Lijun Wang, Ph.D. “(Wang) has provided me an education beyond just the classroom. He’s given me insight I never knew I needed.”

This past summer, Washington went to work as a strategy and technology intern for Chevron Technology Ventures in Houston. While there, he researched 10 renewable energies that Chevron is looking to invest in and analyzed the economic feasibly of the potential projects.      

“It was my first time researching newer technologies and new energies, from hydrogen to biomass. I did the work and then handed it over to our investment managers who make the final decisions about what we want to invest in,” he explained. “I loved my job with a passion because I got to go from the strategy side to the venture capital side.”

As an undergraduate research scholar at A&T, Washington works alongside his mentor, Lijun Wang, Ph.D, PE, an associate professor of biological engineering in the university’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Design.

Last year, for his project titled “Removal of Organic Compounds from Wastewater Treatment and Valorization,” Washington conducted a review of literature on biochar mediation to identify gaps in research. Biochar is a charcoal-like substance that can be used as an adsorbent to remove pollutants in wastewater.

“We want to find a way to treat agriculture wastes and wastewater, turn them into useful products such as biofuels and fertilizers, and at the same time recycle the water back for agricultural production,” Wang explained.

Washington said his work with Wang gave him a strong foundation for success in his internships.

“Dr. Wang has provided me an education beyond just the classroom. He’s given me insight I never knew I needed,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been as good at my job at Chevron if I had not done my research and developed critical thinking skills. He is more than a professor to me. If I need anything, I reach out to Dr. Wang first.”

As for the future, Washington hopes he can land a permanent job in the private sector when he graduates next spring.

“My prayer is that Chevron asks me to come back. I love this company and everything they do,” he said. “I am an environmentalist at heart. Chevron is trying to shift its core business to renewable energies because of the push to enact change and lower the carbon polluting our atmosphere. Not everyone knows that, but I see the shift coming after working on the teams doing this work.”

And one day, Washington added, he hopes to become administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the top job of its kind in the public sector.

“The current director, Michael Regan, is a graduate of A&T. I really want to understand how he got there,” Washington said. “If you are trying to push toward your goals every day, to be 1 percent better every day, eventually that 1 percent will be 100 percent. It’s about continuing to push every day to be better.”