Starting Out: Alex Landon ’12

Analyst for strategy and finance at the Houston-based startup Clean Line Energy Partners, which is developing high-voltage, direct-current transmission lines to integrate more wind power into the electric grid. Princeton major: mechanical and aerospace engineering.

What she does: Landon analyzes how the company’s projects — which are planned to connect the windiest parts of the nation’s central region to population centers on the coasts — will impact the electric grid, given that wind doesn’t blow consistently. She also maintains financial models and helps raise investor funds. 

Challenges: The financial work she does “is completely new to me. So that’s been a steep learning curve,” says Landon, who landed an internship with Clean Line Energy and then was offered a job. 

What she likes: “My favorite part about it is the team. It’s a small, flat company,” meaning there isn’t a lot of hierarchy and bureaucracy. “You are really given exposure to a lot of different aspects of it,” including legal, regulatory, environmental, and public-outreach issues.