When's the last time you walked into a bookstore?
Specifically a children's bookstore, or maybe even the
children's section. Let's say you're looking for a
book about clean energy in the Caribbean.
Solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, maybe even nuclear.
A book that reflects the islands, the culture of the
people. A book where the heroes look
like the kids reading it. Now imagine having that
realization that that book doesn't exist, and instead of
walking away, you decide. I guess I'll write it.
I used to love Captain Planet so much as a child growing up
trying to save the planet with the powers combined.
Imagine if we have all these clean and resources working
together. We need to be very
representational of the Caribbean culture, spirit and
people. Today's guest did exactly that.
Me Zola Hein, a Jamaican born. Computer scientist turned.
Nuclear engineering PhD researcher at Bangor University
and the author of Island Energy Superhero, A kids Guide to
energies in the Caribbean, a book that's already landing at
schools, bookstores and even in the airport in Kingston.
This episode is about representation, science
communication, failing forward and building an energy literate
Caribbean one child at a time. So let's get.
Started how did. The vision for this book come
about. The history or the vision behind
the Island Energy book came across when I just started my
PhD in my first year. I was very curious as to nuclear
energy being used in the Caribbean, if any.
I was also trying to find out different sources just to
understand the material to do the research, something that's
very simplified. And I notice that yes, we do use
nuclear in the Caribbean. There's actually the island slab
in Jamaica out by the Imona campus, and they use it for
medicinal purposes also in the agricultural sector for nuclear
forensics using neutrons. However, we haven't been able to
use nuclear energy in the Caribbean.
And I don't know if you've seen in the news a big thrust of
Rolls Royce and the SMRS. And so now persons are looking
to energy all across the world. Recently, Jamaica even signed a
memorandum of understanding with Canada to look into setting up
nuclear power generation in the Caribbean.
My interest in starting the book was thinking about how will
parents be able to explain this new concept, this new source
that's been added to or could be added to our energy grid?
How will they be able to explain it to their children children,
and will they even understand it themselves?
So I was there having this idea in mind, and I reached out to a
publisher and we were basically looking around, doing some
research, seeing if there are other books that covered energy
in the Caribbean or looked at clean energy overall.
And to our surprise, there wasn't anything like this
available. So the idea was, let's try to
create a book that introduced all these concepts in a very
simple way of what is clean energy, the different types that
are currently being used and also nuclear energy as an energy
source that will be introduced to the future.
So this book, the Island energy book, the superhero energies
that for the Caribbean is now available for children and
parents to learn more about different kinds of clean energy
sources. This is currently being used in
the Caribbean, such as solar, geothermal, wind, hydroelectric
energy and the introduction of nuclear.
When Zola began her PhD, she searched for simple explanations
about nuclear and clean energy in the Caribbean, something
parents could use to explain a rapidly changing energy
landscape to their kids. She found Advanced Research
papers, technical reports, scattered examples of nuclear
applications in agriculture and medicine.
But there were no children's books, nothing that represented
Caribbean identity, Caribbean imagery.
So she reached out to. A publisher.
Together they. Realized they had something, a
vibrant, superhero driven way to explain energy systems to kids
to the adults who raised them. So think back to your own
childhood. When did you first learn what
energy was? Did anybody ever show you
diagrams of solar farms, or talk about nuclear medicine, or
explain why electricity bills rise and fall?
Most of us didn't get that education until adulthood.
If ever. Zola's book wasn't just about
clean energy. It was deeply tied to her
journey, one that didn't start in nuclear.
At all. So how does someone go from
computer science and data visualization to simulating
nuclear fuel behavior? Well, I'd like to say that
nuclear engineering shows me because I really love computer
science. I love working with computers.
I also really love doing visualizations.
A big part of my master's dissertation was visualizing
data sets, and the opportunity presented itself for me to
visualize nuclear data in a way that's never been done before.
I didn't really have a nuclear background, but I thoroughly
enjoyed physics, you know, thanks to my teacher, Mr.
Goodnight, Glenmere High School, you know, really fell in love
with physics and you know, it would be a great opportunity to
continue with that. So I took the leap.
My master's dissertation was looking at how different
research papers use colors in visualization charts and bars.
That was pretty cool. Analyzing from medical journals
or engineering journals and creating a how to guide for
persons in the research field what colors are recommended
based on historical data. So that's one way in which I've
used data and I found that really awesome.
It was great to work with that data set now in nuclear, using
experimental data to predict the behavior of the fuel in the
reactor. Propel Research and innovation.
I was at the end of completing the masters and literally there
was just a blast e-mail saying that I didn't even know my
university had a nuclear institute.
They were congratulating someone and saying that they have
opportunities. I thought I'm looking for
opportunities. So I reached out to the director
and went in and had a lovely chat.
Went around and saw the labs and it just carried me back to high
school. Some of the things we were
talking about that I learned in physics, hearing about different
concepts from chemistry. I've, I've been doing so many
things in computer science. I was just like, this would be
great to broaden my scope and try and see how it goes because
it sounds like a mammoth task. But if he thinks I have the
capability and the skills to do this, then who am I to say no in
that way? I, I say nuclear chose me and
I've had really good support, even though sometimes when I
speak, I'm very surprised by myself.
You know, I'm saying, Oh my gosh, actually know this thing.
It's been interesting. It's been a true growth
opportunity. I can say when I told my friends
and family, they were not surprised.
It wasn't a question of can I do it?
It's like she's going to do it. They know I'm always up to
something, to be honest, always putting myself out there, trying
new things, trying to live life fully.
I had tremendous support from friends and family back home and
even here in the UK. It's been so good in terms of
support within the university from my supervisors, from my
industry partners sending me on trainings, making sure that I,
you know, have to have access to any resource and every resource
that would help me improve and make progress throughout the
research. Zola didn't plan on nuclear
engineering. She loved computer science,
visualization, and the challenge of turning messy data into
meaningful insights. But an unexpected e-mail from
her university celebrating a nuclear institute she didn't
even know existed sparked something new.
She met with the director, the labs, and suddenly the physics
she loved in high school came rushing back.
And she kept showing up. Somewhere along the way she
surprised herself. And that got me thinking, when's
the last time you were pulled in the direction of your curiosity?
Somewhere you didn't expect to go?
Because what Zola did next, bringing her love of
visualization into nuclear fuel modeling, is a perfect example
of how non traditional backgrounds strengthen the
nuclear field. So I would say that my research
mostly looks at a novel method. Traditionally to visualize the
performance of the fuel in the reactor, we use mesh based
techniques. My research currently is a more
meshless technique and it's actually coming from astronomy,
so it's never been used in nuclear industry before.
And so even that's within itself, trying to verify the
method, try to validate the method and making sure that it
is at the correct standards and the acceptable standards for
academia so that you know this is reliable.
So you know that you know, we can trust this information and
how it is presented, the standards and seeing how best I
can get the good quality information from very reliable
sources. It does take its time, but it's
been so great, especially working with persons and
speaking to persons who do more experimental work and trying to
see how best I can properly understand the information that
they give and that I read an extract from other research
papers so that I can properly fit my model and get it to
simulate the behaviors that are needed to predict something
novel. The best way to explain it is
how my supervisor really reiterates a lot.
We are on the beach, on the sand, looking out into the sea
and we don't really have an idea of what's out there, so we just
have to take it a step at a time.
Sometimes you think innovation is changing a lot of things and
seeing how it happens, but sometimes it can just be
tweaking 1 parameter or one aspect and just seeing how that
affects the whole. Doing some in depth analysis,
sensitivity analysis to see what variables, how it affects it,
what can be changed, how just a little thing can make such a big
impact. And for me that is the
scientific research, doing little tweaks and seeing the
impact. Sometimes it is colossal,
sometimes it is minute, but you have to start from what you know
or what is known and then slowly venturing to the unknown.
And, you know, sometimes there are persons who have gone ahead
and done something similar to you.
So it's always good to try to do as much research as possible to
see what's already been done. Try to understand your method,
try to understand the mistakes and the limitations of what's
been done before so that you can say, OK, maybe I could try to
tweak this instead, or I'll tweak this in a different way
and see what the result is. That is the innovation, I think,
that is applied in scientific research.
Most of us think visualizing data means bar charts or line
graphs. But Zola's work goes deeper,
much deeper, Using methods barred from astronomy to
visualize nuclear fuel behaviors in ways the industry has never
tried before. She studies how to validate
novel mesh free visualization techniques.
She analyzes experimental data. She runs simulations that help
us understand what the fuel is doing inside a reactor,
information that influences safety, performance, and design.
Her background in color theory, visual communication, and even
the psychology of how humans interpret shapes and gradients
give her a unique perspective on nuclear data, one the field
desperately needs. So with this scientific
foundation, how do you turn energy into a story, one that
Caribbean children can see themselves inside?
Having sat down and I spoke with Cabrina, the manager and
director of Eva Michelle Publishing, responsible for
publishing the book. We sat and we were literally on
the same page. Both Jamaicans are just like,
OK, this book needs to represent the Caribbean, so we need to
make the graphics visually capture in the Caribbean
essence, spirit and culture. I was like, for sure, we have to
make it be that true representation of the melting
pot that we are. So the characters need to be
very representative of the diversity in the Caribbean.
And then we both agreed we love Justice League and Captain
Planet. I used to love Captain Planet so
much as a child growing up trying to save the planet with
the powers combined. And I think it's the same
strategy here with the Island Energy book.
Imagine if we have all these clean energy sources working
together, how valuable it would be to the Reach on how
sustainably it would be as well. So the concept behind it was OK,
We need to be very representational of the
Caribbean culture, spirit and people.
And also we need to make it fun. And what's more fun than having
superheroes? So recently I was able to get
the book brailled and I did a book reading at the Salvation
Army School for the Blind and Visually Impaired.
So that was good. I had a regular coffee of the
book, had it in large print and also had it Braille and everyone
could be a part of the conversation.
No one was missing out. So things like those mean
inclusive, you know. Each superhero embodies a clean
energy source, solar, hydro, wind, geothermal and nuclear,
combining forces to protect the islands.
Kids immediately recognize themselves in the characters.
Teachers loved it. Parents learned things they've
never been taught. In one of the most touching
moments, Zola had the book printed in Braille so visually
impaired students could join the conversation, too.
Representation isn't a buzzword. It shapes who we believe we can
become. Imagine being 8 years old,
living through a Category 5 hurricane to hit your island and
learning that you can be a part of the energy solution.
This story is much bigger than a book.
It ties into real energy challenges and opportunities in
the Caribbean. Growing up in Jamaica, one of
the most expensive bills that my mom had to cover for us was the
energy bill. You know, many people always on
the news saying, you know, even persons from the manufacturing
sector, you know, they wish they could do more, but the energy
bill is so high. So persons turn to doing
different things, whether it's like using more smart devices so
that they can lower energy consumption, just adopting as
many different principles and techniques to try to lower the
bill. If we can personally try to
invest in clean energy sources and utilize solar because we are
so blessed in the Caribbean with sunshine.
Even after the hurricane, the sun came out and that was a
blessing to help persons rebuild.
The resources are there and naturally available in the
Caribbean. Again, very blessed where we are
in the region to access geothermal energy, the sun,
water, wind and in the future nuclear as well.
I've been doing a few in person and virtual book readings.
It's a surprising especially when I see that children have
covered the topic of energy previously in class, but they
probably didn't go in depth looking at the different kinds
of energy. It's always so, you know,
they're very animated. They are saying, Oh my gosh,
this superhero looks like me. No, it looks like Chantelle.
No, it looks like Mark and which superhero they want to be
because they want that power. And you'd be reading and just
see how engaged the teachers are as well.
And also you can see as well, parents who bought the book, the
feedback is they read it. They enjoyed it too because they
didn't know any of this information themselves.
I love that. It's such a great learning
opportunity, opportunity for not just children, but adults as
well. The book has been available in
the Cosy Kids Bookstore in Kingston and they also have a
branch in Falmouth in Jamaica. It's available online on Amazon.
You can order from Walmart, Barnes and Nobles as well.
It is available at the Norman Manley Airport in Kingston.
Passing through, there's a things Jamaica also at the Devon
House Ice cream stop if everybody loves to get ice cream
and you know where it is in Kingston to get your copy of the
Island Energy book. The reception has been great and
the support and the love and just the appreciation for a book
like this has been overwhelming. I think my aspiration would be
to see more collaboration. If we truly come together within
the region and try to utilize the resources collectively, it
would be beneficial for all in terms of applying for climate
grants or trying to whether it's from like commercial residents
or for industry. I think working together is
always best and we can achieve even more.
It would be great to see all the nations within the Caribbean
coming together accessing grants or putting in proposals and
actually building out the infrastructure needed to support
different clean energy sources because we are naturally blessed
and we are under utilizing the resources and it's a pain.
It's very sad to see and persons are at the end of the day
suffering for it. You don't have access to energy
and everyone needs energy. It's all around us and we need
it everyday in daily life. Growing up in Jamaica, Zola saw
first hand how high energy bills shaped daily life and how storms
expose the fragility of island infrastructure.
The Caribbean is blessed with natural resources, sun, wind,
heat, water and now potentially nuclear energy.
But these resources are underutilized.
Infrastructure is aging, and resilience, especially after
hurricanes, is critical. Zola's hope?
Greater regional collaboration, shared infrastructure,
collective climate grants, unified energy strategies, and
an approach to clean energy that gives everyone from
manufacturing to agriculture to families rebuilding after a
storm. So what does energy justice mean
in your hometown, your region, or your community?
Who gets left behind when these systems fail, and who gets
prioritized when they need to recover?
Because Zola's commitment to inclusion and resilience doesn't
stop with her research, it shapes how she approaches
learning itself. I'll definitely be working in
the energy space, advocating for accessibility and inclusion in
the discussion of energy and climate in climate change,
climate resilience. This is something that I am very
passionate about. I have to say, shout out to
Girls Care, which is an organization that kind of helped
me start this journey of making the Caribbean more climate
resilient and sustainable. So that for me is just a
continuing what I've started building on this and trying to
see how much more of an impact and change I can make.
And for our audience, I wanted to ask solo.
What advice does Zola have to help out when you might need a
little? Push or encouragement?
I would say definitely lean on your support system.
Don't be afraid to tap into that.
I would also say don't be afraid to ask questions.
If you don't understand and you really want to do something,
just put yourself out there. If you are trying to help
yourself and others see you trying to make an effort then
they will help you too. That's literally what's helped
me so far. It's OK with being an
impossible, you don't know everything and that is fine.
Be very comfortable sometimes with not being the smartest
person in the room because that gives you an opportunity to grow
and learn. It's really just an amazing
thing because you get to learn so much.
That would be my. Advice.
Many times, and it could be whether you are brave enough to
ask the question in front of others or you reach out to your
teacher or lecture and say can I have 5 minutes at the time that
is convenient to you just to get some clarification on things I
did not understand. I've done that so many times.
I'm so comfortable now with just asking.
I know that persons will be more happy to help.
So yeah, just ask. So yeah, just ask.
Don't be afraid to ask or lean on your fellow students or
classmates, those who know a little bit more than you
understand the topic better. Just go and ask and more than
likely people will assist. Zola's philosophy is simple.
Fail forward, ask questions, lean on your support system,
don't pretend to know something you don't, and don't fear being
the least knowledgeable person in the room because that's where
growth happens. Her advice is crying it out,
venting, regrouping and trying again.
Asking for 5 minutes with a lecturer.
Reaching out to classmates with more experience.
Building resilience, one question at a time.
Because if kids can't see themselves as these resilient
students who become energy superheroes, what happens to
them when they grow up? And now it's time for our rapid
fire questions. So the first one is, do you have
any hobbies? I love going out to the beach.
I love eating, going to a nice restaurant.
Those would be my tops. I love listening to music
dancing. Your hobbies feel very Jamaican
because I love all of those things as well.
I was like beach food and dancing.
Yeah, sign me up. If you had to give a Ted talk or
a speech, that's not nuclear or computer.
Science related. What would?
You give it on. I think it would be failing
forward. Many things I am no expert in,
but I try and I fail so that that would be my.
That's great, I guess. When you do.
Fail. Or like when anybody fails, how
do you emotionally recover from that?
Because I think that maybe is one of the reasons why people
just stop after they fail. How do you build that resilience
muscle? You have to process it the best
way you can. If it means you have to stop and
cry, then you go again. In there.
Reach out to someone to vent, share your frustration, try to
journal and look at the positives that happened during
that event. Do whatever works for you, but
try again. I love that.
So yeah, make sure you get it all out emotionally.
Dust yourself off and get back out there.
If there is one place you think everybody should visit, whether
it's a beach, a restaurant, a dance, like where?
Where should people go? I think everyone should go to
Jamaica. It's amazing.
I am very proud of my country. There's so many amazing things
from the beaches, the food, the people, the events.
There's something there for everyone to enjoy.
Jamaica is amazing if you haven't been used to go.
Yeah, I definitely got to go back.
Do you have a? Favorite Jamaican food that you
absolutely love? The hard one because I had to
think about this for a while myself.
There's so many. I do love a good sweet potato
pudding Christmas time and the Christmas cake.
You know, mango season, the jewelry, mango the fruits, the
vegetables, the Curry, the party.
So. The answer is there is no
answer. There is no favorite.
I think by quantity it's a toss up between beef patties.
Like if you sat me down in front of a. 100 of them.
I could handle them just like a fresh mango like could also just
so many of them. Last question, if you had to
build and design the city of the future, what would that look
like to you? Well, first of all, it would be
a city filled with diverse clean energy sources like in the
Island Energy book, for sure. My future city would definitely
be a space that is very innovative.
It would be very inclusive, you know, and it would just be a
city that there's collaboration in every way, so no one gets
left behind, no one is excluded, and everyone benefits.
And I think that's what the city should be like.
Everyone should be positively impacted and positively
contributing. Amazing.
If you're ever running for office, let me know.
I'll be on your campaign. Just tell me where to sign up.
OK. So we talked about the places
that we can find the island energy.
Superhero book, we said. Amazon if we're.
Out in Jamaica, it's in the. Airport as well.
Do you guys have a website? The Island Energy website is
also available, so it's the Island Energy book dot my dot
Canva dot site to it gives all the resources.
You can see interviews, articles as well.
And in the future, hopefully, maybe there are some fun games
to come and activities that you can access.
After her PhD, Zola plans to stay in the energy sector,
advocating for accessibility, climate resilience, and regional
collaboration. She's shaping future policy
leaders, researchers, engineers and curious young minds.
Outreach are all a part of the bigger mission to make sure no
one gets left behind in the energy transition.
My final message would be find something that you love and work
towards it. Do the best that you can to make
a valuable contribution. So at the end of the day, you
can look back and have no regrets.
You can say, you know, I contributed to this and it
positively impacts someone's life.
Maybe you won't know in what way, but in all things just do
the best that you can. My mom always said if you are
going to be a street sweeper, be the best St. sweeper.
Just give the best effort that you can and it will be
reflected. Zola, we want to thank you for
creating a book that didn't exist until you imagined it, for
showing kids the future of energy belongs to them, and for
reminding all of us that curiosity paired with courage is
a superpower. You can find Island Energy Super
Hero on Amazon, Walmart, Barnes and Noble, in Jamaican
bookstores, and at the Kingston Airport.
We'll have the links in the show notes.
If you enjoyed this episode, share it with someone who needs
a reminder that they're capable of more than they think.
And I wanted to thank you so much for listening to Season 2
of Naked Nuclear. And I just wanted to say this
season was super exciting for me to create.
Because we looked at. Where people first got.
Curious about nuclear? Sometimes it was a class, a
podcast, a headline, a teacher. Season 2 has been about the
moment someone decides to take the step forward.
Not about megawatts or containment domes, but about
people pathways. About the very real.
Human journey into one of the most powerful industries on
earth and. What we discovered.
Is this there isn't one way into nuclear?
There are dozens. We highlighted Marcellus Boykin
at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a football player
and math major, turd mechanical engineer, then nuclear PhD
student. He openly talked about his
imposter syndrome walking into Idaho National Laboratory
wondering if he belonged. But he did the thing anyway,
showed up, asked questions, built relationships, and that's
how careers in nuclear begin. We got to chat with Doctor Fiona
Raymond, who gave us a Longview perspective on leadership,
diversity, responsibility, and why culture inside of this
industry matters as much as the technology.
We stopped by BWXT and chatted with Bob Duffy, who showed us
the world of advanced manufacturing and welding.
What it takes? To build precision instruments
and when there was a shortage of welders.
Decided that BWXT was. Going to take the reins and
create a program to train more. And getting into nuclear doesn't
necessarily mean a PhD. When we chatted with Kelly Davis
at Cape Fear Community College, we explored something incredibly
important. Two year programs,
certifications and technical pathways.
There are numerous ways for students to become operators,
maintenance technicians, instrumentation specialist.
These are high skilled, high impact careers and they are
absolutely essential. Meeting with Doctor Arturo
Dominguez at Princeton Plasma Physics Lab, we sat down and
zoomed in on fusion, plasma physics, diagnostics, the
frontier of science, different technology, but same curiosity.
Education is just the starting point for the number one
University of Nuclear Engineering, University of
Michigan. We spoke with Doctor Todd Allen
about how universities are preparing students not just to
understand reactors, but the big picture for them.
Not just to focus on math, but be holistic students
understanding why art is just as important.
We heard from PhD candidates Ryan Zerpa and Sarah Cole about
how to earn scholarships as well as follow your curiosities and
passions. We got to.
Explore maritime Nuclear with Doctor Rory Megginson and Toby
Menzies at Core Power. Floating nuclear power plants,
nuclear powered shipping, new workforce pipelines.
They're not just building the technology, they're building the
training programs, academic partnerships, and industry
networks. We learned that just because
you're quote UN quote, not good at math doesn't mean you can't
be an engineer. We sat down with Veronica Anila,
who started the nuclear advocacy resource organization Narrow at
Texas A&M University. Veronica reminds us that
education isn't confined to classrooms.
It's advocacy communication, making nuclear understandable to
communities who may have never stepped inside a reactive
building. And here's what I love most
about this season. Every guest said some.
Version of the same thing. Reach out, send the e-mail,
apply for the internship, show up to office hours.
Ask the question. Connect on LinkedIn The nuclear
industry is relationship driven, and the barrier to entry is much
smaller than you think. If you're listening and
wondering whether you belong in nuclear, you do.
If you're thinking about pivoting, you can and if.
You're already a. Seasoned veteran?
Bring someone else with you. Consider being a mentor because
that's how industries grow. Season 2 has been about entry
points, but now we zoom out because education is the
foundation. But the next question is how do
we even build the thing? Next season?
We're following the entire arc of construction from idea to
operation. We're sitting down with Bechtel,
GE, Verdova, Rano, Paragon and more companies across the supply
chain. We'll be exploring licensing and
site selection, manufacturing and fuel fabrication, workforce
coordination and operation. What it really takes to bring
gigawatts online. So.
We want to say thank you to every student who share their
journey, to every professor who opened their lab, to every
professional who answered questions generously.
Thank you for making Nuclear feel a little more human.
And if something sparked your curiosity this season, act on
it. Reach out to someone, have the
conversation. The industry is growing and the
space is here. Thank you so much for listening
to Season 2 of Naked Nuclear. It was all about learning, but
Season 3 is about building, and we're just getting started.
Until next time, stay curious.