Austin Kinzer

In his role as Agrivoltaics Senior Technical Specialist with the American Farmland Trust (AFT), Austin works with a broad range of stakeholders to advance farmer-centered solar projects around the country and ensure agricultural communities benefit from the transition to clean energy. Originally from the Pacific Northwest, Austin is now based in Colorado where he earned a B.S. in Environmental Engineering from the University of Colorado Boulder and an M.S. in Advanced Energy Systems from Colorado School of Mines. Prior to joining AFT, Austin was a graduate intern at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) where he researched agrivoltaic irradiance modeling, worked on agrivoltaic crop trials, and co-authored technical reports on agrivoltaics and agricultural decarbonization. Prior to NREL, Austin worked in commercial and industrial solar development, served as a Climate Corps Fellow with the Environmental Defense Fund and Iron Mountain, and volunteered at Jack’s Solar Garden, one of the largest agrivoltaic crop production sites in the US.