This Buckeye explorer charts courses for change
Alumni board member Ellen Crivella ’03, ’06 MS combines curiosity, service and science in her worldwide work for good.
As a child, Ellen Crivella ’03, ’06 MS spent hours outside exploring. “I was born with a love of nature, a real curiosity about why certain trees grew where they did and why certain animals were in specific places,” Crivella says.
The need to find answers to her many questions followed her and fueled her successful career as an ocean infrastructure and renewable energy executive. She now serves as vice president and head of development at Wetstone, a global offshore critical minerals exploration and development company.
By striving to make the world a better place through her profession and keeping alumni everywhere connected, Crivella embodies the best of our Buckeye spirit.
-
In what ways did you grow as a Buckeye?
I joined the first class of Mount Scholars in 1999. This instilled in me the value of leading with integrity, reflecting the ethos of Ruth Weimer Mount [Ohio State’s first dean of students who wholeheartedly dedicated herself to community service]. Two other women, Kathy Cleveland-Bull, who created the program and led it the first year, and Kathy Krajnak ’86 MA, who picked up the baton, shaped my view of servant-leadership. I work on large infrastructure projects, and my guiding principle is: How is this going to make things better for people? Whether that is renewable energy, offshore wind, solar, battery storage—and for me now—in the critical minerals space.
Professor Nick Basta’s soil science classes were hard, but I loved every minute because he was such a good science communicator. I carry that with me as I’m explaining difficult topics so anyone can understand, which is essential to the community engagement we do.
I also learned to look at things from a systems level. There are discrete challenges we’re trying to solve, but you have to consider the big picture. Many of the courses I took, especially in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences’ School of Natural Resources, helped me think this way. Now it’s the School of Environment and Natural Resources. I helped change the name while I was a graduate student.
-
How did you establish Ohio State roots?
I came for one of the Scarlet and Great admission days, which targeted high-performing students, and visited the Olentangy River Wetland Research Park. I thought, “Wow, imagine all the hands-on learning you get to do here!” From the beginning, everyone I met loved Ohio State. It can’t be just for show if literally everybody is so happy about being a Buckeye. And I got to meet Brutus at Scarlet and Great Day. Brutus can seal the deal for anyone.
-
Tell us your Buckeye love story.
I met my husband freshman year. We lived in the HBH complex—Halloran, Barrett and Houck residence halls. I was on hall council and the community service chair. Dan [Jaynes ’04] was a floor rep in Houck, which was the engineering-centric residence hall. We got engaged on the Oval’s Long Walk in 2014, and even named our dogs after “Le Regiment” [Reggie] and Howard “Hopalong” Cassady [Cassady]. Kirk Strohman ’04, a fellow Ohio Stater, officiated our wedding.
My sister is a Buckeye [Leigh-Ann Crivella ’14], and I am already putting the sell on my nieces and nephew. Dan’s parents and brother are alumni. We’ve become a full-blown Ohio State family!
-
How did you take your inner explorer off campus?
Through the Evolutionary Ecology and Organismal Biology program, with Dr. Peter Curtis, we went to Costa Rica. We collected data in the jungle, cloud rainforest and desert.
Between undergrad and graduate school, as part of my field studies, I lived on South Caicos, a small, sparsely populated island. We did surveys in and outside the marine protected areas to look at species abundance and diversity. I also did a pre-law study abroad program in Oxford, England.
While attending the Washington Academic Internship Program my senior year, I worked at the Environmental Protection Agency in the Oceans, Wetlands, and Communities Division, a group of regulators I work with today. It’s amazing how Buckeye experiences come full circle.
All of this would not have been possible without a lot of support from scholarships. That’s why I volunteer locally with the Portland Alumni Club and chair the scholarship committee. We send students from Oregon and southwest Washington to Ohio State.
-
What stands out from your board service?
The Alumni Association has been intentional about aligning the timing of their strategic planning process with the university’s plan. Tying to broader themes keeps alumni connected back to their alma mater. I’ve been really impressed by Ohio State’s and the association’s thinking about technology and AI, including integrating AI for accessibility and allowing information to flow more freely.
In my work, AI helps us make smarter decisions, analyze large data sets and increase transparency around environmental impacts. For example, cameras set up on offshore wind turbines’ underwater foundations capture the artificial reefs they make, which attract fish and other marine life. Through AI tools, we can process and transmit this visual information to the public. After all, a picture’s worth a thousand words.
