Voices for Change #2: Finding Your Niche in Climate Tech – No STEM, No Problem! by Hannah McKeown

Insights from a social sciences graduate on how I found my place in climate tech with a business degree (no STEM required).

2024 was the hottest year on record globally, and the first year to surpass the all-important 1.5C threshold*. This trend is expected to continue in 2025, following consecutive record-breaking years in 2023 and 2024.

This is worrying. It’s only the first few weeks of 2025 and, already, horrific wildfires have ripped through Los Angeles, California, destroying homes and livelihoods. As I write this, I’m locked up at home as storm Éowyn is battering the UK and Ireland, bringing Northern Ireland’s first ever red weather warning. 

The need to combat climate change is become increasingly more urgent day-by-day, as climate disasters and extreme weather events creep closer to us all until we’re the ones living them.

“Climate change will manifest as a series of disasters viewed through phones with footage that gets closer and closer to home until you’re the one filming it”

– Akhila Kosaraju. 

Climate technology companies have therefore become key players in shaping our future, which is why I wanted to work for CATAGEN. I want to feel like I’m contributing to the battle for our future, against climate change, to help “clean and decarbonise the air” – CATAGEN’s purpose.

CATAGEN is a Net Zero technology company, developing a suite of advanced climate technologies called the ClimaHtech system. ClimaHtech is a platform to generate green hydrogen, bio-hydrogen and e-fuels with complementary systems for carbon capture and hydrogen compression. The system is built to decarbonise some of the most polluting industries in the world, such as cement which accounts for ~8% of global carbon emissions, or aviation, accounting for 2.5%. This is a huge challenge that will need collective action, not just activism.

But I’m not an Engineer… so where do I fit?

Climate technology is a predominantly engineering-driven space, and my background is social sciences. At first it was hard to see my place in this industry, without STEM-based qualifications I struggled to envision where my skills fit in. Working with CATAGEN, however, opened my eyes to the critical role of commercialising sustainable innovation. I’ve realised that my perspective is not just complementary but vital to creating meaningful impact.

If you’re a social science student who is passionate about tackling climate change through your career but feel STEM isn’t your path, this blog might help you see where you can make a difference with your skillset.

About me…

I’m Hannah, the digital marketing executive for ClimaHtech in CATAGEN. My role encompasses all things marketing and communications, focusing on building brand awareness of the ClimaHtech system of decarbonisation technologies. I support CATAGEN in engaging with early adopters and key scaling partners across several industry segments for its biohydrogen and e-fuel projects. I represent CATAGEN on the organising committee for Hydrogen Ireland Conference and I’m a 2024/ 2025 30 Under 30 Northern Ireland Climate Changemaker, working to shape a better future for the island of Ireland.

I studied at Queen’s University Belfast, where I graduated with a first-class honours in BSc International Business with French after completing a consultancy project with CATAGEN on internationalisation and market entry strategy. Next stop: UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School, where I earned an MSc in Project Management on a fully funded academic scholarship and took home the UCD Ken Meates Medal for the highest grade of 2022/2023. Safe to say, social sciences are my sweet spot—and I’ve got the medals to prove it!

The Importance of These Roles in Climate Tech

Marketing in climate technology is crucial for building brand awareness that showcases innovation, attracts partners and investors, and enables the scaling of solutions to drive global impact. We translate complex technologies  into engaging and relevant communications that sells not only our technologies but, more importantly, our purpose. If you’re a creative, this is where you’ll fit in perfectly. From graphic designers to copy writers, marketers, social media managers, and content creators – these are essential to showcase the technology with key features and benefits to decarbonise industries.

For CATAGEN, commercialisation pieces together the puzzle of identifying the ideal market, location, and product features for climate technology, while managing the scale-up process to ensure these innovations become accessible and impactful on a global scale. CATAGEN’s purpose is to clean and decarbonise the air, so the accessibility of transformative climate tech in hard-to-decarbonise industries is priority.

“The commercialisation of sport is the democratisation of sport.” – Andrew Young. Equally, the commercialisation of climate technology is the democratisation of climate technology.

Fitting together the Puzzle Pieces

My background equips me to analyse and contextualise the forces shaping the climate technology sector. While engineering provides the technical backbone for solutions, the drivers of these technologies go far beyond innovation in materials or design.  

First and foremost, the driver and purpose of CATAGEN’s ClimaHtech technologies is to combat climate change by targeting the most polluting industries and focusing on areas with the highest potential for decarbonisation. However, achieving success requires ideal socio-political, economic, and environmental conditions or drivers, as without these, meaningful decarbonisation can’t be accomplished.

If you’ve ever studied business, even at the most basic level, you’ll have come across the PESTLE analysis. PESTLE analysis is a tool used by businesses to assess macroeconomic factors that impact their operations. It looks at the political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental factors that influence a company’s operations, strategies, and market opportunities. Below is a high-level PESTLE analysis of factors that CATAGEN, like any other climate technology company, must consider when commercialising its transformative technology.

PESTLE is very high level and just scratches the surface of what needs to be considered when commercialising CATAGEN’s ClimaHtech technologies, however it does give a great insight into the sorts of topics that are valuable in shaping strategic decisions and market opportunities.

If any part of this landscape resonates with you—be it marketing and consumer habits, economics, government and politics, or even a mix of interests—there’s a place for your skills in this dynamic and increasingly more important sector.

You can have an impact. Make sustainability a non-negotiable in your career and join an industry that makes a difference.

Follow us on LinkedIn to keep up to date with the hard work our team members like Hannah are doing every day.

About CATAGEN Voices: 

“Voices for Change” is a blog series authored by members of CATAGEN’s team, offering a unique glimpse into the people behind the innovation here. It provides a platform for them to share their insights and experiences on the climate crisis, sustainability, and climate activism. Each post introduces a fresh perspective, enriching the conversation around meaningful climate action and decarbonisation.