Propane Personality: Emily Wood

Emily Wood
Educational Content Development Manager, Propane Education & Research Council (PERC)

Education

California State University – Monterey Bay
Master’s degree in instructional design and technology, Class of 2011

NYU Stern School of Business
Bachelor’s degree in international business and marketing,
minor in Spanish, Class of 2005

Work Experience

2019-Present
Propane Education & Research Council
⦁ Educational Content Development Manager
⦁ Educational Content Development Coordinator

2015-19
Oregon Child Development Coalition
⦁ e-Learning Developer

2013-15
Monterey Bay Aquarium
⦁ Web Project Manager, ScrumMaster

2011-13
OIC Moments
⦁ Marketing Manager

2011
U.S. Department of Defense
⦁ Assistant Professor, Project Manager

2006-11
National Geographic School Publishing
⦁ Market Research Manager
⦁ eProduct Specialist

Why did you join the propane industry, and why have you stayed?

“I’m a big believer in working for nonprofits, which is what drew me to PERC specifically. I believe in environmental justice and the fact that propane is a green energy source. I want to make sure that more people are aware of that. Before I came to the industry, I wasn’t aware that [propane] autogas was a thing, so I’ve been doing a lot of viral marketing around that. Teslas are cool. Electric cars are great, but we get major power outages.

“My whole family is in California, and there were the big fires, and I had family get stuck in their houses – they couldn’t get out because their cars were electric. With propane, you don’t have that kind of situation. So, helping people be more self-sufficient, get off the grid and ensure that they can be warm and cook and all the things that we would want – I strongly support that on a personal level.”

Benefits of e-learning

“There are a couple of different ways that people can obtain education. The most common one is classroom training: You go to a place and there’s a teacher there, and you’re all taught together. With e-learning, you can sit in front of a computer – or a tablet or mobile device, whatever it is that you want to use – by yourself. Whatever time is convenient for you, you have the ability to go through the content. The nice thing about that is it’s kind of like having a private tutor because it’s going to adapt to your level of understanding. So as you’re taking the course, you can say, ‘Hey, I don’t really get this,’ and then get into that deeper level and additional practice opportunities.”

What are you developing now for PERC’s e-learning?

“We’re coming out with a new curriculum for bobtail drivers and for cylinder truck drivers. It will probably be out at the end of the summer. With the February 2022 legislation that’s going to require entry-level driver training, we’re concerned as an industry about how we’re going to be able to recruit and maintain people with the commercial driver’s licenses. So, I think the big focus for the next year is going to be on people in a driving-type position.

“We’ve been talking a lot about doing something called ‘flipped classroom,’ which is where you would take the e-learning part of the course [first]. So you would learn all that base content such as: What’s the boiling point of propane? Or, why do we wear PPE?

“Then, you would go into the classroom experience and have an expert in the industry who’s able to answer your more detailed questions. Because once you have that base level of knowledge, you can have the practical applications of it. It can be a better use of time both for the instructor and for the students because they can fill in the gaps, but they need to have that adaptive curriculum to get to where they need to get.”

Hobbies

“I love the water. I always want to be in or on the water or on anything that gets me out there: self-powered boats, big boats, under-the-water diving, all of that. I have a dog who is very high energy, so I hike extensively. He’s a cattle dog, so we usually do three to 10 miles a day. I also like to play some bass.”