Catherine Paquette

Catherine Paquette is an analyst on the Global Energy Management and Sustainability (GEMS) team.  As a recent graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, she hopes to bring creativity and new ideas to Cisco, while also learning everything she can about energy-efficiency and sustainability.  She is currently helping to develop lighting and HVAC projects for the EnergyOps Program, Cisco’s four-year initiative to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions across its operations, as well as working on new, energy-efficient guidelines for our buildings and communications strategies to amplify Cisco's sustainability initiatives.

Catherine had the opportunity to intern for the GEMS team in San Jose during the summer of 2013.  Her project was to develop a global standard for lighting controls, standardizing the way we turn the lights off and on in different Cisco space types.  By using better lighting controls, we can reduce our energy consumption (and energy costs!), which reduces our impact on the planet and makes good business sense for Cisco.  Her recommendations are now being rolled out across Cisco buildings around the world.

At Carnegie Mellon University, Catherine’s interdisciplinary degree was in architecture and environmental studies.  She focused her coursework on how architects and facilities managers can make buildings more sustainable, and was a teaching assistant for third-year architecture students. In addition, Catherine helped one of her professors develop and write about her research on energy-efficient lighting upgrades for office buildings. While pursuing her undergraduate degree, Catherine set aside time to be a part of the track and cross-country teams and was voted captain of both sports her junior and senior year.

Catherine now works out of Cisco’s Research Triangle Park campus and lives in Durham, North Carolina.  Outside of work, she enjoys going for runs in the Duke forest, exploring her new home state, reading classic novels, and spending time with her friends.