Alex Yachanin is a 2021-2022 Veterans Advanced Energy fellow at the Atlantic Council and a rotational program associate at EDF Renewables in San Diego, California. In his current role, he is supporting project management activities for grid-scale solar and battery storage projects. Previously, he served as a nuclear staff assistant for Naval Air Forces Pacific and as a NavalX Tech Bridge fellow supporting microgrid operations at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station. 

Yachanin graduated from the US Naval Academy in 2014 with a BS in ocean engineering and a minor in Spanish. While in Annapolis, he rowed on the varsity lightweight crew team and spent a semester abroad at the Chilean Naval Academy. He earned an MS in civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, where he worked on 100 percent renewable energy roadmaps for The Solutions Project and served as a research and teaching assistant in the Center for International Security and Cooperation.  

After finishing Naval Nuclear Power School, Yachanin reported to the destroyer USS Paul Hamilton (DDG-60), where he served as the gunnery officer and the legal officer. His next sea tour was on the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71), where he served as a propulsion plant watch officer to supervise the operations of the ship’s nuclear reactors.