Pascal Mickelson is an applied physicist who develops sustainable energy technologies to address the climate crisis and accelerate the energy transition. He currently leads an effort at Arctura, Inc. to decarbonize production of nitric acid. In the lab, he gets excited about implementing new diagnostics and data acquisition systems that enable valuable, difficult-to-obtain scientific and engineering results.Previously, he lead multiple cross-disciplinary projects at PM&AM Research in Tucson, Arizona in areas ranging from energy deposition in high-speed air flow applications to non-destructive evaluation technologies. He also developed grant proposals to secure new or continuing support for research and development efforts.Working as an experimental physicist conducting post-doctoral research in quantum optics prepared Pascal to tackle his work. Before moving to Tucson in 2010, Pascal earned his Ph.D from Rice University where he built an experimental apparatus—from the ground up—to produce quantum degenerate gases in strontium. He originally decided to pursue an advanced degree in physics when he saw that the Ph.Ds he worked with at Lockheed Martin did all "the cool stuff". His liberal arts undergraduate education at Carleton College prepared Pascal for more than just doing physics research. In particular, he enjoys finding ways to explain and show science to diverse audiences.Pascal is happy to discuss career development with early career scientists or engineers interested in the transition from academia to industry.