Meet Kirsten Hendriks, Senior Software Engineer here at Pathzero. In our latest Pathzero People spotlight, Kirsten looks back on how her experiences in land conservation with Bush Heritage Australia, and early days with the Girls’ Programming Network have shaped her career. Today, Kirsten loves helping to scale impact on climate change through technology.
Can you tell us about your role with Pathzero?
I'm a Senior Software Engineer and have been with Pathzero since September 2021. It’s been incredible to see the journey of the company and its growth within this time.
I work in an engineering team that supports and builds Pathzero Clarity. We also implement greenhouse gas emissions calculation models, which we build, test and maintain in close collaboration with the sustainability team.
Why do you work with Pathzero - what drives and inspires you?
Climate change is in my opinion the biggest problem that we're facing in the world. A big part of my reason for working with Pathzero is the chance to try to prevent climate change in some way every day. That means a lot to me. With Pathzero technology, we can really scale our impact on this problem.
It’s great working with people who care about tackling climate change. And I've learnt a lot from the sustainability team.
Looking back, what led you to this career?
Girls’ Programming Network
At school, I really liked maths and science. I didn't really know that a career in software was a possibility until about year 11, or year 12, when someone took me to a Girls’ Programming Network workshop.
This was a turning point for me – I realised that I could combine maths, science, and logical thinking with a career that allows me to work from anywhere.
There’s also that creative, innovative, almost craft aspect to it – and it’s applicable to a lot of different things. I can use software to work on climate change, or in a wide variety of other industries. The Girls’ Programming Network opened my eyes that this was even possible.
Bush Heritage Australia
Before joining Pathzero, I did some volunteering in land conservation with Bush Heritage Australia.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit two of Bush Heritage’s many reserves and have helped with weeding, and planting trees and native vegetation to restore those areas.
At the time I was considering going back to university to study environmental sciences, but when Pathzero reached out about a software engineering role it seemed like a perfect way to use the skills that I already had to work on solving a problem that I really cared about.
I wanted to take advantage of the outsized impact we can have on climate change through software and technology.
At Pathzero, my team builds SaaS to help clients and sustainability consultants create that outsized impact – more than can be achieved through consulting alone.
The Pathzero solution
Pathzero unites private market participants including asset owners, asset managers and portfolio companies on a common platform enabling the disclosure of carbon emissions and the actions being taken to address them.
