Alexandra Maria Rodriguez Dalmau will graduate with her Master’s in Sustainable Energy and Environmental Management (MSEEM) this summer. But first, she’s going to the Roller Derby World Cup.
Rodriguez Dalmau, center, competing with the Yellow Jacket Roller Derby
(Image credit: Ethan Trewhitt)
Roller Derby Journey
Rodriguez Dalmau, better known as Dominican Dynamite on the track, joined Yellow Jacket Roller Derby (YJRD) as an undergraduate environmental engineering student. She said she only went to the club’s open enrollment to learn how to skate, “but then I learned about the sport and I really liked it, so I just stayed.”
Rodriguez Dalmau appreciated how the club gave her a break from the academic rigor of her undergrad and graduate degrees. She also said she’s made some of her best friends on the team. “Roller Derby is a great community because it’s very diverse and very open,” she said.
In her three years on the team, Rodriguez Dalmau has been part of two undefeated YJRD seasons, joined the Atlanta Roller Derby, and will now compete at the 2025 Roller Derby World Cup in Innsbruck, Austria.
Rodriguez Dalmau is from the Dominican Republic and will compete with Fuego Latino, a group of skaters from the Latine diaspora and Latin American countries without teams. And while Team USA, Team Canada, and Team Australia are expected to take the top spots at the World Cup, Rodriguez Dalmau says she’s optimistic that Fuego Latino can place in the top ten.
Fuego Latino trained together in Denver to prepare for the upcoming World Cup.
(Image credit: Alvin Green Jr.)
What's Next?
After the competition and her graduation, Rodriguez Dalmau will return to Georgia Tech as an employee at the Center for Sustainable Communities Research and Education (SCoRE). She’s already collaborating with the Center for her MSEEM capstone project, building a toolkit for community organizations to map how emerging green technology projects may affect them.
“The MSEEM degree helped me do what I wanted, which was to use what I’ve learned in environmental engineering and apply it to policy,” Rodriguez Dalmau said. “At SCoRE, my environmental engineering background helps me understand the infrastructure projects, while MSEEM helps me understand how to present the data, how the data affects policies, and how to explain the policies.”
Of course, Rodriguez Dalmau will continue competing with Atlanta Roller Derby and stay connected with YJRD as well.
“I had my last game with YJRD two weeks ago and it was emotional, especially because it was an exhibition game with alumni,” she said. “Now I’m going to be the alumni.”