Her Story
About Claudia
Claudia Appiah is a petroleum and process engineering professional with over five years of experience in the oil and gas industry. She currently serves as a Process Chemist at Wood, where she supports plastic pyrolysis operations that convert plastic waste into oil as part of a low-carbon fuel pathway. Her responsibilities include analytical testing, process optimization, environmental monitoring, regulatory compliance, and Python-based data analysis. Claudia earned her Master's in Petroleum Engineering two years ago. During her studies, she worked at the North Dakota Geological Survey, where she conducted geological sample analysis. She also has experience in process safety and quality assurance for oil and gas industries through laboratory testing. She maintains active membership in the Society of Petroleum Engineers.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Claudia
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm a Christian, I believe in God, and I think I've come this far in my life because of God. There have been times that things have been difficult, there have been times that things seem impossible, but my faith in God, trust in Him, and working towards sustained discipline, and just having faith, focusing on Him, is what I believe has brought me this far.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
My sister mentioned to me that the most important thing is to be yourself and to be a person of integrity, that no matter the situation. It's important that your integrity stands at all times, even if it'll affect you in the long run. It's important that you be yourself by being a person of integrity, and your integrity will always speak for you if you're honest about who you are.
03What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
If there are people of faith out there, they should put their trust in God, but they should definitely work hard. They should learn from their mistakes, keep pushing. No matter how hard it gets, it's important to have faith in God and have faith in yourself, that you can do it. Every single time. Just know that this too shall pass. In each circumstance it will get better if you keep pushing, if you keep having faith, and you stay disciplined, you will make it.
04What are the biggest challenges or opportunities in your field right now?
In the oil and gas industry, challenges are there's always a possibility of the unknown, because in the field that I worked in, in the pyrolysis industry, is a new industry, so it was challenging, because you always have to find new ways to adapt. Adaptability is very important, and ability to think on the spot, ability to respond in emergency situations and safety situations. Challenges are adaptability. It's important to be able to adapt. It's important to be safety conscious. And it's important to be learning all the time.
05What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
Integrity is important to me. Discipline, I respect people that have discipline, and people that communicate. The reason why that is important to me is because if you don't communicate, and if you're not disciplined, you can be misunderstood by people. If you are misunderstood, and you are consistent in who you are, and you are disciplined into achieving your goals, and communicate with people, people would understand you. Discipline, communication, consistency is very important to me, and being a person of integrity.
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