Goals for Summer 2020

My goals for this summer are pretty straightforward: finish my seismology workshop through Miami University, finish making curtains for my house, get accepted to grad. school, and learn something in the course of my internship. In fact, I have already accomplished the last goal as I am learning a great deal about plastics and recycling! There is plenty more to learn, however. I plan on learning more about the chemistry of the different types of plastic currently on the market and hope to learn more about implementing policy and the skills needed to create policy.

As I have no real "boss" in this project, I will be using self-discipline to ensure that I meet my allotted hours in a timely manner. I will also be using my research skills as we are trying to differentiate the multitude of plastics and bio-plastics to create a reliable catalogue of backyard compostable plastic to-go-wear for restaurants to refer to when making purchasing decisions. Finally, I will be working on my networking skills, as my previous job experiences have put me in a unique position for this project since I have personal-professional contacts in the food service industry who make such purchasing decisions, locally.

This internship is a stepping stone for me while I wait to hear back from graduate school as to the status of my application. I am using it to hone my professional skills which I have been developing for the past 16 years, since my first job as a personal assistant and office manager for a chiropractor as a teenager. Depending on the decision on my grad. school application, and the opportunities available to me after completing both my workshop and this internship, I may be looking for permanent part- or full-time work at the end of summer this year. I can see myself continuing to work on this project after the internship ends, while working on my Masters degree part-time; the ultimate goal!

GeoScience Career Panel Reflection

Last week’s career panel had three speakers whose stories resonated with me. Pat Hoban with Weber, Hayes, & Associates stood out to me because my ultimate career goal is to run my own environmental consulting firm. I was surprised that he went into consulting straight from obtaining his bachelor’s degree, as it was my previous understanding that most consulting firm partners held graduate degrees. I would love to know more about the kinds of hurdles he faced in building his portfolio of clients and projects, and what he would have done differently!

Ellen Gray also stood out to me because my first degree was an A.A. in Communication; I had wanted to be a journalist, and in some ways still do. I agree that effective writing is an essential skill for anyone wishing to do great work, as communication leads to collaboration, which in turn leads to new ideas! It was surprising to me that she works for NASA as a science writer because I hadn’t previously thought of that as an available position within the organization (despite it making a great deal of sense!). As someone who aspires to be a published author, it would be nice to know her opinion on what makes a piece stand out, both in a negative and in a positive way (beyond spelling, grammar, and syntax).

Finally, Scott Hardage’s position as an Environmental Steward with The Nature Conservancy was probably the most intriguing to me. Somehow, I didn’t realize that this position was still available in the modern world. One of my favorite classic movies is “How to Marry a Millionaire” (1953); in it, Betty Grable’s character falls for a forest ranger whose primary job is to be an environmental steward of the forest, which I always found to be a somewhat idyllic job. I love spending time in nature and want to do all I can to protect it, however, I thought that with modern surveillance technology, a live-in steward was a thing of the past. Knowing that it is not, piqued my interest for many possibilities of environmental work beyond public and private policy and regulation. I would like to know more about the details surrounding how much of a time-commitment the seasonal jobs are (for instance, how many hours/day does he spend working as a steward), as well as typical compensation rates.

While the panel discussion was very interesting and enlightening, it did not have a significant impact on my post-graduation plans, but instead reinforced them. I have just recently started at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in their Master of Science in Law (MSL) program, where I aim to hone my writing, business skills, and understanding of policy creation and enforcement. The only slight change I might consider would be to take up an environmental stewardship position if I find one that is a good fit for my schedule. Overall, it was very helpful to hear other people’s stories, pathways, and passions, as it helped me to better understand what I do and do not want to do with my future!

Final Reflection

What a summer this has been! True to 2020 form, nothing quite went as expected. While I only accomplished two of the goals I had set for myself this summer, they were my two biggest goals and I am proud of reaching them. My first goal was accomplished early and ended up being expanded upon greatly. I had set forth the goal to learn new things through my internship work at the Sustainable Systems Research Foundation (SSRF) and immediately accomplished it as I was introduced to the project I have been working on. SSRF is a “green” think-tank working on filling the gap between environmental policy and implementation, locally. My focus within the organization has been on the Waste Not, Want Not project (otherwise known as SPIN, Sustainable Procurement Integration Network). The goal of the project is to eliminate toxic, petroleum-based plastics from the food-service industry in the greater Monterey Bay area.

Through my work I was exposed to things like the ubiquity of “greenwashing,” the act of marketing products with eco-sounding words which are not actually sustainable (or “eco-friendly”) upon life-cycle analysis, and the different characteristics of plastic input materials and their effects on the life-cycle of that plastic, as well as the greater waste management system in general. Part of my work was to research products which are certified by the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI)- a requirement of many municipal “Environmentally Acceptable Food Packaging” ordinances in our project domain. It is important to note that the term “biodegradable” is not synonymous with “compostable” nor does it reflect a lack of toxic petroleum-based inputs. This seems to be a point of confusion for both the public and those in charge of legislation as “biodegradable” is often used in those erroneous manners.

Our team ‘s research has found that there are many products listed as BPI-certified that still use toxic, petroleum-based plastics. This is because biodegradable simply means that the material will break down, via microorganisms in the environment, into molecular form over time. It does not mean that there are no conventional plastic additives in the matrix, nor that it is safe to use in compost, or even that there are enough naturally occurring microorganisms that can realistically break down the material. Our team has concluded that there is only one truly safe plastic-alternative currently in mass production- PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), which is a fully bio-based polymer with no petroleum additives and compostable in a backyard-style operation. PLA (polylactic acid) is another bio-based polymer with no petroleum additives, which is technically biodegradable but only by a specific set of microorganisms not prevalent in nature. This means it usually requires industrial composting facilities in order to for it to actually break down in a timely manner; and unfortunately, there are no such facilities in our domain. In fact, our team found that these facilities are generally few and far between.

I also gained project management experience in a volunteer-based capacity. As the only person in our non-profit with extensive corporate- and food-service-based experience, I took the helm with the business outreach part of our project. With a constant rotation of volunteers and interns, of widely varying professional experience, entering and exiting the project, I learned that sometimes it is best to assign a project to a group without specific roles defined, as this will allow the team to organize themselves based on ability rather than simply basing titles on time-of-entry to the project. When one is given a title, they perform their duties based on that title, whether or not their experience and abilities fit the title bestowed. This can be good in one respect as it can create a learning opportunity for those who might not yet have the experience to fit the title, however it can also result in a great deal of time wasted in the space of the learning curve.

Finally, I also learned that a much of environmental legislation is rather hollow when it comes to actual implementable language. As previously mentioned, much of the local legislation requires food packaging that is BPI-certified, yet that certification does not live up to the spirit of the reason for the legislation which is to make waste management safe and straight-forward. Both state and municipal legislation provide similar reasonings for their various waste-management policies and ordinances: to limit the amount of solid waste produced in the state/municipality in an effort to stimy the environmental and social impacts of waste left to accumulate in the environment (i.e. landfills or otherwise). Yet by allowing products which are simply BPI-certified, legislators have allowed for a loophole where petroleum and bio-based plastics still accumulate in our landfills and waterways.

This is not lost on them. There are currently two pending bills in California’s State Legislature SB-54 & AB-1080, which combined are known as The California Circular Economy and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act. These bills will go for a second vote this October and would place much more stringent rules on plastic-use throughout the state. The City of Santa Cruz will also implement an update to their “Environmentally Acceptable Food Packaging” ordinance in the coming days that requires food service businesses to offer only non-petroleum-based plastics that are also not 100% PLA, else they charge a 0.25₵ per disposable cup sold and be subject to code violations for non-compliance with cups or other related to-go-wear products such as cutlery, straws, and packaging.

As I reach the end of my internship hours, I have been happy to announce that I will be staying on as a volunteer as part of my new school’s Pro Bono program. This leads me to my second goal accomplished this summer; I was accepted to Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law (NU Law) for their Master of Science in Law (MSL) degree program. This program integrates business, law, and technology to provide interdisciplinary students with the skills necessary for legal work in the STEM sector of business. As such, my current project is the exact type of focus I had in mind when applying to the MSL program and I am grateful that NU Law has incentives in place which allow for me to continue my work with SSRF. In all, my experience with the GEOPAths Summer Internship has allowed for a great deal of edification in my business skills and policy work, for which I am grateful to the program.