The Energize Colleges program is in full swing in its third year at Skyline College. The Energize Colleges team is led by Project Coordinator Angie Gutierrez, Faculty Supervisors Dr. Carla Grandy and Dr. Carina Anttila-Suarez, SMT Division Dean, Ray Hernandez, the District Sustainability Team with Joe Fullerton, Madeline Willett and Isaac Knipfing and Climate Corps fellows Josh Bonneson, Julie Nguyen and Luis Zavala. We are pleased to share the work that our 10 Energize Colleges interns have been busy accomplishing this year:
Marc Cirilo was tasked with conducting a waste audit on Skyline College’s campus, which took place on April 9, 2019. Dr. Carla Grandy’s environmental earth sciences class participated in the audit, where they learned about the importance of composting and recycling. Marc is also revamping and promoting the campus ReUse Hub to promote up-cycling of office supplies, notebooks and binders amongst the student community.
Francis Manansala is working as the Energy Systems Technology Management intern. Francis assisted with conducting an envelope audit of certain buildings on campus, which helps locate areas of heat and energy loss throughout the building. He has also assisted Capuchino High School’s Green Construction Design and Building course where he taught the class how to use energy auditing tools and invited a guest speaker in the green workforce to talk about his experiences.
Adele Wu is tasked with working on the Car Counter project, a project that was previously started by a former Energize Colleges intern. She will continue development of the car counter prototype and begin beta testing in one of the Skyline College parking lots.
Jessica Ngai, the Energy Savings intern, will be working alongside the Car Counter intern to research and implement utilizing solar panels for the car counter so that it can generate and sustain its own power.
Victoria Lopez and Silvia Cammareri are the Sustainability Education interns at Rollingwood Elementary School in San Bruno. Victoria is creating new signage for the landfill, recycling and compost bins for the school. She is researching the feasibility of constructing a composting area at the school. Silvia has been working with staff to implement marker recycling on campus and is adding a ReUse station in the teacher’s lounge for teachers to exchange and reuse supplies such as folders, binders and other school supplies.
Anasanique Fountain is the Solar Panel Reuse intern. She is tasked with finding ways to upcycle solar panel units leftover from Skyline College’s previous Solar Technology program to create a solar-powered apparatus that can be enjoyed by the Skyline College community.
Chris Wardell is the Electric Vehicle and Transportation intern who will be promoting and supporting vehicle electrification and EV rider and drivership. He is tasked with conducting surveys, research and data analysis to drive decisions for the expansion and improvement of EV charging station infrastructure, policies and practices.
Stephanie Thompson is the Green Office intern. She will be promoting and expanding the Green Office Program in various departments on campus to create more awareness of its existence and utilize its opportunities for resource reduction through green office practices through different rating systems.
Layla Victoria is the Sustainability Pathways intern, whose focus is to conduct outreach and education that promotes and supports sustainability on campus. She is also collaborating with Women’s Mentoring and Leadership Academy, Social Justice & Sustainability Community of Practice and Pink Blossoms to help plan and facilitate a pop-up thrift shop for women in transitional homes.
Article by Angie Gutierrez | Photo by Dr. Carla Grandy
