December Newsletter

This email is Climate Corps Bay Area's monthly newsletter Is this email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. Climate Corps Bay Area Newsletter Volume 3: Issue 2 - December 2013 Member Updates Chris McKay Silicon Valley Energy Watch Program Assistant City of San Jose- Silicon Valley Energy Watch  Chris is working with the Silicon Valley Energy Watch to deliver energy efficiency projects that reduce energy usage and generate savings for businesses, municipalities, and schools in Santa Clara County. Currently Chris is readying K-12 school districts in Santa Clara County for energy efficiency funds coming from Proposition 39. He is benchmarking school energy use and sharing with school officials their energy spending and potential savings. Chris looks forward to working with and learning from the team at the Silicon Valley Energy Watch. "I'm excited for the opportunity to gain skills in the energy efficiency industry, which I believe can allow businesses to both increase their bottom line and create a positive impact on the world," says Chris.  Diana Lee Resilient Neighborhoods Outreach Assistant City of San Rafael Diana is working with the City of San Rafael and Resilient Neighborhoods, a program of Sustainable Marin. Resilient Neighborhoods seeks to provide a path to energy independence, responsible purchasing choices, and emergency preparedness within a fun and community-building environment. Diana is developing EcoTeams as well as designing and delivering a zero waste program for residents and businesses in the City of San Rafael.   “I’m looking forward to educating residents of San Rafael on how they can live a more sustainable lifestyle. I’m excited to enhance my outreach and grassroots marketing skills and implement zero waste projects for the residents and businesses of San Rafael," says Diana. Rachel OmSustainable Transportation Associate  Alameda County General Services Agency  Rachel is upgrading the county's bicycle parking infrastructure through an employee engagement campaign. She is excited to start a bike fleet that will add fun and exercise for em ployees traveling to nearby meetings. As Rachel becomes familiar with Alameda County, she hopes to implement programs and outreach campaigns that effectively reach county employees by targeting their concerns. “I hope I can partner with various public works agencies because they maintain roads and can help create more bike-friendly routes while I work on bike-friendly workplaces.”   CCBA News and Events Skyline and CCBA Our Climate Corps Bay Area team is excited about our new partnership with Skyline College in support of the Climate Protection Professional Certificate. Throughout the 2013-14 CCBA year, fellows earn academic credit through a mix of structured instructional hours and on the job applied learning.  Throughout the fall and spring semesters, Climate Corps training and program deliverables support fellows as they seek to complete this professional certificate program.   The focus of the certificate curricula mirrors the areas in which CCBA fellows are trained and address in their placements.  From the technical (climate change science and impacts, mitigation and adaptation strategies) to softer skills (project planning, management, effective communications) the current cohort of CCBA fellows gain practical experience and official academic recognition for their year of service. Stephen Miller, Climate Corps Program Director, says, "Though the Climate Protection Professional Certificate, we're able to provide fellows with formal and informal avenues for gaining experience and exposure to career changing opportunities.  We're thrilled to be able to do so with Skyline College, a longtime partner for our education and workforce development efforts."   Follow on Twitter Forward to a Friend CCBA Partner Happenings Learn more about CCBA's new partner The Sierra Business Council from fellow Bowen Humphreys, and the journey of fellow Karen Ritland from Vermont to the Sierra and the connections she makes between the two.  CCBA Fellows at the Oakland Unified School District are working on a behavior-based energy reduction program in 15 pilot schools in the district. Climate Change News Vast Freshwater Reserves Found Beneath the Oceans Scientists have discovered huge reserves of freshwater beneath the oceans kilometres out to sea, providing new opportunities to stave off a looming global water crisis. Solar Cell Degradation Observed Directly for the First Time With the help of DESY's X-ray light source PETRA III, researchers of Technische Universität München have, watched organic solar cells degrade in real time. This work could open new approaches to increasing the stability of this highly promising type of solar cell.    Alumni Corner As the Commercial Recycling Coordinator for Marin Sanitary Service, Chance Shelly (CCBA ’13) coordinates the food to energy anaerobic digestion program. Anaerobic digestion keeps food out of landfill, reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and provide a renewable energy source. The digester is scheduled to start processing food in January, which is good given the 26 restaurants on board now produce 4-6 tons of compostable food waste a day. Chance is recruiting and training a customer base of 200 restaurants, caterers, and other food service providers for the program. "I love hat my work makes a visible and direct impact," says Chance. Every day, he sees food waste come in on trucks and knows that it is not going to the landfill.   view our website | follow on Twitter | forward to a friend  Copyright © *|CURRENT_YEAR|* *|LIST:COMPANY|*, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: *|HTML:LIST_ADDRESS_HTML|**|END:IF|* *|IF:REWARDS|* *|HTML:REWARDS|* *|END:IF|*  unsubscribe from this list | update subscription preferences