My focus

I hope all of your internships are going well so far!

The position I took on at Maricopa County Green Government Program was focused on a program called OffSET (Office Sustainability Empowerment Tool). The other intern and I were going to evaluate different county departments such as Flood Control, Environmental Services, Air Quality, Library District, Medical Examiner's Office, and Public Health among others and determine their sustainability efforts focusing on air, energy, waste, and transportation. We worked with a program the previous interns created that provided a checklist of what to look for when doing these assessments. There are three levels for these departments to complete along with certificate with the completion of each level. In addition, the standing of each department for OffSET is posted on the GGP website to show what each department has done and how much further it needs to go. We looked at how many lights were being used and what kind they are, how many plants offices had, how many offices had natural light capability, what is getting recycled, how employees get to work in terms of transportation, etc. Assessing these departments not only taught me about the efforts they are putting forward, but also the type of work they are doing and how they implement office sustainability into their everyday routines.

About Me...

My name is Amelia Liliana Herrera. I usually go by Liliana or Lili. I am a senior on my last semester (Woohoo!) majoring in Sustainability and Urban & Metropolitan Studies. I look forward to read about all the internships you guys are doing this semester and what you learn from them! My blog is going to be a little different since I had my internship last semester, so I will write what I can mostly remember and I apologize ahead of time if my posts are not at detailed as the rest of yours.

Last semester, I interned with the Maricopa County Green Government Program. Jonce Walker, who is the Sustainability Manager, was my supervisor.  I heard about the Maricopa County GGP at a luncheon I attended a few semesters ago. The Second Annual EcoAid Luncheon persisted of careers focusing on different aspects of sustainability where four different panelists, Mr. Walker included, spoke about their careers and answered a few questions about sustainability within their careers. I emailed Mr. Walker a few months later about possibly getting an internship with GGP. I interviewed and got the position along with another ASU student. It was a great opportunity from which a learned a great deal and meet very bright people.