In typical years, many EEM graduate students and recent graduates land a variety of exciting and important environmental and energy management jobs. The Spring 2012 semester was no exception. Here are summaries of new positions assumed by 15 EEM students and graduates over the semester that illustrate the types of positions that EEM students and graduate students typically have gotten over the years.
Indrajeet Viswanathan
Indrajeet Viswanathan began a new job as Energy Consultant with PEER Consultants, P.C., (http://peercpc.com) in Washington DC, starting in summer of 2012. Indrajeet will be working for the District of Columbia Sustainable Energy Utility at the DC SEU Navy Yard Office in southeast Washington, D.C.
Indrajeet’s new position follows up his work last summer as a paid summer intern with Optony Solar in Washington, D.C. Optony Solar is a global research and consulting services firm focused on enabling government and commercial organizations to bridge the gap between solar energy goals and real-world results. They have offices in California & manufacturing in China. Indrajeet’s work with them involved solar feasibility assessment services, RFP management services and solar system optimization services. In his work at Optony Solar, Indrajeet learned about implementation of solar systems, solar markets and the renewable energy sector generally.
In the Spring 2011 semester, Indrajeet served an internship with Elysian Energy, which is a small company about three years old operating from nearby Maryland. They do energy audits for residential customers in and around Maryland and D.C. The CEO of Elysian is another past EEM grad student, Ethan Balis. More information about Elysian Energy can be seen at http://www.elysianenergy.com
Armin Vakili and Vanessa Trejos
Current EEM Master’s students Armin Vakili and Vanessa Trejos are serving paid internships with PEER Consultants, P.C., in Washington DC, in the summer of 2012. Armin and Vanessa will spend some time in the D.C. office shadowing engineers and scientists working on energy efficiency and conservation projects, preparing environmental site assessments for sewer rehabilitation projects, and remediation projects being prepared for the U.S. Air National Guard. They also are spending some time with PEER field crews observing CCTV horizontal infrastructure inspection projects, assisting with the performance of visual inspection of manholes and pipes for visible cracks and leaks, and performing dyed-water and smoke testing inspections to detect leaking pipes and illegal connections. In addition, they are observing and participating in the performance of research studies on the efficacy of removing solids from stormwater, and in the preparation and review of operations and maintenance manuals for the new equipment being installed as part of the upgrade of the plant.
Franklin Bourdeau
As of June 2012 Franklin works as a Corporate Environmental and Social Responsibility Research Fellow at the Inter-American Development Bank. In 2011 Franklin Bourdeau served in a paid internship at the District of Columbia Department of Environment (DDOE). At DDOE, Franklin worked with Daniel Barry, Senior Climate Policy Analyst, as he develops the Mayor's Green University Compact and other sector outreach programs. He provided support to the DDOE by conducting research to identify best practices to include in the District Climate Action Plan. In his internship, Franklin attended stakeholder meeting both in the office and externally, and provided support for senior staff on policy issues such as renewable energy, green building, and sustainable business programs.
Jerry Butwid
Jerry Butwid started his new job at the U.S. Coast Guard Headquarters in May 2012. Jerry will be working on bilateral response plans with Canada, Mexico and Russia for emerging international issues. Bilateral response plans establish cooperative programs between the U.S. and other countries dealing with pollution of the marine environment by discharges of hydrocarbons and other hazardous substances. One of the current issues on which Jerry will be working in his new position is drilling in the Northern Caribbean. In describing his new job, Jerry said “Thanks to GWU's EEM program and your classes, I feel prepared for the job. The classes are topics I really enjoy….thank you for preparing me for my new endeavor.”
Dorine Jn Paul
Recent EEM Master of Science graduate Dorine Jn Paul recently began work as a Technical Coordinator in the Climate Change office at the Ministry of Environment in Haiti. Dorine also is coordinating the Designated National Authority for the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol. She says that “It is a very exciting experience where I get to apply skills that I learned in classes such as Air Quality Management, Environmental Management and so on.”
Xiao Zhang
Recent EEM Master of Science graduate Xiao Zhang (张霄) is serving as Director of Project and Production Engineering at Sunosum, LLC, in Washington, D.C. and China, a firm that he co-founded in 2009 while still a student. To date, Sunosum has directed the project Green Building integrated system for Ci Ming hospital, participated in a China state- owned solar thermal plant and coordinated a 100KW solar electricity project.
Gantula Bold
Gana Bold is working as an Environmental Coordinator at the Mongolia Mining Corporation (http://mmc.mn/) in Mongolia. Gana is responsible for the Coal Wash Plant and associated power plant. The MMC consultant company Sustainability Australia recently invited Gana to visit Australia for observe tailings dam operations. Gana reports that he is going to start implementation of ISO 14001 Environmental Management System, and his team recently announced a competition for consultants of ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 standards.
Jennifer Lynette
Jennifer Lynette recently accepted a position as a Physical Scientist position at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, after serving the past 3+ years as an Environmental Scientist with the Office of Research and Development at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Jenifer also is serving as the National Young Professionals Committee Liaison for the American Water Works Association.
Jim Lynch
Former EEM program Teaching Assistant and EEM Newsletter Editor Jim Lynch is working as a General Engineer for the U.S. Department of Energy in the state of Washington. Jim presently is working as the NEPA Compliance Officer for the extremely large Hanford cleanup project. Jim's job involves analyzing for environmental impacts and coordinating project managers to report clean-up milestones for the Tri-Party Agreement (an agreement DOE has with the Washington State Department of Ecology and EPA Region 10). He says that he is “enjoying it immensely,” and provided the following link to a video summarizing the mission of his organization: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbd-xaYd4rs
Leyla Sadigh
Recent EEM Master’s graduate Leyla Sadigh recently began work with AECOM in Arlington, Virginia. AECOM is a global provider of professional technical and management support services to a broad range of markets, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, water and government. Leyla's position with AECOM is as an Electrical Engineer II. Among her responsibilities are life cycle cost studies and electrical distribution system planning and design.
Mansi Talwar
Mansi Talwar recently started a new job with SDK Keppler and Associates in Maryland. SDK Keppler is an eight-employee company that provides green building consulting and commissioning services. Mansi says that the company has a good project portfolio and that her position is “very close to my interests.”
Wendell Davis
EEM Master of Science graduate Wendell Davis recently became Senior Project Manager at AATA International (www.aata.com). Wendell’s responsibilities include reviewing international practices in the area of environmental monitoring and experience in establishing environmental monitoring systems, and conducting environmental monitoring analyses. His work focuses on assisting Russia in updating/developing its environmental monitoring programs, and his team is providing a comprehensive review of the experience of the EU countries, countries comparable by size with Russia (USA, China and Brazil), and countries comparable by geographical characteristics (Canada and Sweden).
Dan Somma
EEM Master of Science graduate Dan Somma recently began a new job with the U.S. Navy as the Liaison to the Military Sealift Command. In his new position, Dan will be performing safety and environmental compliance oversight for Navy vessels and civilian mariners.
Giovanna Monti
EEM Professional Degree graduate Giovanna Monti joined the International Finance Corporation in the IFC’s Washington, D.C. offices as an environmental consultant.