Proposal & 5.1

There are numerous reasons for my independent study for the following year. As a whole I think I could really benefit from working at the energy lab and working closely with Dr. Bill Wiecking. Individually, this project speaks to my two passions of environmental science and social relations. While HPA offers me options to follow these two passions I don’t get to do it together and in a real life experience that would provide me with the greatest growth for what I want to do in the future.

The course will be working closely on the social aspects of relating environmental shifts throughout projects. This could be done through the Protostar accreditation for the school, distributing energy audits to privates schools across the country, or helping bridge the gap between the some of the projects the students are working on in the elab with relations across the world. I’ve already touched on this with my involvement and leading of a series of skype classroom sessions with a group in Holland. This was through a nationwide campaign (on their part) on recognizing the growing problem of plastic waste in oceans. Environmental relations is what my project will mainly be focused on with an intensive in design relations as well. This requires real life experience working with projects and big names that depend on my expertise and connection to the energy lab. I like to think of the requirement of the project as an HPA co-op, where I practically work and interact with organizations across the globe while still remaining in high school. This requires me to make social connections, be held responsible for business interactions and seek out and learn about different accreditations and potential development in environmental schools. Since this is a rather continual process instead of a normal scientific clock in and clock out experiment, I assume that my assessments will be based off of student demonstration and performance assessment. This allows Dr. Wiecking to monitor my movements and assess me based off my reactions to situations and handling of interactions as he sees fit. I will meet with Dr. Wiecking during my independent study period as well as special meetings prior to a big event or interaction on my behalf with an organization. This will allow me to be better prepared in differing situations as I have him constantly during my independent time, as well as excess amounts when we feel it is important.

As the year has begun I have already started getting involved with the Portland CEFPI project and it’s interest towards our campus designs done last year by the APES class. I am right in the thick of things with the UN climate summit video and plan to finalize that by Friday at the latest. Hotchkiss/NAIS 2.0 will be taken on by myself and the other team members towards the end of the first semester and 2nd semester as a main project. I will also being looking into World Green Building Week and my possible involvement in that as well.