Author: natasha

Today Allie and I had a group meeting with our host where we discussed college, grad schools, and careers. Hearing our host’s story was very intriguing. Particularly, how she started working as a Starbucks barista in the 90’s when the company was still relatively small/regional. She quickly made her way up to high managerial positions and was even on their Green Team. However, she could not work at a company she found to be so wasteful so she went to law school for environmental law. Before our group call I had an additional call with our host that was just one-on-one.

A section of my memo focuses on how land conservation boosts biodiversity conservation efforts and how crucial biodiversity is regionally and for the Earth at large. Today I spend time researching that. I also made some edits from my call with out host yesterday.

Natasha:

Not much change from yesterday, I continued to write my memo today. Again, I am writing a memo on the climate and socioeconomic impacts of land conservation in an area in Oregon, and how this fits into the Biden-Harris 2030 Plan. I have about a page and a half left on my memo and I will be finished likely by the end of the week, then polish it up and have it reviewed by our host, Brenda Schick, next week.

Today Natasha completed her outline for her aforementioned memo and gained new insight on how improperly planned infrastructure, especially on the West Coast, creates susceptibility to wildfires. Natasha plans to complete her memo by the end of the week.

Meanwhile, Allie met with our host, Brenda Schick. She talked over questions and details for her policy memo and learned about past projects that Ms. Schick worked on and what she plans to do with the information in the policy memo that Allie is writing.

Today while Natasha met with our host, Brenda Schick, Allie was busy doing both research for her project and planning the sophomore summit. Allie is working on a politics project based in Arizona aiming to add privately owned land to the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest and get funding to protect the land from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Natasha is working on a policy project based in Oregon regarding the climate impacts of a land conservation effort that incorporates conservation policy and the Biden-Harris 2030 Conservation plan. 

Today, Allie researched the positions of local and national representatives from this area in order to eventually write a memo outlining who would likely support efforts to transfer this land into public ownership. She investigated primarily the voting history and websites of Arizona House Member Brenda Barton, Arizona House Member Walter Blackman, and Arizona State Senator Wendy Rogers. 

Meanwhile, Natasha began background research into the Biden-Harris 2020 Plan, learned specifics of conservation policy with the host, and created an outline for a memo which she will be writing in the coming days. This memo will focus on the climate impacts of a land easement on a certain area and also the impacts regarding socioeconomic equity.

Above is a screenshot from Allie’s project.