A Message from an Aspiring Scientist
From the very beginning of my education, I remember being told to save water, never litter, and make sure plastic doesn’t end up in the wrong bin—rules that my elementary school self understood as fundamental laws of life. Violations of these rules were punishable by time-outs and even revocation of recess privileges, so I was sure to do my part to protect Earth from the forces of evil greenhouse gases, just like my idol, Bill Nye the Science Guy.
I’ve held onto those convictions ever since, and my dream is to translate said convictions into real impact through environmental advocacy and research.
About CAPS in Petaluma
During the 2023-2024 school year, CAPS launched a partnership with Petaluma City Schools (PCS) to offer paid internships and climate career training to students. In CAPS’ first year working with PCS, the goal was to address the areas of building decarbonization, sustainable food systems, waste management, and transportation alongside students, working to create actionable recommendations for district administration.
My Role as a CAPS Intern
I joined CAPS as a student intern in my junior year at Casa Grande High School, a PCS school. At the time, I was looking to make an impact on my school community and learn more about green careers, so CAPS was the perfect fit.
One of my first tasks as an intern was working with others in systematizing electricity, natural gas, and solar data for PCS sites. We calculated energy use intensity (EUI) in relation to California benchmarks and identified areas for improvement across the school district. This task helped me learn how to interpret trends in energy data and make meaningful recommendations. It was a huge amount of data to work with, but we were able to achieve our goals quickly by collaborating and dividing work intelligently—a skill that has proven to be extremely useful beyond my work in CAPS.
Our second task was addressing the plastic waste of the PCS school lunch system. We interviewed district staff to inform our work and constructed a plan for alternative food packaging. We also identified alternative packaging suppliers and evaluated the costs and benefits of transitioning out of traditional plastics. Throughout this process, I built up my analysis skills and learned to distill dense information into useful recommendations.
With one other intern, I also investigated the EPA’s Waste Reduction Model (WARM) tool and provided preliminary analysis, identifying the data and information that needed to be collected. I helped draft a summary of WARM’s functions and determine possible steps for this data collection, laying the groundwork for future CAPS interns.
Looking Toward the Future
Now, as a senior, I have continued as a second-year student intern to continue advancing sustainability at my school. CAPS has been incredible not just as an internship but as an arbiter for climate action in my community, as it enabled me to apply myself and voice my concerns effectively in a way I had never done previously.
As a first-generation, low-income student, I never imagined that I could have a profound and tangible impact on my school community, but CAPS paved the way for opportunities that my younger self could have only dreamed of. Last summer, the work experience I gained from CAPS played a key role in my admission to a prestigious summer program at the University of California, Davis, where I was able to network and pursue academic research in the fields of machine learning and computer vision.
I hope to continue environmental advocacy in college while researching the application of machine learning technologies to decarbonization and climate action worthy of aspirational elementary schoolers everywhere.
About Andy Phuong
Andy Phuong is a senior from Casa Grande High School, a public school in Petaluma, California. As a second-year intern, he works in the areas of Building Decarbonization, Sustainable Food Systems, and Waste Management. He hopes to continue leveraging his experience to guide new interns and support his district’s commitment to sustainability.