With the Equine Center Solar PV project completed and the final Comprehensive Campus Renewable Energy Feasibility Study reports being written, these Clean Energy Fund projects are winding down. My outreach duties have not however, and with the final weeks of the internship coming to an end I have been working on multiple press releases, an information pamphlet for the Equine Center, and reflecting on what I have learned over the past weeks and how these new skills will affect my future career.

I have had a busy two weeks revisiting some areas of campus for photovoltaic reports as well as continuing my work with the Equine Center interviews. However, the majority of my time has been spent researching solar thermal technologies in preparation for our upcoming campus wide feasibility analysis with respect to that technology. Both the Equine Center installation and the campus wide feasibility study are progressing smoothly as we approach the half way mark of the project.

I have learned a lot since the start of the Clean Energy Fund internship two weeks ago. The first days began with meetings so that all the interns could meet one another as well as the UVM and CHA employees that we would be working with. Clough Harbour and Associates  (CHA) is an engineering firm that UVM selected to work on the project.  After being introduced to what the internship would entail, the schedule and deliverables of the project were laid out.

Experience experience experience. That is what an internship entails; work experience, social experience, life experience. This internship has me enthused at the fact that I will have an experience of learning and creating, putting all my knowledge to the test. The Clean Energy Fund internship started with meeting the internship team, talking about our tasks and responsibilities, what we would like to gain from our experience, and what our advisors wanted from us.

My initial thoughts on the two studies at hand (the Equine Center Installation and the Comprehensive Campus Renewable Energy Feasibility Study) were admittedly a bit scattered during the first week or so.  I found myself wondering what exactly I would be documenting over the summer, and what the public is going to be most interested in.

Over the first week and a half of the Clean Energy Fund internship we have begun outlining the basic deliverables for the overall project and subsequently scheduling out the allotted work. The first few days consisted of meetings with both the UVM staff as well as the on-site CHA team members. I also met briefly with the construction team at the Miller Research Farm Equine Center to discuss the time frame for the solar installation.