Out West student blog

Emily Zhao's Summer with Blue Forest

By
Emily Zhao

 

Emily Zhao works on a laptop with earbuds in her ears.

 

Emily Zhao (she/her)
Hometown: Palo Alto, CA
Major: Earth Systems ‘26
Internship: Blue Forest

During her internship with Blue Forest, Emily Zhao learns about forest biomass utilization 

This summer, Emily (she/her) is working on the science team with manager Micah Elias (he/him) and fellow intern Elaina Zachos (she/her) to learn about barriers and solutions to developing a supply chain in the western US for forest residual biomass. Emily has conducted over 30 interviews with various stakeholders, from on-the-ground foresters to policy advocates, and in every single interview, she has been inspired by their dedication to finding solutions and restoring forests. Emily feels connected with her research work especially given the ongoing Park Fire and others which continue to burn down communities and forests. She has learned about tensions between different approaches for conservation, and the nuance in good and bad fires forest fires along with enabling conditions like mechanical thinning. 

Emily has had the opportunity to have coffee chats with over ten people, and work with a variety of teams including communications and project development in the remote nonprofit that is Blue Forest. The culture at Blue Forest is very warm with no hierarchical reservations--it is just as easy to talk to a fellow intern as the CEO. Micah, her manager, has been a critical guiding force, always encouraging and thoughtful in addition to providing career advice. 

Emily's work will culminate in a written report with three diagrams. As much as she enjoys watching TV all day, Emily has also found a lot of fulfillment and joy in working with the good people at Blue Forest who are increasing the pace and scale of restoration work through conservation finance.

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