I have been asked what exactly I do out here...how does an American Biology graduate provide anything beneficial to a sustainable consultancy for the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi. Well, there has been a bit of a learning curve I’ve had to overcome. Starting out, I not only had to acclimate to office life, but also high outdoor temperatures (wearing business attire in high 90 to low 100 degree weather can get a little uncomfortable) and a 10 hour time difference. I remember my first assignment, which was to research ‘CSR policies’ and make a template for iMCC Green. My research skills quickly came together, inhibited a bit by Arabic, which was the language every search came back in, and I was able to discovered the value of Corporate Social Responsibility Policies; some big companies do actually care about their employees and the environment!! I have also learned Photoshop, and was given the tedious task of producing documents (google earth maps with sites identified) for LEED submissions, and after was given the challenge of making a photo of a house my dad built in the fall of the 80s appear as though it was taken last summer. For the most part, however, my three month internship involved researching and writing templates.
In order to effectively manage my time and be sure I wasn’t stuck sitting at my desk without assignments, counting down the minutes of the 9 to 10 hour work day, I created my own protocol for my day to day activities. Every morning I visit inhabitat, a website containing articles on practically every realm of sustainability, among other things. It helps me ease into the work day by reading about new projects and technologies that are relevant to my work, as well as anything else that seems interesting. Most days I find 5-8 articles that lead my morning research, most of which is forwarded to the office to help keep them up to date on developments in green technologies and sustainable projects and concepts. Aside from researching, I have been writing templates for iMCC Green. The templates consist of green office policies, CSR policies, sustainability fact sheets, and employee sustainability handbooks. Some of these templates I have adapted for an oil company’s new office and others for Hilton’s new hotel. Although I have no experience with this, it turns out it is just like writing a paper...I spend a few hours doing research, then I compile everything I have learned into a well formatted final product. Making presentations is also somewhat familiar; searching the internet for cool pictures and throwing them on a power point with references. I look forward to travel days the most, going to meetings and touring sites, where I get to take pictures for the archives. These are great because I get out of the office and get to meet new people, all of whom are very interesting!
Most recently I began sailing with an adventure company, Noukhada, and am in charge of their ecotourism project. They want to expand their kayaking program and build their sailing club, which they have asked me to be a part of, and create overnight camp grounds on small mangrove islands off the coast of Abu Dhabi. Coincidently, we have learned that this year Abu Dhabi is making a big push into investing in ecotourism projects, hopefully ours will be on the forefront of many more to come!!
Overall I have learned lots about green technologies, sustainability practices, and I have found many opportunities drawing me to this part of the world.
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