At Silvestrum, we enjoy working with and mentoring graduate student interns that have a strong interest in climate mitigation and climate adaptation. We become attached to our interns and enjoy watching them flourish when they graduate and begin their new careers. Meet some of our recent interns below.
Science Teacher
Rafael Castro
Rafael interned with Silvestrum February to August 2021 while completing his masters degree at the University of California, Berkeley in Atmospheric Science. His masters research focused on uncovering the connections between historic volcanic eruptions and past climate and societal change. Rafael accepted a position as a high school science teacher at a local charter school in Oakland: Latitude High. Rafael's goal is to encourage more students of color to enter STEM fields.
Research Engineer
Soisick Figueres
Soisick interned with Silvestrum from February 2018 to August 2018 while completing her degree at ENSAT – the French National School of Agriculture Science and Engineering. She worked closely with Igino Emmer and Moritz von Unger to extract leakage and buffer data from the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) project database for a report on international peatland standards. Soisick is now a research engineer and project manager for the INRA National Institute for Agricultural Research. She is assessing a wide range of forest management schemes, including their economic and environmental performance and their vulnerabilities to storms, droughts, and fires.
Assistant Professor
Olivia Hoang, PhD
Olivia interned with Silvestrum from September 2018 thru December 2019 while completing her doctoral degree at the University of California, Berkeley in Civil and Environmental Engineering with Professor Mark Stacey. Her doctoral research focused on the hydrodynamics of South San Francisco Bay, including the tidal patterns of stratification and the physical mechanisms that create and destroy stratification. At Silvestrum, she supported the Extreme Precipitation Study working closely with Kris May and Mike Mak. She put her advanced Python knowledge to work analyzing regional climate model data produced by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory using the Weather Research and Forecasting Model. After graduating in December 2019, Olivia accepted a position as an Assistant Professor with the Civil and Environmental Engineering Department at San Jose State University.