Today’s blog post comes from Maddy Kutsch. Welcome, Maddy-we’re so excited to have you on board!
I joined I Love A Clean San Diego almost a month ago now (Woo!) as a Community Events intern and enjoy every second of it! I am focusing on creating maps of cleanup sites and other ILACSD programs through ArcMap, a mapping and geospatial information program. Recently, I completed a map of Storm Drain Stenciling locations completed by volunteers in the last three years in order to discover missed locations in the City of San Diego that may not have been otherwise apparent. I also finished a map of our Adopt A Beach locations alongside the schools that received visits from our Education Department, so that schools can see which cleanup sites are convenient and practical to potentially adopt. Currently, I am starting to undertake a mapping project to determine the countywide use of the R-1-EARTH Recycling hotline by comparing the origins of calls with volunteer-reported hazardous waste dump sites across the county. It will be a challenging project, and I cannot wait to continue to aid I Love A Clean San Diego through digital analysis and mapping.
On June 6, I was lucky enough to be a part of ILACSD’s annual Kids’ Ocean Day, a massive event encompassing almost 1,000 children and resulting in a huge areal art image (if you want to learn more about the event and see our photo, head over to http://cleansd.org/e_programs.php). I still feel honored to have been included in the event, and it will be something I remember forever.
Currently, I am a San Diego State student, about to begin my final year of my Bachelor’s degree in Geography: Environmental Resource Analysis. I am also in the process of completing SDSU’s certificate in Geospatial Information Systems, so that I can work with digital maps in the future. After this year, I plan on pursuing a Masters in Geography either in San Diego or Los Angeles.
In my free time, I geek out and create costumes for the upcoming San Diego ComicCon (nothing fancy, just for me!). I also travel when I have the money, and have visited many countries around the world. This exposure to other countries in varying degrees of urbanization and development sparked my passion for sustainable growth and environmental awareness at all levels of economic and social class, and I am excited to further discover how I Love A Clean San Diego creates positive environmental change in the community.
