College of the Canyons and the Santa Clarita Environmental Education Consortium will host the 2016 Green STEM Summit on Saturday, Nov. 19, at the Dr. Dianne G. Van Hook University Center with the purpose of introducing students to green careers.

Geared toward middle school, high school, and college-age students, the event will feature panel member discussions and speed mentoring.

“This is our fourth annual Green STEM Summit with a focus on careers in environmental sustainability,” said Jia-Yi Cheng-Levine, SCEEC member and director of International Services and Programs at the college. “We are very grateful to have 25 established professionals in the field and from regional universities at the conference to talk to attendees about possible career choices. I believe many inspirational stories of mentoring will come out of this conference.”

Dr. Jerry Buckley, Assistant Superintendent and Vice President of Instruction at COC, and Michael Haro, an environmental engineer at Lockheed Martin, will be the keynote speakers at the event. A panel of additional speakers will also take part in the event.

Attendees will also have the chance to speak with more than 25 mentors from various companies and organizations, such as Valencia Water Company, Boise Paper, City of Santa Clarita, CBS, Disney Corporate, and the Los Angeles County Fire Department.

The following universities and colleges will be showcasing their environmental programs:

* California State University, Long Beach

* California State University, Northridge

* California State University, Fullerton

* California State Los Angeles

* California State Channel Islands

* Arizona State University

* Oregon State University

* Humboldt State University

* University of California, Santa Barbara

* University of California, Irvine

* University of California, Riverside

* University of California, Davis

* University of California, Santa Cruz

The event will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in UCEN, Room 258. Lunch will be provided for participants.

Registration is required for this free event. To register, visit www.sceec.org.

The sponsors of the event are Lockheed Martin, Castaic Lake Water Agency, Santa Clarita Water Division, Newhall County Water District, and the Valencia Water Company

SCEEC is a public-private sustainability initiative sponsored by College of the Canyons, Lockheed Martin, Sempra Energy, SCV Family of Water Suppliers, and other community stakeholders that promotes environmental literacy in the Santa Clarita Valley.

For more information about the 2017 Green STEM Summit, please email Amy.Uy@canyons.edu.

More About the Panelists

Brigitte Bavousett

Brigitte Bavousett earned a master’s degree in Sustainability at Arizona State University (ASU), and now teaches at ASU and Mesa Community College. Bavousett is the founding director of a 501(c)3 non-profit international cultural exchange program and toured former Soviet countries from 1992 to 1996. She will teach a course in Cuba in spring 2017. An internship completed while a graduate student helped her assess sustainability opportunities in the private sector.

Rachel Darling

Rachel Darling is a senior at Valencia High School planning on attending a four-year university. She completed a nanoscience course during her junior year, before a teacher, guided her toward involvement with the Santa Clarita Environmental Education Consortium (SCEEC). Through her SCEEC mentor Michael Haro, Darling was able get hands-on environmental scientist experience by job shadowing environmental professionals at Lockheed Martin, National Technical Systems, Republic Services, and Atkins Environmental. She is also volunteered to help SCEEC prepare for the Green STEM Summit.

Christine Nguyen

Christine Nguyen is a fourth-year environmental toxicology Major at UC Riverside concentrating in hydrology. She is currently interning at Gilead Sciences, Oceanside Biologics site in the Environmental Health and Safety department, shadowing the senior manager and working on her own project to promote and enhance sustainability.

Todd Davis

A graduate of California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo, Todd Davis has experience performing both public and private sector environmental review and water resource planning. His work experience includes internships and full-time work at the Department of Transportation, Castaic Lake Water Agency, San Luis Obispo County Planning and Building Department, as well as Kennedy/Jenks Consultants.

Hovan Kirpichyan

Hovan Kirpichyan was a high school intern for Lockheed Martin under the mentorship of Michael Haro. While at Lockheed, hecompleted a design and cost and benefit analysis oninstalling solar panels on Lockheed’s electric carts, and with Haro’s help, he was able to start aCalifornia Envirothon Team for three schools in the Antelope ValleyHigh School District.