| Baylor > Environmental Science > Student Spotlights > Brian Jonescu |
"My time spent in the Facilities and Fleet Department was mainly focused on air quality," says Brian.
The opportunity of working with air quality gave much time to go through permits issued by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and determine what forms needed to be resubmitted or not needed while on the job. Forms involving tax benefits and breaks for using alternative fuel sources for vehicles showed to be an important role for Jonescu that involved calculating and analyzing fuel consumption data, vehicle mpg data, and the water district's van pool effectiveness. "I learned about how effective communication is among various public agencies in order to accomplish the greatest good for the public," mentioned Jonescu. This internship was a continuing learning opportunity about the water industry for Jonescu, and brought a real world perspective of future projects by water districts in order to help reduce water stress by a growing population.
Brian also had the ability to conduct weekly walk-throughs of the vegetation to make sure that all species were local and not invasive. Along with taking weekly measurements, he helped collect weekly, monthly, and yearly water samples from NTS sites to be analyzed by the Water Quality Department. While collecting many samples at NTS, Brian calculated and organized data on removal rates of nitrogen, phosphorus, selenium, and various bacteria species, along with operating costs of each site to be used in the NTS yearly report.
