Math, MEPP grad takes on waste management in the Philippines

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BY Faculty of Engineering

January 27, 2011

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/clarablakelock.jpeg” caption=”Clara Blakelock, a graduate of the Master’s of Engineering and Public Policy program at McMaster, is heading to the Philippines this week to work on a waste management project. She will spend six months in the country, working as part of the third group of interns on the project. Photo via garbageintern.wordpress.com.”]

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She has spent much of her life studying mathematics, but a change in studies will put
Clara Blakelock on a flight to southeast Asia this week to start a six-month internship
on a waste management project in the Philippines.

Hired by Sustainable Cities International, a nonprofit organization focused on urban
sustainability, Blakelock will help set up a waste services program for an un-serviced
neighbourhood in the city of San Fernando, located about 70 kilometres north of the
capital city of Manila.

It's a new adventure for Blakelock, and one she hopes will help to improve people's
lives.

After earning her undergraduate degree in mathematics at McMaster, she enrolled in a
PhD program at the University of Michigan but eventually sensed a need for a change
in direction.

“After about two years I began to realize that I was unsatisfied by the work,” she said. “I
wanted to do something that was much more practical and would directly affect people.
I have always been an environmentalist and began thinking about working in
environmental policy.”

In December 2008, Blakelock left the PhD program and began applying for government
policy jobs. After a few months, she realized she did not have the right education for
the kind of work she wanted to do and began to look for a program that would help
her meet her goals. That's when she discovered the href=”http://msep.mcmaster.ca/epp”>Master's of Engineering and Public Policy (MEPP)
 program at McMaster.

“I did my undergraduate degree at McMaster and I liked the school,” she said. “The
MEPP program looked really interesting to me, and I applied even though I wasn't sure I
had exactly the right background for the program, since I don't have an engineering
degree. I'm really happy with the decision because I met great people and developed a
lot of new skills that complement the ones I already had.”

Blakelock will be part of the third group of interns to work on the waste services
initiative. A total of 12 interns will work on the program over three years, taking
residence at a beach house in the nearby town of San Juan.

“I think the MEPP program has given me a good basis in theory which I am eager to
apply in practice,” she said. “The program emphasized stakeholder consultation which
is going to be a large part of my job in San Fernando. I also think that the decision-
making methods we learned in the systems engineering course will be useful in the
work I have to do. In general, the MEPP program solidified my interest in working for
sustainability by highlighting so many local and global critical environmental issues.”

Blakelock is familiar with waste management policy in Ontario, having studied the
province's Waste Diversion Act as part of her master's degree, and gained valuable
community engagement experience working with Green Venture in Hamilton. She
hopes to put such knowledge to good use in San Fernando.

“I'm interested in waste management because it is such an immediate problem and
something that we are all faced with every day,” she said. “Waste reduction and proper
disposal is an issue that many people can get behind – even those who might not
consider themselves environmentalists. Unlike carbon emissions, which is also an
important issue, waste is something you can see, touch and smell, and so I think it's a
good place to start when trying to get people to become more environmentally aware.”

Blakelock spent a week earlier in the month training for her assignment and being
prepped for dealing with cross-cultural communication, culture shock and other
challenges interns may face.

“I'm most looking forward to getting hands-on experience in community engagement
and in waste management,” said Blakelock. “This is also the furthest I have ever
travelled, so I am really excited to meet as many people as I can and immerse myself in
the culture.”

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