Solutions for the Navy and Ocean Conservancy

What began as two internships without an end goal in sight, has officially concluded with two publications. Though my internship has wrapped, my work with the Navy is continuing, unofficially. I have been invited to join calls with the city of Monterey and NPS to discuss climate resiliency efforts and public-public partnerships going forward. At the end of my internship, I produced a small report for the best practices for military installations to consider when pursuing public-public partnerships for climate resiliency. My report has already been presented to the NPS executive leadership team and disseminated to the Naval officers around the country who I interviewed in the process. The report will also be published in NPS’ journal and newsletter. With any luck, this report will provide guidance for military installations around the country as they begin to discuss the mandated inclusion of climate, energy and cybersecurity resiliency.

My work with the Ocean Conservancy ends this week after we had our final in-person discussion of my report and professional review. I spent all summer researching the relationship between climate change and plastics with the intention of presenting an in-depth report highlighting the major contributions and ultimately, advising Ocean Conserving how to realign their campaigns. My 40 page report discusses the entire life-cycle of plastics, policy intervention points, recommendations for OC and what areas of research they should pursue in the future. My bosses seemed extremely pleased, as am I.

I am incredibly happy with the work I produced this summer as well as how much I learned. I’m grateful to both organizations for taking me on and giving me the opportunity to produce meaningful work, as well as to CBE for funding the experience because without my grant, neither option would have been possible.

Anyone interested in seeing my reports can contact me directly as I would be happy to share them. steagalljames@gmail.com

Cameron & OC

Building Relationships During COVID-19

I, like many people, had reservations about working remotely for the entire summer. Would I be able to participate and network? Would I be able to prove my value in such a short period just over zoom? Would my work style be compatible? Well, I am happy to report that both of my internships are off to great starts. I would normally describe myself as professional yet amicable, much of which is part of my in-person personality. This experience has begun to challenge that but only in the best way. Our zoom calls with Ocean Conservancy are rare but I can attribute that to the trust our team has built and also confided in me. The first major milestone being an in-person, outdoor, socially-distanced lunch meeting in Santa Cruz. We were able to discuss my work so far, the ideal outcome and also my capabilities and interests which my team has respected and simultaneously pushed me on. I’m grateful for our in-person meeting for an elongated discussion and the ability to be a bit more candid about our expectations. I have high hopes for the rest of the summer.

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Cameron Steagall: Climate Change & Plastic Pollution

Naval Postgraduate School
Monterey, CA, USA

Ocean Conservancy
Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Cameron will be splitting his time between NPS and Ocean Conservancy over the Summer, June 1-July 31, 2020. At NPS, Cameron will work on military installation and adaptation measures against sea-level rise and extreme weather events. This position is reliant on research and outreach to all levels of government regarding policy analysis and policy development inclusive of innovative solutions. This role will also involve policy analysis, development, and coordination regarding the current US position and potential involvements in Arctic policies. He will have the opportunity to brief government officials and present his findings to the Naval Energy team.

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