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Grant Chen Project Manager Grant Chen is a fourth-year Environmental Engineering major and the Project Manager of the Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning team. Leading a team for the improvement of his community has always been a personal priority for Chen. Being a part of this team empowers his interest to connect humans with the environment as we must learn how to protect it. Away from school, Chen has been working at the City of Oakland Building of Bureau where he gained experience implementing pre-construction environmental mitigation measures. Chen’s passion for sustainability helps drive the team, his goal to minimize waste, and pollution, thereby protecting his community’s wellbeing. |
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Nicholas Clifford Assistant Project Manager Nicholas Clifford is a first-year majoring in Computer Software and Engineering and the Assistant Project Manager for the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist Application. While filling this role, Clifford is able to research and gain further insight into the Vernal Pool ecosystem. He relates his new knowledge to his extensive experience with ranches. Clifford chose the Naturalist Application in order to gain experience in programming mobile applications. In the past, Clifford’s robotics teams have won various awards in state competitions. He hopes that by the end of the year, he can release the completed app, adding to the Vernal Pools research effort. |
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Eric Brown Intellectual Property Officer Eric Brown is a fourth-year Environmental Engineering student and the Intellectual Property Officer for the Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning team. Brown joined the team to gain insight on the natural landscape around UC Merced and experience first-hand the creation of a mobile application. He has previously worked with the Back Country Land Trust to create maps designed to aid in the preservation and protection of endangered species within San Diego County. With an interest in geology and sustainability, he plans to pursue a career in hydrology in the hopes to improve and protect natural water resources. |
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Preethi Merugumala Communications Officer Preethi Merugumala is a first-year undeclared Engineering student and the Communications Officer for the Naturalist Application Project Engineering Service Learning team. Being a member of this team has given her the opportunity to cultivate and pursue her interests in programming. After allocating a majority of her high school career to community service, Merugumala hopes to continue the same at UC Merced. The Naturalist Application project intrigued and encompassed Merugumala’s desire to impact the local community as well as follow her passion for programming. In the future, she plans on using the skills gained from working with this team inside and outside of the classroom. |
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Francis Ulep Procurement and Finance Officer Francis Ulep is a fourth-year Earth Systems Science student and the Procurement and Finance Officer for the Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning Team. As a team member of this project, Ulep works on standardizing the species information that will be presented on the app. Through this project, he hopes to gain professional experience in working with a multidisciplinary team and a greater appreciation of the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve. After an internship with River Partners, a not-for-profit restoration organization, he plans to pursue a career in restoration ecology and natural resource conservation. |
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Adam Whitehurst Software Management Team Leader Adam Whitehurst is a fourth-year Computer Science Engineering student and spearheads the software development of the Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve Application. Whitehurst enjoys hobby programming and video game modding, which involves collaborating on projects with others. Adam hopes to continue these activities in his professional life: game development or software engineering for business. This made him a perfect fit for this team. He has written the Google Play Store app Shooty Plane, as well as a Pomodoro Timer app that implements Apache Cordova and Angular using HTML, CSS, and Javascript. He has also produced a website for his father’s projects; found at: http://www.bombsawayboards.com/ |
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Luis Cardenas Team Member Luis Cardenas is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student. He is a team member of the Engineering Service Learning team, Naturalist Application. He chose the Naturalist Application team this year to get experience with programming and developing an application that will help inform the public about the Merced Vernal Pools and Grassland Reserve (MVPGR). Participating in Engineering Service Learning encourages Cardenas to research more about the MVPGR and understand how much of an impact the local wildlife has on the surrounding community. He is interested in Robotics and Aerospace Engineering and plays soccer and the drums. |
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Benjamin Cassidy Team Member Benjamin Cassidy is a third-year Mechanical Engineering student pursuing a career in motorsport and automotive engineering. As a team member of the Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning team, Cassidy intends to gain insight as to how a professional design process works. Previously, Cassidy has done an internship with Edelbrock LLC where he gained valuable knowledge about how designs can go from computer simulation to prototypes and onwards to final products. Cassidy plans on using his knowledge of engineering, working in a team, and professional design processes to design parts for race cars, whose innovations trickle down into road cars. |
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Sergio Manriquez Team Member Sergio Manriquez is a first-year Mechanical Engineering student working as a member of the Naturalist Application Engineering Learning Service Team. As a team member working on the Vernal Pool Grassland and Reserve application, Manriquez is on the quality assurance team that ensures that the community help that his team is providing is truly helpful and in all the right areas. Manriquez has a strong passion for the outdoors and wildlife which fits really well into the team's product and design. By joining the Naturalist Application Engineering Learning Service team, Manriquez hopes to expand his knowledge of wildlife and as well as working on a team. |
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Raymond Trau Team Member Raymond Trau is a third-year student pursuing a Bachelors of Science in Computer Science and Engineering student. As a team member of the Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning project, he hopes to gain more experience with programming and further develop his professional skills along with his communication skills. In his remaining time as an undergraduate at UC Merced, Trau wants to develop his own mobile app with the knowledge that he gained while working with Engineering Service Learning. Upon graduation, he plans to work for a prominent technology and software development company to aid game and web development. |
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Ralph Trejo Team Member Ralph Trejo is a first-year Computer Science and Engineering Major at UC Merced. Trejo is a member of The Naturalist Application Engineering Service Learning team, where he works with the programming team to bring their ideas to fruition to benefit the Central Valley. Trejo joined this team to get exposure to computer coding and the various languages and specialities that each language provides. Participating in Engineering Service Learning also provides him with hands-on experience in application development. Trejo has a preference for hands-on experience and hopes to work with computer programming in the future after he achieves his degree. |
