My name is Jaime del Pilar. I am 39 yrs of age and have lived in the Redlands area for the past 22 years. However, I was born in Harbor City, CA. For the past two years I have been in college majoring in Water Technology and am interested in the biological side of one of life's most important resources. My primary career goal is to work in a water treatment and distribution plant as an operator, valve turner, pump mechanic, etc. I am married and have 4 children. My wife and kids have a snake, a dog, 2 turtles, a guinea pig, 5 fish, and sometimes a mouse. My interests are taking long drives anywhere, seeing and going to new place, listening to music, hanging around with my family, playing video games with my kids, and fixing things, to name a few. My hobbies include doing things that interest my wife and kids and a couple of other outdoor recreations.
I am interested in Environmental Science because as the world around us changes, we as humans have to keep finding new ways to accommodate our way of living. I feel that this life style has put a heavy burden on our environment. With our lives becoming more and more technologically advanced as the years come and go, so does the demand and the consumption of our natural resources. In fact, www.footprintnetwork.org/calculator calculates your ecological footprint based on your lifestyle. Based on the information I entered in the calculator, if everyone lived like me, we would need 6.4 planet Earths, 28.6 global acres of the Earth's productive area, and 32.1 tons of carbon dioxide to provide enough resources to sustain our lifestyle. Sadly, my ecological footprint breaks down as such: services 31%, food 32%, mobility 22%, goods 9%, and shelter 6. Clearly I need to make some changes. If we keep consuming these resources at an accelerated rate in the coming years due to population growth, and continue polluting our natural resources such as air and water, the next generation will only hear and read of the things that once were. I hope that the current biology I am taking and the future biology classes I plan on taking will give me a better understanding on how my family and I can somehow contribute to the conservation of this place we call home so that future generations can enjoy the same privileges we've been given. Finally, as a certified water treatment operator, I am curious about how we (humans) can find other water sources rather than depleting our underground aquifers which can have a negative effect on our planet’s surface, not to mention that once an aquifer has been drained it can be extremely difficult or impossible to recharge.
