Environmental Internship Program - 2023 Booklet

Bridgette Schafer ’24
POLITICS
Certificates: Environmental Studies, Spanish
Language and Culture
FOOD SYSTEMS
AND HEALTH
PROJECT TITLE
Climate-smart
Agriculture: Tracking
Livestock Methane
ORGANIZATION(S)
Environmental Defense
Fund (EDF)
LOCATION(S)
San Francisco, California
MENTOR(S)
Peri Rosenstein,
Senior Scientist, EDF
I researched methane emissions from livestock
in the United States and globally. My work
focused primarily on collecting the most
disaggregated data possible on livestock
emissions in order to better understand the
various sources and intensity of emissions
from different sectors and species within the
livestock industry. Specifically, I sought to use
this data to better understand how species,
breed, feed type, feed intake and production
system affect the amount of methane produced
by an individual animal. Working on a team of
scientists was a new but very welcome challenge
that helped me improve my technical skills and
pushed me to think in new ways. I completed
a certification from the United Nations’ Food
and Agriculture Organization to calculate
national livestock methane emissions at the Tier
II level, streamlined statistics across various
measurements and conversion factors and
learned the intricacies of livestock animals’
development and digestive processes. My favorite
aspect of this internship was the volume of new
information I learned every day.
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