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2023 Net Zero Emerging Leaders

About

The Net Zero Emerging Leaders Internship grants are given to Oregon architecture and engineering firms to employ students for a 12-week paid internship. The interns assist with the firms’ AIA 2030 Commitment to evolve design practices, meet energy targets and achieve net-zero buildings by 2030.

Energy Trust awarded grants to five firms, Hennebery Eddy Architects, LEVER Architecture, MWA Architects, Scott Edwards Architecture, and Studio.e Architecture, to employ interns from January to April 2023.

Hennebery Eddy Architects

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Alondra Maldonado

Born in Mexico and raised in Portland, Alondra is currently working on her Master of Architecture from Portland State University. With an interest in all things environmental and sustainable, she sees architecture as a way to create impactful spaces that people will love and remember forever. During her internship, Alondra is looking forward to learning how designers and architects can reshape our built environment for future generations to come.

LEVER Architecture

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Alyssa Rupp

With a degree and career background in graphic design, Alyssa is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture at the University of Oregon. She loves how architecture connects people to a place, the environment and their community. Alyssa was inspired to pursue architecture by her grandfather who was a maker with an endless desire for tinkering. She is looking forward to exploring first-hand how firms adapt and approach the complex challenge of reducing negative environmental impacts to meet a long-term goal.

MWA Architects

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Celia Crawford

Celia grew up in Happy Valley, OR with parents who renovated and built homes. With a Bachelor of Science in Interior Design from Oregon State University, as well as two internships already under her belt, Celia is looking forward to learning about sustainability, how energy usage plays into design and ways to optimize how energy is used. She enjoys the creativity that comes with finding the best solutions for a project, as well as seeing a space transformed or built.

Scott Edwards Architecture

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Melanie Guyer

Born and raised in New York City, Melanie received her Bachelor’s Degree in Linguistics from Dartmouth College. Her interest in architecture began after renovating her own house and now she is pursuing a Master of Architecture at the University of Oregon. She loves the potential that architecture has to improve communities and families on a daily basis. Melanie is looking forward to seeing how an architecture firm handles increasing demands for sustainability, as well as using data to look for trends that could help the firm set realistic goals in reducing emissions.

Studio.e Architecture

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Maryam Esmailian

Maryam believes that architecture can help solve many environmental issues. She is a second-year Ph.D. Architecture student at the University of Oregon and hopes to learn more about the AIA 2030 commitment during her internship, as well as how she can contribute to reducing the environmental impact of buildings.

Mentors at Participating Firms

Erica Thompson
Hennebery Eddy Architects
Jeff Stern and Timothy Cooke
LEVER
Jean von Bargen Root
MWA Architects
Juliette Grummon-Beale
Scott Edwards Architecture
Jan Fillinger, Jocelyn Reynolds and Mia Kalatzes
Studio.e Architecture