Alana is a first-year Master’s student in the Energy and Resources Group. Prior to arriving at ERG, she received her undergraduate degree from Tufts University (2012) in Environmental Studies and International Relations. She served as an AmeriCorps National Teaching Fellow for two years at the Dever-McCormack School in Dorchester, MA, teaching 8th grade academic enrichment classes as well as a high school preparation curriculum that she developed for public schools across the Citizen Schools network. At ERG, her research interests focus on translating energy and resource issues into secondary-school-level science lessons in order to promote ecological intelligence and climate literacy goals. In addition to working on environmental education efforts locally, Alana is part of an interdisciplinary team of graduate students working to design and build a net-zero-energy tiny house for the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) Tiny House Competition. Part of the tiny house project involves leading a “DeCal” course for UC Berkeley undergraduates, teaching students how to install solar panels and put into practice green building techniques in order to promote further campus-wide carbon neutral housing projects. The tiny house is intended to produce a portion of its own food and recycle/treat greywater onsite in addition to meeting its own energy needs. The award winning Tiny House website is: THIMBY.