CALP, Vancouver BC
My first Co-op work term was with the Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning (or CALP) at UBC. I was fortunate enough to work in an interdisciplinary and supportive environment where there was something new for me to learn every day. My primary task was to work on a project called The Citizen’s Coolkit (in short the Coolkit), which for me was the amalgamation of everything I had wanted in a co-op placement. It encompassed community outreach and engagement, computer work/research, and interpersonal dynamics. My roles included attending public events and hosting workshops, using the Adobe suite to create Coolkit pages and brochures, helping the other CALP staff, and preparing various maps of Vancouver. From working on the Coolkit, I learned more about office dynamics, solidified urban forestry knowledge, and most importantly got to meet and work with understanding and exceptional people. This opportunity exposed me to the wide variety of career options students have with urban forestry and helped me learn what I want with myself. For me, it also hammered home that people, not their degrees, choose their jobs and careers.
