Jacob Freitas

Bio

I am passionate about all things related to climate change from why and how it is happening, to the mitigation and adaptation strategies that will be most successful in deterring its effects upon our planet. My background is fairly diversified which has allowed me to understand the ideas and points of views of many different parties in order to form cooperation and agreement between them. My undergraduate degree is in City and Regional Planning with an emphasis in climate action planning for cities. This was partially achieved through being a student member on the Cal-Poly consulting team which produced the Draft Benicia Climate Action Plan for the City of Benicia CA. Throughout my years at Cal-Poly I was lucky enough to work for 4 different companies, each in different sectors and accompanied with their own set of personal experiences for me. These sector areas included residential and commercial construction management, public sector city planning and most recently, climate change consulting. Additionally, I was fortunate enough to learn from excellent mentors during three of the four jobs which increased my experience tenfold. But overall, I have my parents to thank for raising me on a family owned cotton farm, outside of Fresno Ca, where I had the work ethic and motivation instilled in me at a very young age to be successful in life. I am not a environmental scientist, oceanographer, climatologist, engineer or anything else that would tell you I'm qualified to help you with the issues of climate change. I'm one of you – a young emerging professional that not only wants to be successful but also make a difference while doing it. I have combined my past experiences into a broad understanding of the construction and planning industries in order to apply them in ways that will not only reduce the effects of climate change but also do so in an economically and socially feasible way.