ACE will be introducing the 2014-2015 Action Fellows from our regions across the country. Check out some our brief interviews with the Reno-Tahoe Region’s new Action Fellows below. Make sure to check back later to follow their great work this year.

Alicia Wong

Alicia Wong was born and raised in Reno, Nevada. She is a senior at Edward C. Reed High School. In her spare time, she loves to dance. Alicia is on the dance team at school and also teaches at a local studio. She spends most of her free time dancing or teaching younger kids how to dance.

Alicia first started working on environmental issues when she joined the environmental club, the Reed Ecowarriors, at her school in her sophomore year. A year later she became President of the club and continues as President in her senior year. In her term as President, Alicia has had a water bottle refilling station installed at Reed, won a Keep America Beautiful recycling bin grant for her school and reduced idling at her school by 63%.

Alicia has a passion for taking action on climate change and is up to work on any challenge. As an ACE Action Fellow since early 2014, she has worked on the Washoe County Idle Free Schools campaign since its early days. Alicia has helped other schools go Idle Free and always spreads knowledge about idling to friends and family. Along with the other Reno Action Fellows, Kimberly Garcia and Oscar Garcia, as well as ACE partner, the Washoe County Health District AQMD, Alicia is now working to get a Idle Free policy for the Washoe County School District. She hopes to achieve this goal and to continue spreading knowledge about climate change.

Kimberly Garcia

Kimberly Garcia was born in Mexico City but was raised in Reno, Nevada. She is currently a senior at Innovations High School. During her free time, Kimberly loves to go on long walks to relieve stress, as well as eat good food and watch movies.

Kimberly cares about solving climate change not only because it affects her, especially through drought and poor air quality in her region of Nevada, but also because climate change affects younger children. She feels the need to make a change now and fast to allow children to live a healthy life.

Kimberly started working on climate issues when Rebecca Anderson from ACE introduced Idle Free Schools to her leadership class. Kimberly learned from her that the children are the ones affected most by engine idling. She knew she wanted to make a difference because no one ever did that for her growing up. Kimberly recruited a nearby elementary school to become Idle Free. She delivered a presentation to the school and coordinated an Idle Free art contest for the students. Another highlight of Kimberly’s work was traveling to Sacramento, CA to testify before the Environmental Protection Agency in support of lowering the ozone standard to 60 parts per billion.

Oscar Garcia

Oscar Garcia is originally from Los Angeles, California and now lives in Reno Nevada. He is a senior at Innovations High School. Oscar enjoys hiking in the mountains, weight lifting and playing soccer. Oscar feels that he has a strong connection with nature and wildlife.

Oscar cares about climate change as well as air quality because he has friends and family who have asthma. Oscar’s young nephew had asthma attacks constantly because of the air pollution in Los Angeles and Oscar saw a close friend suffer an asthma attack at school.

Oscar is grateful for the opportunity to take action on environmental issues. Rebecca Anderson first introduced Oscar to Idle Free Schools, a program that works to reduce and ban engine idling at local schools. Oscar has testified to the EPA to support a strong ozone standard, as well as presenting in front of the Washoe County School District Board of Trustees about Idle Free Schools. He is currently helping to write a district-wide policy on Idle Free Schools for the Washoe County School District.