Erick Joel Hernandez, Environmental Instructional Laboratory Technician III

Biographical Information 

A.S. — 1989 — Chemistry — Los Angeles Trade-Technical College
A.S. — 2000 — Electronics — Pasadena City College

Professional Experience

Erick is responsible for the environmental and geotechnical engineering laboratories. He sets up and maintains the labs and the equipment, and also troubleshoots, repairs, and refurbishes the chemical instruments. 

In the environmental laboratories, tests are carried out for gas chromatography, atomic emission spectrometry, atomic adsorption spectrophotometry, ion chromatography, biological oxygen demand, chemical oxygen demand, alkalinity, and hardness testing; and compaction, consolidation and triaxial tests in Geotechnical Engineering.

Prior to working at USC, Erick gained experience in the environmental field analyzing inorganics, metals, gas chromatography, drinking water, wastewater, and hazardous waste, as described in the protocols of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Standard Method of Water and Wastewater. As a technician, he performed the EPA extraction methods and florisil cleanup among others, before they were analyzed by gas chromatographs and gas chromatographs/mass spectrographs. As a senior chemist, he developed, implemented, wrote standard operating procedures, and trained new chemists, technicians and visiting professors.

Erick assisted chemical engineers in the analysis, treatment, remediation, disposal, and storage of hazardous waste and wastewater. He carried out studies of wastewater for the reduction of high concentrations of cyanide and metals, and the neutralization of concentrated acids and bases; and approved the disposal of hazardous wastes into TSD plant and the discharge of processed water into city sewers always and when they were below permitted detection limits.

Volunteering 

Volunteering is an important part of Erick’s life and he is very generous with his time and energy. As a volunteer, Erick supports many realms of religious, social and community work on behalf of groups such as the homeless, the Justice for Immigrants Campaign, and other coalitions such as One LA and We Are America to bring about changes for a better life for all.  Locally, he volunteers in the low income Latino communities in the Los Angeles area in myriad ways, including providing free computer training, tutoring, and in voter registration drives. On an international level, he volunteers to support low-income communities in the developing areas of Guatemala and El Salvador with financial, educational, and humanitarian aid.

A partial list of Erick's volunteer activities include:

• Salvadoran Community of Our Lady Queen of Angels Church-La Placita. Coordinator. Learn More >>
•  Los Angeles Indigenous People's Alliance. Systems Administrator, Teacher and Workshop Facilitator.  As a Computer Literacy Project volunteer over the last five years, he worked to secure donations of 20 new and used computers, worked diligently to refurbish them, functions as their Systems Administrator and teaches introductory computer classes in mostly low-income Latino neighborhoods to students ranging in age from 12 to 60. Thanks to his efforts, Erick’s students are becoming better informed and connected to the virtual world. Learn More >>  
• 2006 National Latino Congreso. Personal assistant to congreso organizers Antonio Gonzales (President, William C. Velasquez Institute, WCVI), Lydia Camarillo (Vice-President Southwest Voter Registration), Celia Brugman (Director, WCVI), and Marcos Luna (Staff, WCVI). Provided security in the fundraising dinners, luncheons, and workshops to VIPs such as Heinz Foundations' Teresa Heinz, United Farm Workers' Dolores Huerta, Congresswoman Hilda Solis, CA Assemblyman Gil Cedillo, Speaker of the California Assembly Fabian Nuñez, Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Candidate for Governor Phil Angelides, CA Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, Venezuelan Ambassador to USA Bernardo Alvarez Herrera, among many other dignitaries. Learn More >>
• Los Angeles Trade-Technical College. Tutor 
• FUPAD-USAID, Fundacion Panamericana Para El Desarrollo-United States Agency for International Development. Member. Learn More >>  
• Salvadoran Education Fund
• Salvadoran-American National Association
• International Association of Salvadoran Women. Volunteer. Learn More >>
• Central American Refugee Center. Volunteer. Learn More >>
• William C. Velasquez Institute. Volunteer. Learn More >>
• Southwest Voter Registration Education Project. Volunteer. Learn More >>

Certificates of Appreciation:

• International Association of Salvadoran Women, September 2006
• Central American Refugee Center, June 2006
• Los Angeles Indigenous People's Alliance, June 2004, and June 2005
• Our Lady Queen of Angels Church - La Placita, December 2004