 The entire network and the sheer mass of data that's being collected from NEON and how it's being provided to the public and the scientific community is exactly what we need in order to combat climate change. My name is Justin Ripley. I go to the Colorado School of Mines. I am a senior in the Environmental Engineering Department. The data that I'm collecting and the research that I'm doing is important to really collect high quality, accurate, and precise data. Carbon dioxide is like a widely known greenhouse gas. It really causes problems in the atmosphere and increases the average temperature around the globe. These gas sensors are incredibly sensitive, but they also require weekly calibrations in order to make sure that they are as accurate as they need to be. People in the Calibration Validation Lab create gases of different concentrations of carbon dioxide to send out into the field to validate the state of health of the sensors at each of the sites. By monitoring the concentrations of gases in cylinders that I prepared myself, I was able to perform an uncertainty analysis to determine the total amount of drift that is occurring and whether it's significant. I have learned a lot. It's all about problem solving. That's what engineering teaches you. It teaches you how to approach a problem that you've been given and take the steps necessary in order to achieve it. The research that I'm doing, it's a small part, but everything is built up from small parts. I still do want to focus on water. The internship hasn't necessarily gotten me to focus on gas analysis, but it has certainly helped to solidify the idea that this was the right choice, the right career path for me.