Staff Snapshot: Jonathan Parker

jonathan-parker-staff-snapshot.jpg

(Photos by Eli Burakian ’00 )

 

Jonathan Parker, a building automation control technician in Facilities Operations and Management’s Electronics Shop, enjoys the challenge of figuring out the flow of energy within the Dartmouth system. He says understanding the patterns of electrical consumption on campus helps the College pursue an environmental agenda of future energy conservation measures. 

What do you do at Dartmouth? I joined Dartmouth in December 2006 and work with the College’s energy meters. There are electrical and chilled water meters for each building on campus served by those systems. I have been installing, servicing, and connecting those meters and the steam condensate meters to the College energy management systems. I have been installing new network-connected meters that provide more useful information for operations, budgets, and planning for the future.

When did you come to Dartmouth? I had been working for a small electrical contractor until he retired in 2006. I performed a wide variety of electrical construction and service work. In December 2006, I joined Dartmouth, looking for a new learning opportunity.

What is your favorite part of working here? Every day is something new and the people I work with are great. I appreciate working for an employer that cares about safety and encourages me to do my best, not just the quickest or cheapest possible work.

What are some things you do when you’re not at work? I live out in the woods in Hartland, Vt. My wife, Angela, and I put up a 30-foot-diameter yurt in 1999 and we lived in that for seven years before we built a house. We also have a great local ski trail through our back yard that we enjoy, as well as ski trips to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in the Northeast Kingdom. This year our 12-year-old daughter, Nicoya, joined the Ford Sayre Nordic Ski Program and we have been going to some of the youth races in the area. 

Where are you from? I grew up in Ithaca, N.Y., in a college neighborhood. We were one of only a handful of single family residences surrounded by student apartments. Now I may live in the woods but am back in a college neighborhood where I do my work.