MESM 2025
Pronouns: he/him
Bio
Having spent his entire life residing within two miles of a California beach, it was no surprise that Rence Balitaan earned a B.S. in Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences from the University of California, San Diego in 2020. His professional journey began at Scripps Institution of Oceanography where he collected data on the effects of sunscreen exposure on coral, tested a model to see how El Niño redirects mesoscale eddies that affect plankton distribution in the California Current Ecosystem, and wrote code for two marine bioacoustic projects: one that automatically detects blue whale calls and another that performs statistical analysis on beaked whale clicks. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Rence unexpectedly transitioned to working in project management at two Santa Barbara-based software companies. To foster his strong connection with the environment beyond his professional duties, he actively volunteered with one company's Green Team to develop a sustainability plan. By seeing the hardship of implementing sustainable corporate business practices and renewable energy, Rence is pursuing the Business and Sustainability and Energy and Climate specializations at Bren so he can confidently help BlueTech and ClimateTech companies reach Net Zero.