On (earth) watch.

• Position: Finalentry - Interview

Victor W. Lau, audit senior in the assurance and advisory business practice at Ernst & Young in San Francisco, cares about coffee. But that's oversimplifying. Lau has had a heavy hand in helping coffee co-operatives in foreign lands as part of the Earthwatch Research Expeditions (www.earthwatch.org/expedition/). We caught up with him alter his trip to learn more about the work he did and how he wielded his accounting prowess to help others.

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Why did you decide to go on an Earthwatch Expedition

This was my second year participating in the Ernst & Young Earth watch Ambassador program (Americas) to Costa Rica. I decided LO apply tun] participate again this year as a team leader because 1 believe the work that Earth watch is doing in Costa Rica in the coffee cooperatives is very important and meaningful. Returning as a leader, I wanted to share my experience and insight with the new team members to help improve and broaden their experiences. I also wanted to observe the progress that Coupe Tarrazu, one of the local coffee co-operatives, had made on the various initiatives that the Ernst & Young Earthwatch team had contributed to last year.

Where did your Expedition take you and what did you do?

The team was made up of Ernst & Voting employees from throughout the Americas. The expedition took me from San Francisco, where I live and work, to the Santa Maria region in central Costa Rica. 'There. in one of the largest coffee producing regions in Costa Rica, we participated in held research and skill-based projects to promote Farming practices that lead to more sustainable production of coffee.

What was the most eye-opening facet of the experience?

I learned a lot about the coffee production process: from the coffee picking in the Farms to the roasting in the coffee mills. The most eye-opening experience was learning about the different things that the coffee co-operatives have done in the past several years to improve farming and production practices and become more environmentally sustainable, such as reducing the use of chemically developed Fertilizers and implementing processes to store and distribute organic fertilizers; purchasing furnaces that burn dried coffee bean pulp vs. using coal or wood); and recycling the water used in the coffee mills to irrigate the farms, among other methods.

What were your biggest take-aways from the trip?

It was a great to meet and connect with so many different people from various cultural...