As CURes begins the new year (and new decade!), we’d like to highlight some of the exciting events and projects from the past year.
2019 was a big year for RESEARCH, and we accomplished huge feats, such as…
- Completing a social survey for the Silver Lake Neighborhood Council to get a better understanding of resident perceptions of the local reservoir
- Entering into a 3-year contract with the City of Culver City to carry out a Coyote Study and Management Program
- Presenting results from high-resolution LA County tree canopy assessment through a partnership with TreePeople, SavATree, and the University of Vermont
- Leading a community-based tree prioritization in the City of Commerce utilizing the newly acquired tree canopy data
- Launching the LA River Stewardship Mapping and Assessment Project (STEW-MAP)
- Mentoring six students in the summer undergraduate research program (SURP), who studied topics such as environmental gentrification, environmental stewardship, and management strategies for the Ballona Wetlands
Our RESTORATIVE JUSTICE PROJECT continued to expand, with achievements including…
- Increasing our presence on campus in our partnerships with Student Affairs, Intercultural Affairs, Sorority and Fraternity Life, among other entities
- Offering Restorative Practices trainings to LMU staff and faculty
- Continuing our professional development trainings with K-12 teachers in Los Angeles and Riverside Counties
- Ending the year with notification of a $270,000 grant to launch a Southern California Restorative Justice Consortium of educators, practitioners, and scholars
We also hosted big EVENTS, including…
- Reimagining Consciousness: A Conversation Across the Natural Sciences, co-sponsored with Chapman University
- The New LA: Climate, Collaboration, and Real Estate, co-sponsored with the LMU Institute for Business Ethics and Sustainability
- The annual LMU Environmental Lecture Series
- Gottlieb Award Reception, honoring Susan and Dan Gottlieb’s contributions to the study of native plants and the environment
- Dedication of the new campus Osprey Pole
- Salt in My Soul book presentation
… and participated in others, such as….
- National Association of Community and Restorative Justice Conference in Denver, CO
- Ecological Society of America Annual Meeting in Louisville, KY
- LMU’s Undergraduate Research Symposium
- El Segundo Library’s Native American Mural debut depicting iconic images of the area
- Sustainability Symposium jointly hosted by Los Angeles World Airports (LAWA) and LMU
Teamwork is an essential part of CURes, and our PARTNERSHIPS with various organizations allowed us to…
- Give Ballona Discovery Park Tours with representatives from Sophia University, Vietnam National University, USC, Natural History Museum, the Urban Water Group, and the LMU Center for Ignatian Spirituality, among others
- Work with Urban EcoLab to create accessible learning modules
- Release two new issues of the Cities and The Environment (CATE) Journal
- Partner with Friends of Ballona Wetlands for the 6th Annual Bird LA Day, 3rd Annual Migration Celebration at the Ballona Wetlands, Grow Native! Series of workshops at Ballona Discovery Park, and to bring 160 fifth graders from Victor Elementary School to the Ballona Discovery Park and Freshwater Marsh for field trips
We also has some big changes within our STAFF. We welcomed postdoctoral fellow Dr. Melinda Weaver, an urban ecologist who will be working on our urban wildlife projects and applying her past communications expertise to other center projects. We also had to say goodbye to the retired Dr. Pete Auger, who played an instrumental role in building our wildlife research program, and staff members Maria Curley and Emily Simso.
Of course, none of our work would be possible without our FUNDERS, and in 2019 we received ongoing or new support from sponsors including: Annenberg Foundation, Ballona Wetlands Conservancy, City of Culver City, City of Long Beach, Dan and Susan Gottlieb Foundation, Edison International, Los Angeles Beautification Team, Riverside Unified School District, TreePeople, US Forest Service, and an Anonymous Foundation.
Thank you to the CURes staff and student interns for an amazing year and decade. We look forward to continuing our great work and embarking on exciting new projects in 2020—stay tuned!
From everyone in the Research Annex, Happy New Year!