David, Hello, I'm David Bonet. Welcome to Inside city election edition, an interview show produced by the students here at San Diego City College each week we speak to the news makers of the campus. This election season, we asked our City College community, what issues are the most important to you? Among those are climate and the environment. Today we are going to talk to a special guest about that. Lisa Chad is a geography professor here at San Diego City College. She is also the advisor to the student chapter of the bird Alliance at city we're going to talk about climate change and how it affects San Diego City College and our community beyond campus. Here is a story City Times is following right now that is tied to our environment. Let's take a look.
Nestled in the edge of downtown San Diego lies seeds at city an urban farm where the next generation of farmers are cultivating their skills, but concerns are growing at San Diego City College, with news that the future of this campus favorite is on shaky ground. Part time agriculture Professor Abby Ferrari led a group of faculty and students to protest the decision at a district board meeting last month. This
decision will have profound and far reaching consequences for our students, our community, and the future of the Sustainable Agriculture program in our region,
after their public comments, City College President Ricky Shabazz addressed the group. He said, seeds isn't going anywhere. As the president of the college,
I have never had a conversation about seeds going away, nor have I had a conversation about the program.
But Sources tell City Times media the program's closure had already been communicated to the program's faculty by the department Dean and chair district Chancellor Greg Smith said in an email that the district is committed to keeping the program and farm open for cttv. I'm Marco gujardo, Professor
Chadwick, thank you for being here. I want to thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. As we mentioned, you are professor of geography here at City and of a long history of volunteering in the community. How has your work in the classroom and campus impacted your passion for climate and the environment?
Well, I I go back further with my my passion for the environment to the time I was a child. It has always been there, but being a part of this campus has allowed me to create a really dynamic group of young people who want to go the same direction and do things to help the environment. So the bird alliance club has been really a huge force in creating plants for birds gardens and doing work throughout the city to do anything from a proclamation with local cities about the the importance of native plants for birds. This has been a really wonderful project, and it's a huge, huge club. We have 150 students in the club this semester. Wow,
that is a lot of people. Maybe you could tell us a little bit more about the bird Alliance here at City and how that group of students engages with the community, both on and off campus.
Well, on campus, we have gardens near the s building by the right outside of this area, in the studio, and then another garden by the gym, and we are going to be putting a Vox swift chimney at the gym that will allow the Vox swift birds to come here on their migration path, spend a couple nights here and then move on. But we can have a big community celebration with these these birds as they move through. So it's a really important thing
that sounds great. Honestly, we're going to take a quick break, but when we get back, we'll continue with our conversation with Professor Lisa Chadwick,
Dad, just one minute. Okay, hey, Bobo, do trees tell each other stories. I'm sorry. I'm afraid. I don't know that. Hey, why don't we go find out?
Listen, do clouds? Take naps? I couldn't tell you what.
Can birds draw pictures?
I don't have an answer for that.
Dad, do you start us visit their friends? I Music.
Welcome back to Inside city election edition about the upcoming election. The ballot includes one state proposition directly related to climate and the environment. Proposition four promises a 10 billion bond to fund various environmental energy and water projects. But what could that really mean to voters?
Well, there's a lot to go with here. Is that one of the most important things for climate change, for California is water, right? So we need to make sure we're recycling as much water as possible, because all of us need water, birds, people, all of us, and California, Audubon and San Diego bird Alliance and City College are all involved in water projects to put wetlands in Mission Bay, to clean up our water. But the other thing and that will be provided for in this bond. But other things include recycling water in our pure water system, where we already get half of our water in San Diego, is through pure water, and it is through recycling we need that for the entire state.
With all that in mind, how do you see this trickling down to San Diego and our own climate and environment.
Well, number one again, is re wild Mission Bay, that is one of the biggest things. But other things in San Diego is the Tijuana River. That is a super fun site, so it's going to get federal money anyway. But there are other parts of the river that need help. All of our rivers need to be managed in the right way for climate change, because water is going to be more scarce some years and more abundant in others. So this is a really important part of this, this whole process, is learning to manage water, because, again, we're going to need it for wildfires. And think about it, you can't just dump ocean water on a on a piece of land, because now you've salted the earth and you can't grow anything there. It has to be fresh water for fighting wildfires.
Well said here in San Diego, we have a major crisis with the Tijuana River and flooding last winter that still has members of our community displaced. Why do you think candidates have neglected to bring forward solutions to tackle the climate crisis? I
think that there are our elected officials tend to live in rarefied air, so they get some of what we write to them and some of what they are told, but some of it is just too much information on their part. They really need to hear us with discrete ideas and things that we need to see done so that they know what they're going for, and not just our complaints. If they hear about our complaints over and over again, it's just going to filter through as nothing they need to be presented with. We have this idea that we want to do. We want to get that funded. And like I said, re wild Mission Bay, through San Diego bird Alliance and through our club bird Alliance at City. That is one way to do this is to demand that they fund that project and save i Five and Pacific Beach from being flooded. So there, there's all kinds of things to think about, but if we don't present a discrete project, they don't know what to find. We're
going to take a quick break, but when we get back, we will continue our conversation with Lisa Chad
to Sophia and Gabrielle. Miss Flores, my little flowers, even though these old knees can't follow on your adventure to the forest. Today, these flowers represent my love, so you can take me with you wherever you go, near or far. These stitches and threads join us together, me, your mother and both of you and wherever you see a flower, a bird, a beautiful tree, know that my love is with you as you bring our colorful stories to the world.
Make the forest part of yours. Story at a park near you, find one at discover the forest.org.
Welcome back. I'm David Bonet and I've been speaking with Lisa Chadwick. You talk in your classes and with your club about the importance of voting. What is your message to students and the community members about the need to participate in voting, especially this November?
Well, you see, I have an i bird, I vote pin, I tell my students, the military protects the Constitution right. Our court systems protect our freedoms. The voting protects democracy. It's our responsibility as adults. We have to do this. We have to vote. It is not an optional thing. And if you think your vote doesn't count, just remember, we've had we've had elections locally that have been 15 votes apart. Your vote counts. Every single vote counts. So it's an important part of being an American citizen, and we all need to do this.
Voting takes just a few moments. But what is your message to students and others who want to do more than simply fill out a ballot? What are some actions they can take to have an impact?
Number one, join the club. Join the bird alliance club. We do so many things around the city. We are working on a burrowing owl nesting ground. We're working on all kinds of things. In the spring for other birds, join a group of people who care about the environment and are doing concrete things to take care of what we have in San Diego, because it's a wonderful place.
It's very important. That's all we have for tonight. On this edition of Inside city, remember to follow us, SD City Times on Twitter, YouTube and on Instagram. Thank you so much for joining us, Professor. We really appreciate you taking the time. We hope you all have a good night and we'll see you next time. Thank you. Thank.
