Latinxs and the Environment Spring 2021 Seminar

Buenas tardes🌞

We are proud to announce the continuation of our Latinxs & the Environment seminar for the Spring 2021 semester🌿

Come build a support network with fellow students, faculty, and community leaders interested in the environmental field as related to the Latinx community

As of this semester we plan on holding another info session soon, and another at the beginning of spring semester – keep an eye out.

Please email us at latinoenvironment@berkeley.edu if you have any questions, and feel free to share. ¡Gracias!

#ucberkeley #calberkeley #berkeleyca

Welcome Back Spring 2021

¡Buenos dias a todxs!

Hello from the Latinxs and the Environment familia! Welcome into the Spring 2021 semester! Please remember to be honest with yourselves, love yourselves, and acknowledge those accomplishments.

This week we look forward to meeting our spring seminar members at our regularly scheduled Thursday meetings from 5-7PM. For those of you still interested, we still have a few spots left. We suggest you act quickly! CCN: 21761

This semester we look forward to launching our very own environmental campaign, hosting up to 3 guest speaker events most of which will be public and announced appropriately, and much more! Stay safe everyone y ¡gracias a nuestra comunidad! #ucberkeley

Info Session + Study Jam + Raffle!

We would like to take a moment to recognize the complex, historic time that we are going through. We believe in the resilience and strength of our community, and we send out our support!!!

Let’s come together this Sunday through a STUDY JAM + INFO SESSION, where will also have a RAFFLE GIVEAWAY

Come spend some time getting the Latinxs & the Environment initiative/team, each other, and study along with some friends!

*Always welcome to all majors*

Info Session

Curious about Latinxs & the Environment? Interested in joining our seminar next semester?

Get to know us this THURSDAY 10/22 from 6:40-7:00PM for an INFO SESSION where we will introduce our fellows, student committees, and our faculty leaders who created L&E. Get to know our initiative’s goals, what we’re about, and what kinds of topics we cover.

Come on by ~ get yours questions answered ~ tell a friend

*All majors welcome*

Sign up for the Zoom link here

Funding opportunity: Latinxs and the Environment, in partnership with the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) are funding student-led research stipends!

L&E In Partnership with IRLE Offers Research Stipends for Fall 200 and Spring 2021

The Latinx and the Environment Initiative (LEI) and the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
(IRLE)
 at CAL announce a NEW RESEARCH INTERNSHIP opportunity!

Funding is now available for five undergraduate and two graduate-level research stipends to perform research on issues related to labor and the environment. Selected students will be working with faculty, researchers, community-based organizations, policymakers, and other stakeholders in advancing quality research with potential policy impact. This opportunity can be used by students to work towards completing independent class research, honor thesis, fieldwork, dissertation work, and/or other academic goals.


Graduate students will receive $5K and are required to work with undergraduate students and serve as
mentors, providing academic and/or professional advice
. This would require meeting on a regular basis
with students and in coordination with LEI and IRLE, motivate undergraduate students to complete their
proposed research project. Undergraduate students will receive $3K and, along with working on their respective projects are required to participate in regular meetings with their mentors, faculty, and others involved in their project.

To apply you would need:

a. A 300-400 word description of your project

b. A one page CV


Research can take the form of social media projects, research papers, preparation of posters,
conference presentations, etc. Selected students are also required to present their research findings in a conference hosted by LEI & IRLE to take place in May, 2021.
Applications are due October 9, 2020 by 11:59PM

APPLY HERE!  https://forms.gle/dhUGDSHsgSjy3H9e9

“Achieving a Sustainable and Energy Efficient Future for Mexico and California”

Coordinator: Adrian Fernandez Bremauntz, Director, Mexico Climate Initiative


Description: Mexico and California have established several mechanisms of cooperation on clean energy and environment at the national and subnational levels. Leveraging this framework to advance new strategic collaborations on areas such as energy efficiency, electromobility, water energy and clean-energy grid integration is a timely exercise, in light of the need to advance sustainable development practices on both sides of the common border and achieve a low-carbon future. Relevant questions to frame the discussion in this session include:

  • What is the best way to harness California’s advanced clean energy policy and technology platform in support of Mexico’ sustainable development strategies?
  • What areas of work in the California -Mexico clean energy agenda present the best opportunity to establish impactful collaborations in the short, medium and long term?
  • What is the best way to engage the private sector in California and Mexico to encourage their participation in supporting clean energy R&D?
  • What strategies must be followed to create a model of clean energy collaboration that could be supported by international organizations and foundations?  
  • What are the elements that need to be considered in the development of a California-Mexico clean energy plan for the border region?

Panel members:

Odón de Buen Rodríguez

Director General

Comisión Nacional para el Uso Eficiente de la Energía (CONUEE)


Andrew McAllister

Commissioner

California Energy Commission


Michael McNeil

Director 

Mexico Energy Initiative 

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

Developing Common Adaptation Strategies to Climate Change

U.S. Coordinator: Michael Wehner, Senior Scientist, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory

México Coordinator: Tereza Cavazos, Researcher, Department of Physical Oceanography. Center of Scientific Research and Higher Education of Ensenada (CICESE).


Description: Climate change is the overriding environmental challenge of our time. Given the socio-economic impacts of climate change, it is imperative that we develop effective adaptation strategies to minimize its impact. Efficient adaptation strategies to climate change require engagement of all sectors of society. Mexico and California share climate change impacts not only because of the large border region and ocean between them, but also because climate change related extreme events such as droughts, heat waves, coastal storms, and floods are likely to increase in intensity and number in both regions. In this session, the following questions will be discussed:

Which threats from climate change are shared by Mexico and California?

  • Physical systems
    • Water (continental and ocean)
    • Drought (meteorological and agricultural)
    • Heat waves
    • Tropical cyclones
    • Other topics
  • Human systems
    • Food security
    • Human health
    • Tropical and winter storm damage
  • What specific research areas of climate change science and adaptation can Mexico and California engage in immediately?
  • What physical and social science research opportunities and capabilities can be developed between Mexico and California?
  • What are the barriers (or gaps) to cooperation in developing effective engagement in the climate change sciences between Mexico and California?
  • What common resources are available that can inform adaptation strategies and policies across borders?

Agriculture: Linking productivity Improvements and Environmental Outcomes in California and Mexico

U.S. Coordinator: Prof. Dan Sumner. Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics. University of California, Davis.

Mexico Coordinator: Armando Sanchez, Director of the Institute for Economic Research, UNAM


Description: For Mexico and California the agricultural sector is of key importance. California is the leading agricultural state, in terms of value, of the United States, while in Mexico the agricultural sector is an important component of Mexico’s GDP and plays an important role in terms of Mexico’s food security. Climate change poses a challenge for the agricultural sector of both Mexico and California as the number and intensity of droughts and heat waves is likely to increase. Climate change impacts are likely to reflect on agricultural production and environmental outcomes such as labor health, ecosystem integrity, and others. Agricultural production is no longer viewed an isolated process, instead, agricultural and environmental outcomes are now considered related and impacting society’s wellbeing in unison.

While the challenges imposed by climate change and its socioeconomic and environmental consequences are significant, they also provide opportunities where collaboration between policy makers, researchers and other stakeholders bring about positive socio-economic outcomes. Some of the questions to consider in this session are:

  • What are the roles of technological innovation and adoption in improving the agricultural sectors in Mexico and California?
  • Are there opportunities of collaboration in developing agricultural technological improvements that benefit both Mexico and California?
  • Can we envision a framework for Mexico and California where agricultural production and related positive environmental outcomes are viewed as complements instead of competing activities? If so, how do we move towards this approach?
  • Can the private sector in both Mexico and California contribute with academia and the public sector in developing a common agricultural agenda?

Impact of Climate Change on Migration, Health and Labor

U.S. Coordinators: Mark Schenker, Professor, University of California, Davis and Dr. Xochitl Castaneda, Program Director, The Health Initiative of the Americas, University of California, Berkeley

México Coordinator: Dr. Horacio Riojas, Director, National Institute for Public Health


Description: Climate change is expected to dramatically increase as a cause of global migration in the 21 st century. The impacts of climate change on the health of migrants are experienced in the countries of origin, in the transit and in countries of destination. This is particularly of significance because of the large number of individuals who migrate between Mexico and California and the influence of climate on the health of individuals moving between the two countries. Climate change also impacts the health of migrants from Latin America transiting across Mexico. Immigrants are particularly vulnerable to climate-related health risks because of several social determinants increasing the risk in this population. Outdoor workers in California and Mexico are largely an immigrant population and are at increased risk of climate change-related adverse health effects.

  • What are the climate—related health risks of migrants moving between Mexico and California?
  • What specific interventions are possible to reduce the risk of climate-related illness among migrants in the country of origin, in the transit and in the country of destination?
  • What interventions (education, regulation) are possible to reduce the risk of heat-related illness among outdoor workers in Mexico and California?
  • What are potential avenues of common effort that can be implemented to reduce the climate-related health risks of climate change among workers and residents in Mexico and California?
  • What institutions in California and Mexico should be involved in efforts to reduce the health risks of climate-related impacts?