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By Matilda Peck  Anna Oliva at the June 2024 launch of Drawdown’s Neighborhood: San Francisco Bay Area, a climate solutions short documentary series. "My climate story matters and can impact other young professionals beginning their careers,” said SEI Climate Corps alumni Anna Oliva. A year after concluding her Climate Corps Fellowship, Oliva is one of seven Bay Area climate heroes featured in Drawdown’s Neighborhood: San Francisco Bay Area, a climate solutions short documentary series presented by Project Drawdown.
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By Matilda Peck  2023-2024 CCEO Fellows gathered during orientation in Golden Gate Park. On a hot day in August, I wandered through the San Francisco Botanical Garden, slightly lost. I’d come to meet the Climate Corps Education Outside (CCEO) Fellows, a group of passionate garden educators, in the midst of orientation for the 2023-2024 school year. Just as I was doubting my navigation, I heard laughter and excited voices up ahead and knew I’d come to the right place. The trail opened to a large clearing where thirty-six CCEO Fellows were gathering for lunch.
By Juan Miranda, Climate Corps Fellow Juan Miranda is an Energy and Sustainability Associate Fellow for San Timoteo Energy Associates.  Commercial and residential buildings of San Francisco 1. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint
Commercial and residential buildings account for approximately 30% of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Depending on your organization, buildings could represent the majority or close to the entirety of its carbon footprint. Therefore, decarbonizing your buildings may be the most important step you can take to contribute to global efforts to address climate change and build a better world for future generations. By Nancy MacFarlane, Climate Corps Fellow Nancy MacFarlane is a Energy and Sustainability Associate at Santa Rosa Junior College.  Beaver Dam - Image courtesy of Graham Hobster When you think about ways to mitigate climate change, do beavers and beaver dams come to mind? Maybe not, but have you ever seen a beaver in action or their dams? If so, you probably saw a lush surrounding landscape. Why might that be? Well, the water in the stream or creek slowly backs up behind the dams and covers the land, which then creates a wetland teeming with life.
by Matilda Peck  Climate Corps Fellows at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco February morning began cold and dreary, and SEI's Climate Corps team shivered together on the stairs of the California Academy of Sciences. However, with each Fellow arriving for the annual Climate Corps Fellow Retreat the weather seemed to improve. By the time Naomi Lichtenstein arrived, a Program Associate at Earth Team, the sky was almost as sunny as their outlook. “I was really excited to meet the other Fellows,” said Lichtenstein. “I hope to learn more about their fellowship experiences and what they hope to do afterward.”
By Matilda Peck
By Beatrix Berry  California Climate Action Corps Fellow Jhakarin with site supervisor Nancy From wildfire mitigation workshops, to education on waste diversion regulations, California Climate Action Corps Fellows have been hard at work in their communities. SEI has partnered with California Volunteers and Bay Area Community Resources to support the California Climate Action Corps(CAC) program. The current program year has been filled with success stories and positive impacts as this powerful cohort of fellows have supported their communities in climate action and solutions.
CAC Fellows are placed throughout California and work primarily with communities who are being disproportionately impacted by the changing climate. In Redlands, California, three fellows, Calhoun, Bryan and Jenny, are currently working on the University of Redlands farm. In the area surrounding their site, there is little to no tree cover and therefore very limited shade. As a result, in the changing climate, their community and community members struggle to stay cool. These three fellows are working to cool down their community by increasing access to trees that can be planted by those who live in the area. Calhoun, Bryan and Jenny, have worked hard to raise saplings and organize events to give them to the community for free. Jenny and Bryan are returning fellows and have been able to continue their impact this year. In a recent event they gave away 2,230 tree saplings to their community.
When and how did you know you wanted to pursue a job in the environmental sphere?
I’ve wanted to work in this field since early childhood - in large part due to informal science programs like CCEO. For a long time I thought I would be a scientist, specifically a marine biologist, but then in the first year of undergrad I took a class called “Experiential Education in the Outdoors''. I remember unspooling string for young people to weave webs of life around ancient trees and feeling a sense of deep alignment. I think in The Secret Garden Frances Hodgsen Burnett refers to it as “The BIG GOOD THING.” While the field of environmental education requires a ton of shapeshifting, this feeling has remained central to my practice. It powers my commitments to kinship, celebration, and dismantling patterns which isolate people from their inherent worth and belonging. There is so much potential within the environmental sphere for communal and personal liberation -- I can’t imagine myself anywhere else. SEI is spotlighting our amazing Climate Corps Fellows who have been working to protect our climate through a wide range of sustainability initiatives. This week we are highlighting Billie Hervas, Education and Training Fellow at the The Energy Coalition.
SEI is spotlighting our amazing Climate Corps Fellows who have been working to protect our climate through a wide range of sustainability initiatives. This week’s Fellow spotlight is Benjamin Bravo, Preserve Resources Manager at Sonoma State University Center for Environmental Inquiry.
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