Progress 09/15/23 to 09/14/24
Outputs
Target Audience:Cal State LA undergraduate student community, Cal State LA graduate student community, Los Angeles urban gardening community, and the local community in and around Cal State LA are the target audiences. Cal State LA is a Hispanic Serving Institution and serves a historically underrepresented group in FANH fields, including Biology, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, and Food Science and Nutrition. Our efforts to serve these populations during this reporting period included formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, development of new curriculum and course-based undergraduate research experiences and graduate student training through research. Our urban food garden developed as part of this generous USDA HSI grant is serving as a place for educational and research activity within the communities surrounding Cal State LA. Our urban food garden is hosting more and more activities. This collaboration has included hosting tours in the garden for community members and hosting formal and informal instructional sessions for students and community members who want to learn more about gardening, urban agriculture, and urban natural resources. Changes/Problems:Course modifications have been implemented in most of the courses listed in the grant, while other courses not originally included have been directly influenced by FANH topics. In many cases, these courses have met or even exceeded the commitments and workload outlined for the courses listed for modification in the grant. Graduate student research, following the completion of their thesis work, is leading to publications. The Urban Garden Manual is about 92% complete, with Dr. Hibbs' contributions still pending. The USDA HSI grant has had a transformative impact on our campus. Its focus on food and water security through urban agriculture has enabled our faculty to unite their diverse expertise around this critical theme. Biologists, nutritionists, social scientists, and natural scientists are collaborating to advance urban food production, study the renewal of urban natural resources, and promote nutrition. We expect this synergy to continue expanding, and our campus is making significant strides in building its curriculum and research around urban agriculture and associated urban natural resources sciences. We have developed a BS degree in Environmental Science, which is scheduled to launch in Fall 2026. Additionally, the BA in Environmental Studies will be available following some final consultations and modifications. These new degree programs will replace the proposed Certificate program. Our internal analysis revealed that the FANH experiences embedded in these degrees would provide greater benefits to our campus community and students than a certificate. Dr. Wright began a tenured position at another institution in Fall 2024. We wish Dr. Wright the best and would be delighted if the biology department recruits a replacement faculty member with expertise in plant processes related to urban agriculture. We requested and received an 8-month no-cost extension to complete a few milestone tasks, including the compilation of assessment data and finalizing the Urban Garden Manual. Otherwise our project is up to date and on track. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Dr. Barry Hibbs attended and participated in the Hispanic-Serving Institutions Education Grants Program FY2024 Project Directors Meeting on March 17, 2024, in Monterey, CA. Dr. Hibbs also registered for and attended the Alliance for Hispanic-Serving Institution Educators (AHSIE) Best Practices Conference, held from March 18 to March 20, which took place concurrently with the HSI Project Directors Meeting. Dr. Barry Hibbs organized an optional stream gauging workshop for graduate students in Vadose Zone Hydrology, held on September 12, 2024. The workshop, attended by 9 graduate students, involved gauging a 192-foot-wide reach of the LA River using US Geological Survey procedures, top-setting wading rods, and Marsh McBirney velocity flow meters. The stream gauging workshop lasted for 4 hours. Graduate Student Tommy Rojas will be presenting his research at the Annual Meeting of the National Ground Water Association in early December 2024. He has prepared a poster presentation entitled Hydrochemical Profile of Laguna Channel Watershed for the event, combining urban garden concerns with water quality data collected from this urban channel near the Cal State LA urban food garden. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have developed and shared several products to disseminate our work to communities of interest. These presentations encompass various components that support urban agriculture. These products encompass various components directly related to our urban food garden as well as products that support urban agriculture more broadly. For instance, our efforts include watershed restoration projects like the revitalization of the LA River and addressing equity issues to ensure access to urban green spaces. These initiatives support the creation of pollinator habitats essential for adaptive and thriving urban agriculture. Additionally, strategies to mitigate urban heat islands improve urban microclimates, further enhancing the success of urban agricultural practices. 1. Faculty PDs and their students presented research at various conferences and educational venues as outlined in the Products sections of this annual progress report. 2. Dr. Choi Chatterjee was a key organizer of the Pérez-Silverman Symposium at Cal State LA, which focused on Urban Agriculture and Food Security in Los Angeles. The symposium, held on April 24, 2024, consisted of three panels: 1. Water Resources and Security, 2. WELL Leaders Combat Local Water Issues, and 3. Urban Agriculture and Food Security in Los Angeles. Panelists included faculty from Cal State LA and representatives from notable community organizations, including Water Education for Latino Leaders, Community Services (WELL), Unlimited, Green Grounds, and South Central Farm. 3. At the Pérez-Silverman Symposium, Dr. Barry Hibbs was a member of the Water Resources and Security panel, where he presented a talk entitled Issues of Sustainable Water Supply in Southern California - and Cal State LA Research on Water Sustainability and Related Studies. 4. On July 30, 2024, Dr. Barry Hibbs led a tour for NSF REU traineeship students at the Cal State LA Urban Food Garden. During the tour, topics such as urban food production in inner-city environments were discussed, along with methods for controlling urban runoff to minimize watershed nutrient loading from urban agricultural lands. 5. On May 8, 2024, Dr. Barry Hibbs delivered an in-person presentation on the Salton Sea at the California Department of Water Resources offices. The presentation, titled Identifying Terrestrial Groundwater Inputs to New Wetlands on the Shores of the Retreating Salton Sea, explored critical watershed dynamics and pollinagtor habitat in this agricultural region. 6. On May 20, 2024, Dr. Barry Hibbs presented a webinar for the Autonomous University of Chihuahua entitled Changes in Southern California Water Availability and Management and Impacts on the Los Angeles River. The webinar was attended by a Civil Engineering class in Mexico, other faculty and students in Mexico, as well as several of Dr. Hibbs' colleagues and students from the United States. 7. During spring semester 2023, three nutritional science students participated in the Reimaging Your Campus. The symposium was sponsored by the Urban Ecology Center. The three students, Stephanie Laverone, Raquel Higgins, and Susan Osegura under the mentorship of faculty member Maja Broz, put together a poster about the campus urban garden. Their poster was titled "Grow What We Eat, Eat What We Grow" and described what is currently occurring in the garden and their desire for more integration of the garden into the campus culture in the future. Each student shared their appreciation for the knowledge they gained through their time spent gardening and how they would share that in the future with others when they become Registered Dietitian Nutritionists. 8. On October 15, 2024, The Urban Ecology Center, under the leadership of co-directors Dr. Choi Chatterjee and Dr. Eric Wood, organized the Reimagine Your Campus with the Urban Ecology Center poster symposium. Student groups created 25 student posters, each offering innovative ideas for transforming the campus into a sustainable, biodiverse, and food secure environment. Students were invited to reimagine specific campus locations with the application of practical solutions. Prizes were awarded to the top three posters. Caitlin Calica won first place for her project Shade for Change: Combatting the Heat Island Effect with Native Plants. She proposed planting native black walnut and sycamore trees along the main campus walkway to increase shade by 30%, reduce the heat island effect, and improve student well-being. Second place went to Annika Veeravatanayothin for her poster, Breathing Life onto Campus: Living Walls. She proposed the installation of a vertical vegetated walls on campus buildings to create spaces for native plants and wildlife. Third place went to the collaborative team of Matthew Ehlenburg, Kimberly Rodriguez, Mike Castaneda, Alyssa Polk, Kyle Tiu, Fiona Mao, Odalys Castillo, Princess Moran, Stefanie Cortez, Cecille Lightbourn, and Fatima Garcia for Urban Garden: From Soil to Soul, a project aimed at revitalizing the campus urban garden by improving its layout, adding shade and seating. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. All the courses proposed for modification or introduced as new in our USDA-HSI proposal have now been taught at least once, with several offered multiple times. We plan to continue offering these courses on a regular schedule, despite the challenges posed by a constrained campus budget, which is impacting course offerings. 2. In course cross-fertilization, we will continue to offer and provide guest lectures in the disciplinary areas directly related to the urban agriculture theme of our USDA-HSI grant. 3. We will compile our pre and post survey assessment of students to assess understanding of the importance of urban agriculture and food gardens in LA, the ecological role of food gardens, and student sense of inclusion and access to these projects. When courses are repeated, we will continue to conduct assessments. 4. Although the graduate stipend funding from our USDA HSI grant has been fully utilized, we have successfully recruited new students through other grants to sustain and advance teaching and learning in urban agriculture and urban natural resources. These grants include DOE-RENEW and NSF LSAMP, both of which provide graduate student stipends to support their academic and research endeavors. 5. We will finish our Manual of Urban Food Gardens by March 2025 (Hibbs' partalmost complete, but delayed due to family medical issues during Summer 2024). 6. We will continue collaborating with the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences, campus personnel, and Chancellor's office administrators to finalize the second of our two new degree programs, the BA in Environmental Studies. The BS in Environmental Science is scheduled to lauchin Fall 2026. 7. The Basic Needs office on campus has asked for any foods which are not usable to be composted in the campus garden. Dr. Hillstrom has worked with their director to strategize about the amounts and how to involve the Basic Needs office more directly with garden-related activities. 8. The garden will be utilized by students in the Student Dietetic Association; students are encouraged to adopt a plot for the academic year. There is a faculty mentor funded by the nutritional science department to guide students on proper planting and cultivating. 9. Using the research findings from the Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture, we will add additional plant medicinal and edible pants that were used by the indigenous communities of Los Angeles in the campus food garden. We will continue to provide tours of the garden to explain the ecological, nutritional, and medicinal significance of native plants.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
From September 15 2023 to September 14, 2024, this project has impacted 1600 lower division undergraduate students in NSS 1001,75 students in GEOL 1500 Lab, 60 upper-division undergraduate students in courses listed for modification or new courses, 20 graduates students in courses listed for modification or for new courses listed in the proposal, and 2 graduate students involved in research. Tier 1. Lower Division GE Course Development A. Tier 1, GE Coursework/Curriculum Course 1. Introduction to Higher Education (NSS 1001). In Fall 2023 and Fall 2024, we taught week-long modules for this course, accompanied by educational videos, focusing on Urban Agriculture, Urban Natural Resources Management, and related FANHtopics. All incoming NSS students are required to take this course. B. Tier 1, GE Coursework/Curriculum In Spring 2023 and Fall 2024, Dr. Hibbs taught three sections of Geology 1500 Lab, each section with about 23 students. A total of 71 students learned about the role of urban community food gardens and the FAHN sciences in the Los Angeles community through the Civic Learning component of the course. Tiers 2. Lower Division Specialized Course Development Tier 2, Lower Division Specialized Coursework Course 1: Biology 1200 Laboratory, we continued a program for this course. Students read two primary literature papers about polyculture and ecological principles, students toured the garden and learned about basic plant morphology, germination, and crop production, as well as polyculture methods. Tier 3a, Upper Division Course Development A. Watershed Analysis, Geology 4870 (3 units): In Fall 2023, the Watershed Analysis course (Geology 4870) included a week of lecture material focusing on urban agriculture and related FANH (Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences) topics. Lecture 1: Urban Agriculture/Urban Gardens - History, Issues, and Environmental Water Quality Management. Lecture 2: Environmental Benefits and Environmental Concerns in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture. I B. Vadose Zone Hydrology, Geology 5610 (3 units): In Fall 2024, for the first time since 2017, the graduate course Vadose Zone Hydrology was offered at Cal State LA. Dr. Hibbs, who previously taught the course when it was last taught, returned to teach it again in Fall 2024. Two new lectureswere integrated into the courseto align with the theme of urban agriculture and general agriculture. C. Biology 4620 (3 units) In Spring 2024 we continued to integrate the polyculture research garden into this course. Students read 7 primary literature articles about biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the design of polyculture agricultural systems. This was combined with 6 lectures in class on the same topic. D. NTRS 4200 (3 units) During fall semester, 2023 this course was offered to nutritional science students. The students were provided with a course shell with current readings and research regarding the changing food landscape. Additionally, the students participated in an activity portion, which took place in the urban garden each week. They were taught the basics of how to grow food and were provided with seedlings which they grew into edible foods. Tier 3b, Course Cross-Fertilization On 20 May 2024, Dr. Barry Hibbs presented a webinar for the Autonomous University of Chihuahua focused on urban watersheds, stream restoration, and pollinator habitat needed for urban agriculture. On 24 April 2024, Dr. Barry Hibbs presented an oral talk at the Pérez-Silverman Symposium on Water and Food Security in Los Angeles. During 2023-2024, Dr. Chatterjee and Dr. Wood made six research presentations to several departments on campus about the core mission of the Urban Ecology Center: to make the campus a sustainable, biodiverse, and food secure environment. 4. Tier 4, Student/Faculty Research Graduate Students: In September 2023, graduate student Tommy Rojas was awarded the final one-year graduate research stipend funded by our USDA-HSI Grant. During academic year 2023, Christina Mojahedi completed her MS degree in nutritional science and was funded through this USDA grant. She completed a project titled: Connecting to the Past To Create a Healthier Future: Indigenous-Based Nutrition Education and Gardening Modules. Two students in academic year 2023 completed MS projects related to urban gardens. They spent time in and were inspired by the garden on our campus. The projects were by Evelyn Seto: Community Gardens in Los Angeles: The Creation of A Pamphlet Highlighting the Benefits of Gardening and Commonly Grown Plants Popular with Asian Cultures and Jaurice Salas: The Intersection of Community Gardening and Culture: An Inventory and Recipes of Popular Plants Grown by Latinx Residents in Los Angeles Community Gardens. E Crystal Ramirez finished her thesis on polyculture research in the Cal State LA urban food garden. She also received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship to begin her PhD research in Fall 2024. During 2023, Esmeralda del Rio completed her MA thesis inspired by the food garden on our campus. She also contributed her research to the Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture. Ms. del Rio is currently enrolled in a PhD program in History at Indiana University, Bloomington. In the Fall of 2024, Natalie Sanchez, an undergraduate student enrolled in the Department of Liberal Studies started working with Dr. Chatterjee on her BA Honors Thesis on the history of indigenous plants in Southern California. 5. Manual of Urban Food Gardens The Manual of Urban Food Gardens is nearly complete. This document highlights the native edible and medicinal vegetation, climate, and soils of the Southern California region. The outline of topics and chapters includes: 1) Growing Native Food and Medicinal Plants in Los Angeles; 2) Guide and Instructions for Growing Native Edible and Medicinal Plants; 3) Select Recipes: Nutritional Analysis of Food and Drink Made from Native Plants (compilation and tabulation in progress). Dr. Hibbs' section, 4) Overview of Soil and Water Requirements and Properties in Southern California, is approximately 75% complete and is expected to be finalized by March 2025. 6. Certificate in Urban Ecology and Agriculture A new Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in Environmental Science and a new Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in Environmental Studies have been developed and are progressing in the review process at Cal State LA and CSU System. These programs will be housed in the Department of Geosciences and Environment, where Dr. Hibbs serves as a faculty member. Dr. Hibbs previously chaired the Environmental Science BS Curriculum Planning Subcommittee and is now a planning member, having been succeeded by a faculty member who receives college units for managing the existing MS Program in Environmental Science. Dr. Chatterjee is actively contributing as a member of the Environmental Studies Curriculum Planning Subcommittee. We proposed FANH courses in these programs in Food, Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Human Sciences (FANH) fields within these new degree programs, incorporating most of the courses outlined in our USDA-HSI proposal for the previously proposed certificate program. After evaluating the potential impact of a certificate program, we concluded that establishing comprehensive degree programs in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies would provide a more transformative benefit to our campus community. The Environmental Science BS degree has been approved by the campus and Chancellor's office adminstrators and is scheduled to launch in Fall 2026. Meanwhile, the Environmental Studies BA program is undergoing final curriculum adjustments to ensure compliance with the Chancellor's Office directives. T 7. Grant Assessment Components and Activity: Pre- and post-surveys are being utilized in several courses.
Publications
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Hibbs, B., Rosas, M., Ruelas, C., Michel, J., and Newcomer, M. 2024. Overview of preliminary findings of hydrochemistry and isotope hydrology of Los Angeles River between river headwater and outfall at Pacific Ocean. Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 5. (NOTE: some of the data developed during the USDA-NIFA-HSI field hydrology class sponsored by this USDA-HSI grant went into this conference paper).
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Rojas, T., and Hibbs, B. Forthcoming December 2024. Hydrochemical profile of Luguna Channel Watershed: Annual Meeting of National Groundwater Association, Abs with Programs, Abstract Set N101/N103. (NOTE): This channel is alongside the Cal State LA urban garden and relates to the hydrology of the local area near the garden).
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Progress 09/15/22 to 09/14/23
Outputs
Target Audience:Cal State LA undergraduate student community, Cal State LA graduate student community, Los Angeles urban gardening community, and the local community in and around Cal State LA are the target audiences. Cal State LA is a Hispanic Serving Institution and serves a historically underrepresented group in FAHN fields, including Biology, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, and Food Science and Nutrition. Our efforts to serve these populations during this reporting period included formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, development of new curriculum and course-based undergraduate research experiences and graduate student training through research. Our new garden is serving as a place for collaboration within the broader LA community. The garden is hosting more and more activities. This collaboration has included hosting tours in the garden for community members and hosting formal and informal instructional sessions for students and community members who want to learn more about gardening, urban agriculture, and urban natural resources. Changes/Problems:The grant remains on schedule. Course modifications have been done in most of the courses listed in the grant, while other courses not listed in the grant have been directly exposed to and impacted by FANH topics, in most cases meeting and sometimes exceeding commitments and work load for existing courses listed for modification in the grant. The new course on Field Methods and Practice in Hydrology and Watershed Analysis was taught in Spring 2023. Graduate student research is proceeding as scheduled, and progress is being made toward the publication of the Urban Garden Manual. We are pleased with the overall status of the grant, in light of the fact that the placement and development of the new urban garden had a few delays due to Covid, and due to the need to make the garden ADA compliant before it could be used for formal classes. Our only major change in the grant - we are developing BS and BA degrees programs in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies, instead of a Certificate. Our internal analysis revealed that FANH experiences in these new degrees would be more beneficial to our campus community and students than a certificate.These degree programs will be available to the first student enrollees by late-2024 to mid-2025. These degree programs, as well as certificates, must now be approved at the CSU Chancellor's Office and these new programs take considerable amounts of time for consultations and review.Dr. Wright has accepted a tenured position at another campus and will begin the appointment in Fall, 2024. Our USDA-HSI grant ends September 14, 2024. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. One graduate student has completed her data collection and presented this research at an international conference with mentoring from Dr. Wright. She is a first-generation college student and a Hispanic woman. 2. Introductory Geology Lab: During Fall 2022 and Spring 2023, a total of six sections of Geology 1500 Lab were taught by Dr. Hibbs, with 25 students in each lab. In these labs, 150 students were informed about the role of urban community food gardens and FAHN sciences in our LA community through the Civic Learning component of this course. Of these 150 students, 32 chose to develop a 15 minute presentation on the importance of urban community food gardens in our community, and how to protect water quality in urban farms and gardens. These presentations were part of the service learning component of Geology 1500 Lab. 3. Advanced Watershed Analysis: During Fall, 2023, 12 students were exposed to multiple levels of content on the role of urban food gardens in urban watersheds during a one week course module in early September 2023. This course module focused on experiential learning and training of students to address the issues of resource management in urban food gardens. 4. Field Methods and Practice in Hydrology and Watershed Analysis: During Spring 2023, 15 undergraduate and graduate students were enrolled in this course in its inaugural offering. This course trained students on field methods and field instrumentation for measuring chemistry of surface water and groundwater, how to collect soil water samples and measure soil moisture content, and how to make physical measurements of streamflow, and groundwater levels. A total of 5 days was spent in the field in this course. Students prepared a summative research presentation and research paper to complete the requirements of the class. 5. One graduate student has been supported financially and mentored closely by Dr. Choi Chatterjee while working on her project, A Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture in Los Angeles. She is finishing her MA thesis and applying for entrance to a PhD program in environmental history. She has presented her research at local and state-level conferences. 6. Advanced Plant Ecology: 20 students learned about soils, resource limitation, and the role of polyculture for ecological systems in Southern California. All students learned about polyculture growing practices, and three students wrote research proposals based on these ideas. 7. Amy Flores, MS student in Environmental Science, is the part time urban gardener for the 2023-2024 year. Amy has received the initial training that is needed to perform basic garden maintenance. Amy will receive further training in composting, planting, pruning, and cultivation. 8. We are working with the Food Pantry on the campus at Cal State LA to enable them to compost any unused foods that they were unable to distribute to students. Jessica Vera, who oversees the Food Pantry, has reached out about training for herself and her student workers. This will be completed by Dr. Hillstrom and others who are familiar with composting. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?1. The PIs on the grant, Drs. Chatterjee, Hibbs, Hillstrom, and Wright were all members of a panel entitled The Garden of Forking Paths: Los Angeles Landscapes through Time, hosted by the American Communities Program at Cal State LA. The Panel convened on February 21, 2023, and each Panel Member/Grant PI gave a 15 minute presentation and took questions from the 60 member audience. The panel discussed development of the Urban Food Garden at Cal State LA and closely related issues of urban agriculture from the perspectives of water resources, nutrition, polyculture, and climate change.At the end of the presentations the speakers had a general discussion with the audience and answered questions related to their presentations and presentation topics. 2. Dr. Hibbs gave an in-person guest lecture in Geography 4150, Perspectives on Environment on April 10, 2023 entitled Dry Weather Streamflow in Historically Intermittent Streams of the Santa Monica Mountains. 3. Dr. Hibbs gave an in-person guest lecture in Public Health 4140, Environmental Health on April 17, 2023 entitled Urban Stream Restoration Controls on Urban Biodiversity. 4. Dr. Hibbs, with two of his undergraduate students and two of his graduate students presented two abstracts at the annual ASCE-EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023, in May 2023. The titles are 1) Hydrochemical and isotopic studies of Los Angeles river flows between river headwaters and Sepulveda Dam and 2) Identifying hydrological inputs to new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, Imperial County, California. Dr. Hibbs, with one of his graduate students, presented a third abstract at the 8th Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds - Adaptive Watershed Science and Ecosystem Management in a Changing Climate, in June 2023. The title is 1) Studies of new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, California. The abstracts were submitted, and the talks were prepared during the reporting period. 5. During the summer of 2023, Dr. Chatterjee coordinated a summer book club for on the topic of indigenous plants and food security. The six book club meetings were attended by 30 faculty, staff members, and graduate students. 6. During the Fall semester of 2023, Dr. Chatterjee presented lectures on urban agriculture and growing indigenous and climate-adapted plants for edible and medicinal uses to students enrolled in the following courses: GEOL 3120 Global Climate Change, Anthropology 3200 Learning the Community, and LBS 2400: Environmental Humanities. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. All of the courses listed for modification, or listed as new courses in our USDA-HSI proposal have now been taught at least once, and several have been taught a few times. We will continue to offer these courses on a regular schedule. 2. In course cross-fertilization, we will continue to offer and provide guest lectures in the disciplinary areas directly related to the urban agriculture theme of our USDA-HSI grant. 3. We will continue to conduct pre-and-post survey assessment of students in our GE Coursework (NSS 1001) to assess understanding of the importance of urban agriculture and food gardens in LA, the ecological role of food gardens, and student sense of inclusion and access to these projects. We will continue to conduct assessments in several other courses included in the grant. 4. We will expand our two-week CURE in the introductory BIOL 1200 laboratory in Spring 2022. This will serve ~300 more students in the next reporting period. 5. We have recruited new student Tommy Rojas from an underrepresented group for MS training under the guidance of PI Barry Hibbs. Tommy Rojas entered the MS in Fall 2023 and has started work on a MS Thesis. 6. We will finish our Manual of Urban Food Gardens by June 2024. 7. We will continue working with the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences to formalize our two new degree programs; 1) Environmental Science BS and Environmental Studies BA. These new degree programs will be offered through the Department of Geosciences and Environment of the College of NSS. These new degrees will provide several courses with a FANH theme. 8. We will continue to disseminate information about the campus food garden through activities coordinated by the Student Dietetic Association and other clubs and organizations on campus. 9. The garden will be utilized by students in the Student Dietetic Association; students will be encouraged to adopt a plot for the academic year. There is a faculty mentor to guide students on proper planting and cultivating. 10. We plan to offer a course utilizing the work done by Christina Mojahedi for her master's thesis. Ideally, we would like to offer a short course through our Professional and Global Education program to share native gardening and its benefits. 11. Using the research findings from the Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture, we will add additional plant medicinal and edible pants that were used by the indigenous communities of Los Angeles in the campus food garden. We will continue to provide tours of the garden to explain the ecological, nutritional, and medicinal significance of native plants.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
From September 15 2022 to September 14, 2023, this project has impacted 1000 lower division undergraduate students in NSS 1001 in Fall 2022 and 1000 undergraduate students in NSS 1001 in Fall 2023; 150 students in GEOL 1500 Lab, 50 upper-division undergraduate students in courses listed for modification or new courses, 23 graduates students in courses listed for modification or for new courses listed in the proposal, and 3 graduate students involved in research. Our new urban food garden has been used for teaching Earth Revealed Laboratory, Plant Ecology, Watershed Analysis, Water Quality Seminar, Community Gardening and Food Sovereignty, and History of Agriculture and Food Justice. 1. Tier 1, GE Coursework/Curriculum The foundation of our GE program focuses on our 3-unit course Natural and Social Sciences (NSS) 1001 - "Introduction to Higher Education". In Fall 2022, we developed and taught a week-long module and showed our previously preparededucational videos in this course covering Urban Agriculture, Urban Natural Resources Management, and related FANH material. Every student entering the College of Natural and Social Sciences (NSS) must take this course.During Fall 2023, we also offered the course and we continued the five supplemental tours of 90 minutes for students in NSS 1001. 2. Tier 2, Lower Division Specialized Coursework Course 1: Biology 1200 Laboratory, we developed a pilot program for this course. Students read two primary literature papers about polyculture and ecological principles, students toured the garden and learned about basic plant morphology, germination, and crop production, as well as polyculture methods. This program served 144 of our introductory Biology students. 3. Tier 3, Upper Division Course Development and Course Cross-Fertilization A. Watershed Analysis, Geology 4870 (3 units): A week of lecture material was presented on urban agriculture and related FAHN fields in the Geology 4870-Watershed Analysis course when it was offered during Fall 2023. Urban agriculture and FAHN lectures were given on September 5 and September 7, 2023. B. Field Methods and Practice in Hydrology and Watershed Analysis, Geology 4900 Special Topics (1 unit lab): This course was developed and taught for the first time during Spring 2023. The students were trained how to use instrumentation for measuring chemistry of surface water and groundwater, and how to make physical measurements of soil chemistry, soil moisture, streamflow, aquifer drawdown, and groundwater levels. D. Biology 4620 (3 units) In Spring 2022 we integrated the polyculture research garden into this course. Students read 8 primary literature articles about biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the design of polyculture agricultural systems. This was combined with 7 lectures in class on the same topic. Students proposed projects that could be conducted in the USDA funded garden. E. NTRS 4200 - Community Gardening and Food Sovereignty was taught during Spring semester 2022 for the first time and again during Fall 2023. There were a total of 14 students in the class both semesters serving a wide variety of majors. During Spring 2023, here are the vegetables that were proudly grown by the students: cilantro, arugula, tomatoes, basil, tomatillos, jalapenos, and zucchinis. 3b Course Cross-Fertilization A. Dry Weather Streamflow in Historically Intermittent Streams of the Santa Monica Mountains. Presented in Geography 4150, Perspectives on Environment. April 10, 2023. Barry Hibbs, Guest Lecturer. B. Urban Stream Restoration Controls on Urban Biodiversity. Presented in Public Health 4140, Environmental Health. April 17, 2023. Barry Hibbs, Guest Lecturer. C. During the Fall semester of 2023, Dr. Chatterjee presented lectures on urban agriculture and growing indigenous and climate-adapted plants for edible and medicinal uses to students enrolled in the following courses: GEOL 3120 Global Climate Change, Anthropology 3200 Learning the Community, and LBS 2400: Environmental Humanities. She gave several tours of the urban food garden to approximately 25 students enrolled in each of the three courses. D. Advanced Topics and Problems in Nutritional Science. Twelve students attended the zoom lecture on October 27, 2021, with the topic: Los Angeles-Agriculture in the City 4. Tier 4, Student/Faculty Research Graduate Students: Esmeralda del Rio, who received the graduate research stipend through USDA-HSIgrant in 2022-2023, has finished her MA thesis, "Natural Empire: First Impressions of Indigenous Knowledge." Esmeralda presented her research at the following venues: 31th Student Symposium on Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activities at California State University, LA (March 2023)."Natural Empire: First Impressions of Indigenous Knowledge in Las Californias in the Eighteenth Century," at the University of Pacific, Phi Alpha Theta Northern California Regional Conference, Stockton, CA March 4, 2023. "Native Plant Garden as a Source of Climate Education" at Harvey Mudd College, Undergraduate Climate Conference, Claremont, CA Sept. 15, 2023. "Imperio de la Naturaleza: Plantas de Las Californias" at Lab. Of Environmental History of the Federal University of Fronteira Sul, online, August 30, 2023. In September 2023, graduate student Tommy Rojas was awarded the final one-year graduate research stipend available through the USDA-HSI Grant. Tommy Rojas will work with Dr. Hibbs on the soil physics and soil water chemistry of the Cal State LA Urban Food Garden. In August 2022 Crystal Ramirez conducted the final harvest of her M.S. thesis research. She collected data on polyculture and monoculture food systems. She also collected continuous data on soil moisture and microclimate temperature and humidity. She is preparing these data for her thesis defense in May 2023. Dr. Hillstrom mentored Christina Mojahedi, a master's student in nutritional science. Her Master's project is titled: CONNECTING TO THE PAST TO CREATE A HEALTHIER FUTURE: INDIGENOUS-BASED NUTRITION EDUCATION AND GARDENING MODULE. Her project was displayed at the CA Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Annual Meeting in Long Beach in April, 2023. 5. Manual of Urban Food Gardens Several members of the grant have been writing sections of the Manual of Urban Food Gardens and it is nearing completion. This document focuses on the native edible and medicinal vegetation, climate, and soils of the Southern California region.A few tasty receipes prepared with native edible vegetation will be included in the manual.This manual is expected to be complete by June 15, 2024. 6. Certificate in Urban Ecology and Agriculture A new BS degree in Environmental Science and a new BA degree in Environmental Studies have been developed and are moving forward at Cal State LA.Dr. Hibbs is a member of the Environmental Science Curriculum Planning Committee and Dr. Chatterjee is a member of the Environmental Studies Curriculum Planning Subcommittee. We have proposedareas of concentration in FANH fields of studies in these new degree programs, with inclusion of most of the courses listed in our USDA-HSI proposal for the Certificate that was proposed. We have added several additional FANH related courses in the new environmental degree programs. We evaluated the benefit of the certificate to our campus community, and concluded that a more transformative impact will be derived by creating degree programs in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies. These new degree programs will have urban natural resources managementand urban agriculture studies (FAHN-related content) as two of the main areas emphasized within the degree programs. 7. Grant Assessment Components and Activity: We have had several internal and external course and overall grant assessment activities performed by the grant team members and by our external evaluator.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2024
Citation:
Ramirez, C., and Wright, A., Accepted at Plant & Soil. Microclimate and growth advantages in the Three Sisters planting food system.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Poster Presentation at the California Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Long Beach, April 2023. Mojahedi, Christina, and Hillstrom, Kathryn: CONNECTING TO THE PAST TO CREATE A HEALTHIER FUTURE: INDIGENOUS-BASED NUTRITION EDUCATION AND GARDENING MODULE.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Ramirez, C. Food justice through urban gardens in low-income communities. Inspire Session at 2022 Ecological Society of America conference. Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Ramirez, C., Wright, A.J. Microclimate temperature in the three sisters (maize/bean/squash) polyculture food systems. Poster session at 2023 Ecological Society of America conference. Portland, OR USA.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Hibbs, B., Drummond, M., Camarena, A., and Alwood, L., 2023, Hydrochemical and isotopic studies of Los Angeles river flows between river headwaters and Sepulveda Dam: ASCE-EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023, Abs with Programs, Groundwater Symposium
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Alwood, L., Bautista, C., Hibbs, B., and Drummond, M., 2023, Identifying hydrological inputs to new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, Imperial County, California: ASCE-EWRI World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023, Abs with Programs, Groundwater Symposium
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Hibbs, B., and Bautista, C., 2023, Studies of new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, California: 8th Interagency Conference on Research in the Watersheds, Adaptive Watershed Science and Ecosystem Management in a Changing Climate, Abs. with Programs, Abstract # S09.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2023
Citation:
Sharp, J., Hibbs, B., and Green, R., 2023, Biases in hydrogeological data and effects on hydrogeologic system conceptualization: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 55, No. 6, 2023
doi: 10.1130/abs/2023AM-388878
|
Progress 09/15/21 to 09/14/22
Outputs
Target Audience:Cal State LA undergraduate community, Cal State LA graduate student community, Los Angeles urban gardening community, and the local community in and around Cal State LA. The Cal State LA is a Hispanic Serving Institution and serves a historically underrepresented group in FAHN fields, including Biology, Hydrology, Environmental Science, Social Sciences, and Food Science and Nutrition. Our efforts to serve these populations during this reporting period included formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, development of new curriculum and course-based undergraduate research experiences and graduate student training through research. Our new garden is serving as a place for collaboration within the broader LA community. This collaboration has included hosting tours in the garden for community members and hosting informal instructional sessions in the garden for students and community members who want to learn more about gardening. Changes/Problems:The grant is basically on schedule. Course modifications have been done in most of the courses listed in the grant, while other courses not listed in the grant have been directly exposed to and impacted by FANH topics, in most cases meeting and sometimes exceeding commitments and work load for existing courses listed for modification in the grant. The new course on Field Methods and Practice in Hydrology and Watershed Analysis is ready to be taught in Spring 2023. Graduate student research is proceeding as scheduled, and progress is being made toward the publication of the urban garden manual. We are pleased with the overall status of the grant, in light of the fact that the placement and development of the new urban garden had a few delays due to Covid, and due to the need to make the garden ADA compliant before it could be used for formal classes. In week-long course instruction in NSS 1001, we made revisions to the week-long module content after a post-audit in Fall 2021 showed that the instructors of NSS 1001 and the Associate Dean of NSS wanted a common core structure to the course module. Now the course includes the use of two videos that all instructors use in the course, along with lectures on FANH fields of study. The two videos that all students view include Video A and Video B. Video A shows how the Cal State LA Urban Food Garden was developed and constructed. The video shows the garden before construction and during the planting of fruit trees, native vegetation, and crops, and the installation of composting stations. Video B includes faculty input on the NSS degree options that fit into the environmental and social aspects of urban food gardens. Our only major change in the grant is we now would prefer to develop a minor or area of concentration in FANH fields of studies in our developing BS and BA degree programs in Environmental Science/Studies. Our internal analysis demonstrated that a minor or concentration would be more beneficial than a certificate to members of the Cal-State LA Educational Community. Dr. Hibbs went on medical leave in August 2021 and returned from medical leave in late November 2021 and resumed directorship of the grant. Dr. Wright served as acting director of the grant during the period Dr. Hibbs was on medical leave. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?1. One graduate student has completed her data collection and presented this research at an international conference with mentoring from Dr. Wright. She is a first-generation college student and a Hispanic woman. 2. Introductory Geology: About 90 students were informed about the role of urban community food gardens and FAHN sciences in our LA community through the Civic Learning component of this course. Of these students, 17 chose to develop a 15 minute presentation on the importance of urban community food gardens in our community as part of the service learning section of this grant. 3. Advanced Watershed Analysis: 13 students were exposed to multiple levels of content on the role of urban food gardens in urban watersheds. This course module focused on experiential learning and training of students to address the issues of resource management in urban food gardens. 4. Water Quality Seminar: 11 students learned about environmental issues of urban and peri-urban agriculture, including runoff and water retention concerns and possible benefits, especially as these relate to nutrients, bacteria, and viruses. 5. Two graduate students have been supported financially and mentored closely by Dr. Choi Chatterjee while working on her project, A Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture in Los Angeles. Both students are members of underrepresented minority groups and both of them are first-generation college students. One has graduated and received an appointment as a guide at the Plaza de Olvera City Museum, and the other is finishing her MA thesis and applying for entrance to a Phd program in environmental history. Both have presented their research at local and state-level conferences. 6. Advanced Plant Ecology: 20 students learned about soils, resource limitation, and the role of polyculture for ecological systems in Southern California. All students learned about polyculture growing practices, and three students wrote research proposals based on these ideas. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have completed several products disseminating our work to communities of interest: 1. On June 17, 2022, Dr. Chatterjee and Dr. Hibbs met at the urban garden with 11 summer STEM students participating in a summer research program on another grant.They discussed activity in the urban garden and related issues or urban edibles, food security, biodiversity, and environmental related to urban agriculture. 2. Dr. Hibbs gave an in-person guest lecture in the GEOG 3090 Urban Environmental Pollution class on Sept 7, 2022 entitled Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Agriculture. 3. Dr. Hibbs, with two of his undergraduate students and three of his graduate students presented two abstracts at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America in early October, 2022 covering FAHN fields of study.The titles are: 1) Hydrogeologic studies of terrestrial groundwater inputs to new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, and 2) Isotope hydrology and hydrochemistry of the Upper Los Angeles River, CA. The abstracts were submitted, and the talks were prepared during the reporting period. 4. Dr. Chatterjee presented a lecture on the Historical Database of Climate Adapted agriculture in Southern California at the Southern California Agroecology and Sustainable Urban Food System Education and Research Center Conference at California State University, Fullerton (April 2022). 5. Dr. Chatterjee presented the President's Distinguished Award Lecture at California State University, Los Angeles in Fall 2021. Her talk was entitled, "Building a Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture in Los Angeles." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU9EjU4Fm2g 6. Graduate student Crystal Ramirez presented this work at the Ecological Society of American conference. Her talk was entitled "Urban gardens: Connecting marginalized youth to nature." What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?1. We will continue to conduct pre and post survey assessment of students in our GE Coursework (NSS 1001) to assess understanding of the importance of urban agriculture and food gardens in LA, the ecological role of food gardens, and student sense of inclusion and access to these projects. We will conduct assessments in several other courses included in the grant. 2. We will expand our two-week CURE in the introductory BIOL 1200 laboratory in Spring 2022. This will serve ~300 more students in the next reporting period. 3. We will teach the Field Methods and Practice in Watershed Analysis course for the first time in Spring 2023. 4. We will offer a new laboratory on Soil Properties and Soil Chemistry in Urban Food Gardens in Earth Revealed Laboratory, GEOL 1500, in four lab sections (22 to 25 students each) during Spring 2023. 5. We will recruit a new student from an underrepresented group for the MS training program under the guidance of Barry Hibbs. 6. We will continue to work on our Manual of Urban Food Gardens. 7. We will continue working with the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences to implement a minor or area of concentration in FANH fields of study in one of our two new degree programs that is developing in Environmental Science and Environmental Studies. These new degree programs will serve the entire NSS College. 8. We will continue to disseminate information about the campus food garden through activities coordinated by the Edible Garden Club and other clubs and organizations on campus. 9. The garden will be utilized by students in the Student Dietetic Association; students will be encouraged to adopt a plot for the academic year. There is a faculty mentor to guide students on proper planting and cultivating. 10. Using the research findings from the Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture, we will add additional plant medicinal and edible pants that were used by the indigenous communities of Los Angeles in the campus food garden. We will continue to provide tours of the garden to explain the ecological, nutritional, and medicinal significance of native plants.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
From September 15 2021 to September 14, 2022, this project has impacted 1000 lower division undergraduate students in NSS 1001 in Fall 2021; 1000 undergraduate students in NSS 1001 in Fall 2022; 90 students in GEOL 1500 Lab, 60 upper-division undergraduate students in courses listed for modification or new courses, 25 graduates students in courses listed for modification or for new courses listed in the proposal, and 3graduate students involved in research. Our new urban foodgarden has been used for teachingEarth Revealed Laboratory, Plant Ecology, Watershed Analysis, Water Quality Seminar, Community Gardening and Food Sovereignty, and History of Agriculture and Food Justice. 1. Tier 1, GE Coursework/Curriculum The foundation of our GE program focuses on our 3-unit course Natural and Social Sciences (NSS) 1001 - "Introduction to Higher Education". We developed and taught a week-long module and developed educational videos in this course covering Urban Agriculture, Urban Natural Resources Management, and related FANH material. Every student entering the College of Natural and Social Sciences (NSS) must take this course, and every student is allowed to visit our Urban Garden as a supplemental activity. During Fall 2022, we addedfive supplemental tours of 90 minutes for students and two tours for NSS 1001 teachers. 2. Tier 2, Lower Division Specialized Coursework Course 1: Biology 1200 Laboratory, we developed a pilot program for this course. Students read two primary literature papers about polyculture and ecological principles, students toured the garden and learned about basic plant morphology, germination, and crop production, as well as polyculture methods. This program served 144 of our introductory Biology students. 3. Tier 3, Upper Division Course Development and Course Cross-Fertilization A. Watershed Analysis Geology 4870 (3 units); Aweek of lecture material was presentedon urban agriculture and related FAHN fields in the Geology 4870-Watershed Analysis course during Spring 2022. Urban agriculture and FAHN lectures were given on May 3 and May 5, 2022. Lecture 1 Was entitled Urban Agriculture/Urban Gardens - History, Issues, and Environmental Water Quality Management. Lecture 2 was entitled Environmental Benefits and Environmental Concerns in Urban and Peri-Urban Agriculture. B. Geology 4900 Special Topics (1 unit); A course proposal in the new course entitled Field Methods and Practice in Hydrology and Watershed Analysis was developed, submitted, and approved by curriculum committees and NSS Deans Office. This course will be taught for the first-time during Spring 2023. C. History 4900 Special Topics History of Agriculture and Food Justice (3 units): This seminar was offered in the Spring of 2022 and Dr. Enrique Ochoa covered the history of agriculture with special emphasis on the impact of the green revolution and signing of the NAFTA trade agreement on the Mexican agricultural industry. D. Biology 4620 (3 units) In Spring 2022 we integrated the polyculture research garden into this course. Students read 8 primary literature articles about biodiversity and ecosystem functioning and the design of polyculture agricultural systems. This was combined with 7 lectures in class on the same topic. Students proposed projects that could be conducted in the USDA funded garden. E. NTRS 4200 - Community Gardening and Food Sovereignty was taught during spring semester 2022 for the first time. The course was offered as an elective for nutritional science students but since it had no prerequisites, any student on the campus was eligible to enroll in it. There were a total of 14 students in the class and a wide variety of majors. 3b Course Cross-Fertilization A. Wetlands, Biodiversity, and Agriculture. Presented in Geography 3090 Urban Environmental Pollution, Sept 7, 2022. B. Hibbs, Guest Lecturer B. Urban Edibles, Food Security, Biodiversity, and Environmental Issues of Urban Agriculture. Tour and Presentation in NSF STEM Summer Research Program, June 17, 2022. C. Chatterjee and B. Hibbs, Lecturers. C. Anthropology 3200 Learning the Community (3-unit upper division GE class). Dr. Chatterjee presented several lectures on urban agriculture and growing indigenous and climate-adapted plants for edible and medicinal uses. She gave several tours of the urban food garden to approximately 25 students enrolled in the class. D. Dr. Chatterjee hosted a seminar during fall 2021 to graduate students in nutritional science in the course NTRS 5130 - Advanced Topics and Problems in Nutritional Science. Twelve students attended the zoom lecture on October 27, 2021 with the topic: Los Angeles-Agriculture in the City 4. Tier 4, Student/Faculty Research Graduate Students: In August 2022 Crystal Ramirez conducted the final harvest of her M.S. thesis research. She collected data on corn, bean, and squash biomass and fruit production in polyculture and monoculture food systems. She also collected continuous data on soil moisture and microclimate temperature and humidity. She is preparing these data for her thesis defense in May 2023 In Fall of 2021 Dr. Chatterjee recruited two graduate students, Christopher Gurrola and Esmeralda del Rio to assist her with her research into the history of indigenous food systems and climate-adapted agriculture in Southern California. Research topics include descriptions of edible and medicinal plants and the ways in which they were used by indigenous peoples of Southern California andindigenous communities and their food systems. Dr. Hillstrom began working with Christina Mojahedi, a post baccalaureate students in nutritional science. Christina was hired as the garden manager in January 2022 and became involved in sustaining the day-to-day mechanics of the campus garden. During that time, there were many discussions about possible future MS theses or projects that would contribute to the knowledge surrounding gardening and nutrition. 5. Manual of Urban Food Gardens Several members of the grant are writing sections of the Manual of Urban Food Gardens. This document will focus on the native edible and medicinal vegetation, climate, and soils of the Southern California region. Outline of topics and chapters of the Manual of Urban Food Gardens include: 1. Growing native food and medicinal plants in Los Angeles (Dr. Chatterjee); 2. Overview of soil and water requirements and properties in Southern California (Dr. Hibbs); 3. Guide and instructions for growing native edible and medicinal plants (Graduate Students, Christina Mojahedi, and Graduate Student Esmeralda Del Rio); 4.Nutritional analysis and recipes for food and drink of the above plants (Graduate Student Christina Mojahedi). This manual is expected to be complete by June15, 2024. 6. Certificate in Urban Ecology and Agriculture A new BS degree in Environmental Science and a new BA degree in Environmental Studies are being developed in the Natural and Social Sciences College at Cal-State LA. Dr. Hibbs is the Chair of the Environmental Science Curriculum Planning Subcommittee and Dr. Chatterjee is a member of the Environmental Studies Curriculum Planning Subcommittee. We are proposing areas of concentration in FANH fields of studies in these degree programs including all of the courses that were listed in our USDA-NIFA proposal, where we proposed a certificate. We think greater benefit will be derived in the development of a minor or concentration in FANH fields. 7. Grant Assessment Components and Activity: In 2022 we are beginning the process of assessment of NSS 1001 where we are compiling the data for this class that just finished in early November, 2022. External Evaluator Dr. Ragusa will play a crucial role in evaluating forthcoming field methods course in hydrology, and has started to compile and process data on graduate student research and other classes build into the grant, as they are scheduled.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Eastoe C., Hibbs, B., Merino, M., and Dadakis, J. 2022. Origins of salinity in groundwater and surface water of the agricultural Rio Grande Floodplain, Texas, USA and Chihuahua, Mexico, the Case of sulfate: Hydrology Journal. 2022; 9(95). https://doi.org/ 10.3390/hydrology9060095.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Hibbs, B., Bautista, L., Alwood, L., and Drummond, M., 2022, Hydrogeologic studies of terrestrial groundwater inputs to new wetlands on the shores of the retreating Salton Sea, CA: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-383687.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Drummond, M., Camarena, A., Hibbs, B., Alwood, L., and Alexander, 2022, J., Isotope hydrology and hydrochemistry of the Upper Los Angeles River, CA: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol 54, No. 5, doi: 10.1130/abs/2022AM-382527.
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2022
Citation:
Ramirez, C, Wright, A. 2022. Urban gardens: Connecting marginalized youth to nature. Ecological Society of America. Montreal, CA.
|
Progress 09/15/20 to 09/14/21
Outputs
Target Audience:Cal State LA undergraduate community, Cal State LA graduate student community, Los Angeles urban gardening community, and the local community in and around Cal State LA. The Cal State LA undergraduate community is a Hispanic Serving Institution and serves a historically underrepresented group in the fields of Biology and Agricultural Sciences. Our efforts to serve these populations during this project term included formal classroom instruction, laboratory instruction, development of new curriculum and course based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), and graduate student training through research. We have also now developed a new garden that serves as a place for collaboration within the broader LA community. This collaboration has included hosting tours in the garden for community members and hosting informal instructional sessions in the garden for students and community members who want to learn more about gardening. Changes/Problems:COVID - 19: The Cal State LA campus was closed for the majority of the 2020-2021 school year. For all on-campus activities we were required to go through a lengthy procedure to gain access to the campus. In particular, in order to build out the garden beds and other infrastructure that will be required for all of our coursework and research, we needed to complete an approval process that took nearly 5 months to finish. This restricted our ability to complete any hands-on research experiences associated with our General Education course, our upper division courses, and our research program. We were able to make the following progress associated with the garden infrastructure, albeit on a much delayed timeline: September - December 2020 - a graduate student in Nutritional Science, Alicia Papanek, conducted remote meetings that laid much of the groundwork for the modifications we were able to make to our current campus garden this year (in prep for the work described herein). She met with students, faculty and administrators to gain support for expanding the campus garden in student housing. Alicia also established the Edible Garden Club, which is a student-led campus group through Associated Students. A nutritional science faculty member was the club mentor and now that responsibility is shared with Dr. Chatterjee. The student group, under Alicia's enthusiastic leadership, gained the support of the all levels of administration. Fall 2020 - finalizing garden design with our campus administration via remote meetings. We were given permission to build a new garden that expands on our current gardens on our campus. The administration demonstrated clear support for this expansion and all co-PI's led an effort to secure funds from the administration for an ADA compliant walkway that could be installed into a brand-new campus food garden for our work. Winter 2020/2021 - Cal State LA started opening our campus for limited research-related activities. This involved a 20 page research application for our team. Dr. Wright led the process of completing this application in winter and we gained access to our new garden space in March 2021. Winter 2020/2021- The garden intern, Meghan Garvey, assisted by Dr. Chatterjee and members of the Edible Garden Club of Cal State LA, planted seven drought tolerant fruit trees, and a variety of native plants including grapes, aloe, nopales cactus and others. April 2021 - The ADA compliant walkway was completed and we installed 8 new large raised beds (subdivided into 16 plots) during this time. We also hired a Cal State LA student to work as a part-time garden technician to help with planting, irrigation design, and student volunteer recruitment/involvement. May 2021 - Planted first crops for education and research. Installed irrigation. Began installing research equipment. June 2021 - New compost system installed by a partner group in Los Angeles (LA Compost). July and August 2021--Meghan Garvey, the garden intern, secured a truckload of compost from the city of Los Angeles and spread it around the garden. Garvey has also installed several raised beds with funding from ASI (student organization on campus), and planted it with edible plants and herbs. She is continuing to feed and mulch all the planted areas. August 2021 - First data collected on plant growth, soil moisture, and microclimate (temperature and humidity) associated with PI Wright's research and graduate training agenda. Medical Leave by PD Dr. Barry Hibbs In August 2021, PD Barry Hibbs filed for medical leave for the Fall 2021 semester. The length of his medical leave will last through Fall 2021, though it is unknown when he will return at that point. Dr. Hibbs has now been replaced by Dr. Alexandra (Sasha) Wright as PD for the project. ? What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? 1. Two graduate students have been supported financially and mentored closely by Dr. Choi Chatterjee while working on her project, A Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture in Los Angeles. Both students are members of under-represented minority groups and one of them is also a first-generation college student. One has been accepted into a PhD program at USC. The other is finishing her work with Dr. Chatterjee. 2. One graduated student has just begun her work in Dr. Wright's Plant Ecology lab. She is being supported by the grant and being mentored closely by Dr. Wright. She is a first- generation college student and a Hispanic woman. 3. One undergraduate student has been mentored heavily by Dr. Mandy Hillstrom. She completed an Honor's thesis on food, campus sustainability, and the role of our new campus garden. She has completed her degree at CSULA and started an MS program at Chapman University in Food Science. 4. We have developed materials (educational videos and course modules) for 2700 students this semester to learn about the ecology, history, and the nutritional role that a food garden can play on campus. These students will learn about this resource for the first time in the introductory course NSS 1001, offered in the Fall semester of 2021 . 5. Introductory Geology: 100 students were taught about the role of urban community food gardens in our LA community. Of these students, 14 chose to develop a 15 minute presentation on the importance of urban community food gardens in our community. 6. Advanced Watershed Analysis: 8 students exposed to multiple levels of content on the role of urban food gardens in urban watersheds and the history of agriculture in LA. 7. Advanced Plant Ecology: 20 students learned about soils, resource limitation, and the role of polyculture for ecological systems in Southern California. 8. Our part-time garden technician runs a gardening club on campus. In the past reporting period, she has organized educational sessions over zoom and in-person to teach students about composting and growing food crops on our campus. ? How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We have produced several products towards disseminating our work to communities of interest: 1. Dr. Choi Chatterjee and her students, Moises Ponce-Zepeda, Jewelyn Mims, presented 5 lectures on the importance of urban agriculture to students enrolled in five sections of the introductory course NSS 1001 during the month of November, 2020. We reached 300 students through this educational outreach effort. In addition, over a hundred students, faculty, and staff members attended the series of talks and presentations convened by the Environmental History Discussion Group that was created in association with the project: A Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture. Many students participated in the 10 Book Club discussions that were hosted by the Environmental History Group in the summer of 2021. https://sites.google.com/view/historical-database-of-climate/home. 2. Dr. Hillstrom presented about the opportunities in the garden to HHS 10001, Introduction to Higher Education in Health and Human Services. There were 60 undergraduate students in the lecture. 3. Lecture: Hibbs, B. April, 15, 2021 "Concrete-Lined and Unlined Stream Channels: Water Quality, Restoration, and Research." Presentation to the Environmental History Research Group in the History Department at Calstate LA. 4. Lecture: Chatterjee, C. October 20, 2020. Edible Garden Club, Cal State LA. "On the history of industrial, regenerative, and urban agriculture" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIRksUKqM50&t=1890s 5. Lecture: Hibbs, B. and Chatterjee, C. 2021. Growing food in the city: urban food gardens for research and education. Presented in Natural and Social Sciences Dean's Board of Advisor's meeting. 6. Website: Growing food in the city: a USDA-funded urban education and research grant. This website is meant to publicize our classroom, training, and research-related activities. https://sites.google.com/view/growingfoodinthecity/home 7. Website: Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture: A USDA-funded urban education and research grant. This website is meant to publicize historical research on agriculture in the Los Angeles region. https://sites.google.com/view/historical-database-of-climate/home 8. Dr. Wright's student, Crystal Ramirez, attended a preliminary meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota in August 2021 to share what we have been doing in our garden and discuss the possibility of joining an NSF-funded national network of campuses that use urban agriculture for undergraduate education. This is being led by Dr. Eric Chapman and Dr. Adam Kay. 9. Dr. Chatterjee presented a lecture entitled "Agriculture in the City" to students of Dr. Hibb's Watershed Analogy Geology (GEOL 4870) Class on May 13, 2021. https://sites.google.com/view/historical-database-of-climate/environmental-history-discussion-group?authuser=0 10. We have produced a film about the campus food garden and it is being shown to students enrolled in multiple courses. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYQTgezrRns&t=6s ? What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? 1. We will conduct pre and post survey assessment of students in our GE Coursework (NSS 1001) to assess understanding of the importance of urban agriculture and food gardens in LA, the ecological role of food gardens, and student sense of inclusion and access to these projects. 2. We will implement our hands-on two-week CURE in the introductory BIOL 1200 laboratory in Spring 2022. This will serve ~200 students in the next reporting period. We will conduct pre and post survey assessment of student understanding and sense of inclusion during this course as well. 3. We will implement our hands-on one unit Geology short course in Spring 2022. 4. We will add the experiential "learning in the garden" component into our advanced Plant Ecology course. Student understanding of experimental methods will be evaluated with the EDAT test. 5. We will implement our advanced Nutritional Science course in Spring 2022. Students will learn about food justice and garden maintenance. 6. We will implement our modified advanced History course on agriculture and food justice in the San Gabriel Valley. Students will work with historically relevant crops that we will grow in the garden and conduct research on the history of these crops in our region. 7. We will recruit a new student from an underrepresented group into the MS training program under the guidance of Mandy Hillstrom. 8. We will begin the production of our annual of urban good gardens. 9. We will continue working with the Dean of Natural and Social Sciences to implement a certificate in Urban Ecology and Agriculture. 10. We will continue to disseminate information about the campus food garden through activities coordinated by the Edible Garden Club on campus. 11. Using the research findings from the Historical Database of Climate Adapted Agriculture, we will plant medicinal and edible pants that were used by the indigenous communities of Los Angeles in the campus food garden. We will also provide tours of the garden to explain the ecological, nutritional, and medicinal significance of native plants.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
I IMPACT: During the 2020-2021 academic year this project has impacted more than 1000 undergraduate students, 5 graduate students, and our entire campus community. We were able to expand our existing garden infrastructure on campus and build a new and much larger campus garden. This garden is now already being used for research in Plant Ecology and History of LA agriculture. It is also being used by students and community-members at CSULA to get hands-on experience growing their own food and learning about compost in an urban environment. The urban garden is being used in coursework in 4 different classes (and will expand to 8 by the end of the academic year). Students and faculty are starting to be able to see how food connects to their health, happiness, and larger research themes associated with efficient food production in urban environments. 1. Tier 1, GE Coursework/Curriculum The foundation of our GE program focuses on our recently developed 3-unit course Natural and Social Sciences (NSS) 1001 -"Introduction To Higher Education". We have now developed a week-long module and 4 educational videos for this course: Video A shows how the Cal State LA Urban Food Garden was developed and constructed. The video shows the garden after the planting of fruit trees, native vegetation, crops, and the installation of composting stations. Video B includes the faculty input on the NSS degree options that fit into the environmental and social aspects of urban food gardens. Video C -The issue of poor nutrition in urban areas, and how urban food gardens can be an important source of nutritious land locally grown produce. Video D -What is an urban heat island? What is carbon sequestration? How can networks of urban food gardens create urban cooling and serve a role in capturing atmospheric CO2? Video E. Viewing of Pre-Recorded Lecture by Dr. Choi Chatterjee https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIRksUKqM50&t 2. Tier 2, Lower Division Specialized Coursework Course 1: Biology 1200 Laboratory, Polyculture for growing food research experience To give our students a deeper understanding of the themes of ecology and sustainability associated with agriculture we have begun to develop a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to be implemented in Spring 2022 in the introductory population biology curriculum (BIOL 1200). We have developed the following timeline for our CURE: Week 1: We will visit the garden and talk about the crops growing there during each semester. Week 2: Students will work in groups of 3 and run germination trials on crop varieties that we are interested in experimenting with in the research garden. Course 2: Geology 1500 Laboratory, Earth Revealed Although not listed in our USDA Grant as a course to be modified, Geology 1500 Laboratory, part of the Geology 1500 Earth Revealed Class was modified in 4 sections by adding an Urban Agriculture option in the Civic Learning part of this class: Environmental issues of installing an urban community food garden. How will the urban garden help reduce carbon in the atmosphere? How does a garden improve urban heat island effect? 3.Tier 3, Upper Division Course Development and Course Cross-Fertilization A. Watershed Analysis Geology 4870 (3 units) For the first time, a week of lecture material on urban agriculture and urban gardening was added to this Geology 4870-Watershed Analysis during spring 2021. Urban agriculture lectures were given on May 11 and May 13, 2021. Hibbs, B. May 11, 2021. Urban Agriculture/Urban Gardens - History, Issues, and Environmental Water Quality Management. Chatterjee, C. May 13, 2021. Agriculture in the City of Los Angeles. B. Geology 4900 Special Topics; field and laboratory methods in hydrology in urban agricultural lands and watersheds. Nothing to report due to delays associated with COVID-19 C. Biology 4620, Plant Ecology (3 units) For the first time, background information on polyculture growing practices in an agricultural context were added to this course. In Spring 2022 this will be paired with a student-designed research project to be carried out in the garden by the 24 students enrolled in this class. This was delayed due to COVID-19 restrictions on our campus. Lecture 1: Soils and Nutrition (given on February 9, 2021): macronutrients and micronutrients for plant growth. Lecture 2: Resource limitation in Southern CA (given on February 16, 2021): major resource limitation issues for plants growing in Southern California. Lecture 3: Biodiversity and productivity (given April 15, 2021): polyculture farming practices. D. Nutritional Science 4200, Community Gardening and Food Sovereignty (3 units) Nothing to report due to delays associated with COVID-19 E. History 4900, History of Agriculture and Food Justice (3 units). This seminar will be offered in the spring of 2022 Nothing to report due to delays associated with COVID-19 3b. Course Cross-Fertilization A. Hibbs, B. Technical and Policy Issues Related to Concrete Lined and Unlined Stream Channels in the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area. Presented in: Sociology 4870: ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY, LAW, AND SOCIETY, Thursday April 15, 2021. B. Hibbs, B. Concrete-Lined and Unlined Stream Channels - Water Quality, Restoration, and Research: Presented in Environmental History Seminar. C. Chatterjee, C. Agriculture in the City of Los Angeles on May 13, 2021 to Dr. Hibbs' class, Watershed Analogy Geology (GEOL 4870). D. Hillstrom, M. presented on the new garden to HHS 1001, Introduction of Higher Education in Health and Human Services, on March 1 and 2, 2021. 4. Tier 4, Student/Faculty Research Graduate Students: In Fall of 2020, Dr. Chatterjee recruited two graduate students, Moises Ponce-Zepeda and Jewleyn Mims to help build a Database on Climate Adapted Agriculture in Los Angeles. Dr. Chatterjee and her graduate students created a google site of climate adapted agriculture in Los Angeles in the last 300 years. https://sites.google.com/view/historical-database-of-climate/home. Their team also made a formal presentation of their preliminary findings to the members of the History Department https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1l9ecoGEXs&t=179s. In Spring 2021, Dr. Wright recruited a new graduate student to begin research and training in urban ecology and agriculture in Fall 2021. In May 2021, Dr. Wright and Ms. Ramirez began soil preparation, germination trials, and early planting trials for a new polyculture farming and microclimate amelioration study in our garden. Crystal attended a preliminary meeting in St. Paul, Minnesota in August 2021 to discuss the possibility of joining an NSF-funded national network of campuses that use urban agriculture for undergraduate education. During the 2020-2021 academic year, Dr. Hillstrom mentored a promising undergraduate nutritional science student in the Honor's College, McKenna Rivers. McKenna successfully presented her paper, graduated from the Honor's College in spring 2021 and has continued her education in Food Science at Chapman University in their MS program. 5. Manual of Urban Food Gardens Nothing to report 6. Certificate in Urban Ecology and Agriculture Dr. Wright contacted several community partners (e.g. FarmLA.org) to discuss the utility of an Urban Ecology and Agriculture certificate for our students in the LA region. 7. Grant Assessment Components and Activity: During the 2021 year, we conducted an inaugural focus group (led by our outside evaluator Dr. Gisele Ragusa at USC) with the students who had worked with the urban garden. Preliminary results: Question themes and responses Interdisciplinary: 57.9%, "I can see immediate connections with the neighborhood and the needs that the garden can address regardless of our major in school." Academic experiences: 21.1%, "Working on the data bases not only helped connect to my courses, but also research." Future career: 21.1%, "Eventually I want to be a researcher and so working with others on research is so important." ?
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