WEBVTT 00:00:04.719 --> 00:00:08.199 This is Climate to Action, a CSUSM student podcast. 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.500 Climate to Action is an initiative of the Climate 00:00:11.500 --> 00:00:13.900 Action and Sustainability Center at California 00:00:13.900 --> 00:00:17.000 State University San Marcos. My name is Molly 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:19.640 Sarwatari. I am a third year political science 00:00:19.640 --> 00:00:22.660 major with a sustainability minor. I am interested 00:00:22.660 --> 00:00:24.559 in climate action because I want to be able to 00:00:24.559 --> 00:00:26.899 speak up for the voiceless as I work toward my 00:00:26.899 --> 00:00:29.850 future career in environmental law. And I'm Alex 00:00:29.850 --> 00:00:32.210 Sandoval. I'm a third year student and I'm majoring 00:00:32.210 --> 00:00:34.670 in psychology. Being a part of a Climate to Action 00:00:34.670 --> 00:00:36.950 podcast has given me more knowledge about the 00:00:36.950 --> 00:00:39.270 climate crisis while also learning the ropes 00:00:39.270 --> 00:00:41.990 and being part of a podcast. We're here to amplify 00:00:41.990 --> 00:00:44.909 voices and explore solutions in the fight against 00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:47.070 climate change and to address climate injustice 00:00:47.070 --> 00:00:50.670 for all living things. We are committed to incorporating 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:53.270 discussions on Indigenous knowledge in addressing 00:00:53.270 --> 00:00:56.149 the climate crisis and to provide a call to action 00:00:56.149 --> 00:00:59.189 in every episode. But first, we'd like to acknowledge 00:00:59.189 --> 00:01:01.850 that our recording studio is located on the traditional 00:01:01.850 --> 00:01:04.689 territory of the Luiseno -Payamcoicham people. 00:01:05.709 --> 00:01:08.109 CSUSM and its surrounding areas are still home 00:01:08.109 --> 00:01:10.709 to the six federally recognized bands of the 00:01:10.709 --> 00:01:14.569 La Jolla, Paula, Palma, Pechanga, Rincon, and 00:01:14.569 --> 00:01:17.280 Sabobo -Luiseno -Payamcoicham people. It's also 00:01:17.280 --> 00:01:19.439 important to acknowledge that this land remains 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:22.019 the shared space among the Kupenyo, Kumeyaay, 00:01:22.079 --> 00:01:25.180 and Ipai peoples. Today's episode is focused 00:01:25.180 --> 00:01:27.980 on citizen science and climate action. We are 00:01:27.980 --> 00:01:30.239 delighted to introduce a special guest, Rebecca 00:01:30.239 --> 00:01:32.879 Lewis, the Scotland and Northern Ireland Manager 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:35.640 for Bug Life in the UK. Thank you for being here 00:01:35.640 --> 00:01:38.719 with us today. Welcome, Rebecca. Thanks for having 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.099 me. So Rebecca, why don't you tell us a little 00:01:42.099 --> 00:01:43.799 bit about yourself, kind of what got you into 00:01:43.799 --> 00:01:45.859 citizen science, what kind of made you want to 00:01:45.859 --> 00:01:49.170 go into like bug life, anything like that? I 00:01:49.170 --> 00:01:52.370 think I've got really strong memories of my dad 00:01:52.370 --> 00:01:56.810 in the garden building solar panels on our lawn. 00:01:57.709 --> 00:02:00.609 You know, that's that curiosity. He was always, 00:02:00.790 --> 00:02:03.010 you know, I grew up and I'd be in the shower 00:02:03.010 --> 00:02:05.010 and he'd come and he had to switch on the outside 00:02:05.010 --> 00:02:06.730 and turn it off and say, you know, we've got 00:02:06.730 --> 00:02:09.509 to save energy. So I kind of grew up like that, 00:02:09.629 --> 00:02:13.289 understanding the importance of how much we use 00:02:13.289 --> 00:02:16.849 and our impact on the natural environment. Having 00:02:16.849 --> 00:02:19.729 a garden full of multiple... animals and learning 00:02:19.729 --> 00:02:22.289 how to look after and care for them and learning 00:02:22.289 --> 00:02:25.629 what their needs were. So, you know, it was learning 00:02:25.629 --> 00:02:30.409 how to nurture and care from an early age. Since 00:02:30.409 --> 00:02:32.870 this is a podcast about climate action, we'd 00:02:32.870 --> 00:02:34.949 love if you could tell us and our listeners how 00:02:34.949 --> 00:02:37.150 and when you first became aware of the climate 00:02:37.150 --> 00:02:43.069 crisis. I think you have daily reminders of the 00:02:43.069 --> 00:02:45.650 climate crisis. I think there's no one point 00:02:45.650 --> 00:02:49.349 in time, as I mentioned, you know, my dad and 00:02:49.349 --> 00:02:51.909 also my mum who used to to cook and make things 00:02:51.909 --> 00:02:54.210 and saying well you know that you have to be 00:02:54.210 --> 00:02:57.110 taking care of our resources so that link to 00:02:57.110 --> 00:02:59.550 resource of the link to resilience within our 00:02:59.550 --> 00:03:02.409 system and i think in my job on a daily basis 00:03:02.409 --> 00:03:05.569 you know i had a recent uh events through one 00:03:05.569 --> 00:03:08.590 of our programs of like a remote community and 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:11.090 we were out looking at sites to monitor uh the 00:03:11.090 --> 00:03:13.689 rivers And we went to the site and I dipped my 00:03:13.689 --> 00:03:16.569 hand in the water and it was just uncomfortably 00:03:16.569 --> 00:03:19.229 warm. You know, and it's these continual reminders 00:03:19.229 --> 00:03:23.629 of the impact it's having. You know, that again, 00:03:23.789 --> 00:03:27.870 just kind of inspires you to do something as 00:03:27.870 --> 00:03:30.990 well as has that little bit of kind of fear around 00:03:30.990 --> 00:03:34.389 it. So I would say it's a regular thing. Watching 00:03:34.389 --> 00:03:36.330 the bees come out in the garden and noticing 00:03:36.330 --> 00:03:38.210 that the flowers aren't ready yet. You know, 00:03:38.270 --> 00:03:40.430 it's these kind of things. It's disrupting our 00:03:40.430 --> 00:03:43.139 system. Yeah, absolutely. There's definitely 00:03:43.139 --> 00:03:44.979 daily reminders. Like I feel like I can't even 00:03:44.979 --> 00:03:47.740 walk to class without telling that there's a 00:03:47.740 --> 00:03:50.400 little pond at CCUSM and it like dries up so 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.580 fast or like this tree is like not blooming at 00:03:53.580 --> 00:03:55.659 the same time it used to be three years ago, 00:03:55.840 --> 00:03:58.120 anything like that. And you also mentioned the 00:03:58.120 --> 00:04:00.759 bees, how like the pollen is not ready for them 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.620 and they can't actually like do their job, I 00:04:03.620 --> 00:04:05.580 guess, in our ecosystem. What are some other 00:04:05.580 --> 00:04:08.000 ways that climate change is affecting the invertebrate 00:04:08.000 --> 00:04:10.479 species and habits that Bug Life works to protect? 00:04:11.540 --> 00:04:15.159 Well, Bug Life protects all invertebrates. So 00:04:15.159 --> 00:04:17.100 we've got multiple people within the organisation. 00:04:17.319 --> 00:04:20.180 We're looking at our species -rich grasslands 00:04:20.180 --> 00:04:22.959 and wildflower meadow areas that you might be 00:04:22.959 --> 00:04:25.959 familiar with, but also our peatlands and our 00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:29.779 freshwater, but also our protected species as 00:04:29.779 --> 00:04:32.100 well. So we're looking at it on different levels, 00:04:32.360 --> 00:04:36.100 which climate change impacts across them all. 00:04:36.180 --> 00:04:41.160 So you're looking at your peatland areas. as 00:04:41.160 --> 00:04:45.240 climate change increases, the flow of water is 00:04:45.240 --> 00:04:47.420 going to change. But you also get something called 00:04:47.420 --> 00:04:49.819 brownification coming in. So if water is sort 00:04:49.819 --> 00:04:51.720 of running through these areas, it's collecting 00:04:51.720 --> 00:04:53.800 these particulate matter, it's darkening the 00:04:53.800 --> 00:04:56.120 water. And as the climate change, of course, 00:04:56.220 --> 00:04:58.220 you know, it's darker, it's absorbing more of 00:04:58.220 --> 00:05:00.699 the heat. So there's many different layers about 00:05:00.699 --> 00:05:03.959 it. I mean, it's changing the order in which 00:05:03.959 --> 00:05:06.279 things happen and shifting the temperature dependent 00:05:06.279 --> 00:05:09.600 processes in which invertebrates depend. So a 00:05:09.600 --> 00:05:11.839 lot of our work is about making our habitats 00:05:11.839 --> 00:05:15.220 resilient to it as well. So creating more space 00:05:15.220 --> 00:05:18.139 for invertebrates. With our river systems, we're 00:05:18.139 --> 00:05:20.699 looking at increasing the coverage and planting 00:05:20.699 --> 00:05:23.379 up and repairing areas. So areas that aren't 00:05:23.379 --> 00:05:26.240 impacted by other things, for example, just need 00:05:26.240 --> 00:05:29.300 that shade for our rivers. But climate change 00:05:29.300 --> 00:05:32.519 is also exacerbating impacts we currently have 00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:36.220 as well. So we're kind of fighting against all 00:05:36.220 --> 00:05:38.620 these multiple layers, but it's just building 00:05:38.620 --> 00:05:42.579 up the system. But importantly, also making people 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:45.439 aware. A lot of the work we do within our organisation, 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:48.620 across all of our programmes, is about bringing 00:05:48.620 --> 00:05:51.120 people into the picture, about educating, about 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:55.279 talking about what we do. A classic example, 00:05:55.300 --> 00:05:58.420 I guess, is Wither Freshwater, one of our projects, 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:01.660 Guardians of Our Rivers, working with the Riverfly 00:06:01.660 --> 00:06:04.980 Partnership, bringing people to the water. And 00:06:04.980 --> 00:06:08.170 a lot of the invertebrates... are ones that they've 00:06:08.170 --> 00:06:10.290 never seen and actually don't even know exist. 00:06:10.589 --> 00:06:14.870 So it's about bringing invertebrates alive for 00:06:14.870 --> 00:06:17.750 everybody. And so they're no longer hidden. If 00:06:17.750 --> 00:06:20.129 something's hidden, then you can't care about 00:06:20.129 --> 00:06:21.810 it. Why should you? You don't even know it's 00:06:21.810 --> 00:06:23.910 there. So a lot of it's conversational pieces, 00:06:24.089 --> 00:06:27.970 getting people involved. Yeah, absolutely. Is 00:06:27.970 --> 00:06:30.370 there a particular species or ecosystem that 00:06:30.370 --> 00:06:32.670 you believe to be especially vulnerable to climate 00:06:32.670 --> 00:06:35.189 -related changes? Or is it pretty much just the 00:06:35.189 --> 00:06:39.160 whole... ecosystem as a whole. Well, I think 00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:43.019 we have to keep the conversation as an ecosystem 00:06:43.019 --> 00:06:45.500 at whole. I mean, you can go in to look at particular 00:06:45.500 --> 00:06:48.720 environments. The freshwater environment, for 00:06:48.720 --> 00:06:52.819 example, is particularly vulnerable. Our climate 00:06:52.819 --> 00:06:54.920 change is having a profound effect on river ecosystems. 00:06:55.720 --> 00:06:57.819 Freshwater vertebrates being particularly vulnerable 00:06:57.819 --> 00:07:00.060 to these changes, you know, they're trapped within 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:03.519 the system. And these are small but crucial organisms 00:07:03.519 --> 00:07:06.920 and they play a vital role on the aquatic food 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:10.970 webs. ecosystem functioning as a whole so with 00:07:10.970 --> 00:07:13.230 invertebrates because they are that trophic layer 00:07:13.230 --> 00:07:16.250 they're supporting everything else above so when 00:07:16.250 --> 00:07:17.970 you're looking at protecting them across the 00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:20.790 system and looking at protecting across the impacts 00:07:20.790 --> 00:07:23.069 of things like climate change it's the advantage 00:07:23.069 --> 00:07:26.949 to everything else above so I think if you want 00:07:26.949 --> 00:07:29.350 a particular story we've got this little chap 00:07:29.350 --> 00:07:33.389 the upland summer mayfly So people think about 00:07:33.389 --> 00:07:35.569 the wintertime, they think about snow, especially 00:07:35.569 --> 00:07:38.350 in Scotland, we get lots of snow. But this is 00:07:38.350 --> 00:07:40.290 no longer the case. We're getting less and less 00:07:40.290 --> 00:07:43.009 snow and that snow line is moving north. So this 00:07:43.009 --> 00:07:47.490 little mayfly was using the snow to insulate. 00:07:47.790 --> 00:07:51.189 Well, the snow insulates its habitat, covers 00:07:51.189 --> 00:07:53.750 over these streams and it's helping it to survive. 00:07:53.829 --> 00:07:55.949 But now the snow is no longer there. It's having 00:07:55.949 --> 00:07:58.980 to shift its range. So you can talk about climate 00:07:58.980 --> 00:08:00.899 change in general, which I think we always should, 00:08:00.920 --> 00:08:02.899 how it affects our day -to -day lives. But also 00:08:02.899 --> 00:08:04.860 if you want to look at these individual stories 00:08:04.860 --> 00:08:07.199 to help people follow them, what's happening 00:08:07.199 --> 00:08:10.120 to demonstrate. Yeah, there's lots of examples 00:08:10.120 --> 00:08:13.139 of that as well. Yeah, that gives like a really 00:08:13.139 --> 00:08:17.079 specific example that somebody could, you know, 00:08:17.100 --> 00:08:20.420 understand better. In what ways do invertebrates 00:08:20.420 --> 00:08:23.220 contribute to ecosystem resilience against climate 00:08:23.220 --> 00:08:27.540 change? There's lots of ways. I think in, you 00:08:27.540 --> 00:08:30.300 know, sort of a larger umbrella, they are storage. 00:08:31.600 --> 00:08:34.480 They help the carbon sequestration and storage. 00:08:35.679 --> 00:08:39.240 Their activity increasing soil carbon storage 00:08:39.240 --> 00:08:42.299 within the marine system. They're the carbon 00:08:42.299 --> 00:08:45.460 cyclers as well. Little super powered carbon 00:08:45.460 --> 00:08:49.039 capture superheroes, I guess. With ecosystem 00:08:49.039 --> 00:08:54.179 adaptation, they provide seed dispersal, help 00:08:54.179 --> 00:08:58.059 with the kind of regulation, improving infiltration 00:08:58.059 --> 00:09:00.980 and retention with an environment. If you think 00:09:00.980 --> 00:09:04.220 about the worms in our garden, for example, it's 00:09:04.220 --> 00:09:06.259 good to have... you know examples that people 00:09:06.259 --> 00:09:08.620 can think about so they're burrowing into the 00:09:08.620 --> 00:09:10.419 soil they're creating these wee tunnels so when 00:09:10.419 --> 00:09:12.659 it rains the water isn't just flowing off it's 00:09:12.659 --> 00:09:14.960 actually infiltrating into the soil it's the 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.639 same mimicked in our freshwater environment where 00:09:17.639 --> 00:09:20.000 we've got mayfly that do the same kind of burrowing 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:22.639 technique into the bed of the rivers so they 00:09:22.639 --> 00:09:25.960 help retain the the water on the land rather 00:09:25.960 --> 00:09:29.399 than it running straight off um but also there's 00:09:29.399 --> 00:09:32.899 a the feedback mechanisms and disturbance recovery 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:36.159 they can help to accelerate ecosystem recovery 00:09:36.159 --> 00:09:39.120 following things like wild farms and storms for 00:09:39.120 --> 00:09:42.580 example but they're also a can be a pioneer species 00:09:42.580 --> 00:09:46.340 so often facilitate that succession after extreme 00:09:46.340 --> 00:09:48.940 events so they perform lots of really important 00:09:48.940 --> 00:09:53.139 functions and helping build a resilience you 00:09:53.139 --> 00:09:55.759 kind of touched based on how ecosystems and how 00:09:56.379 --> 00:09:59.120 like invertebrates in general can kind of um 00:09:59.120 --> 00:10:01.799 adapt to the conservation but how does bug life 00:10:01.799 --> 00:10:04.279 in itself adapt to the conservation strategies 00:10:04.279 --> 00:10:06.200 in response to the effects of climate change 00:10:06.200 --> 00:10:10.460 yeah i think as an organization we contribute 00:10:10.460 --> 00:10:15.440 across many layers and equally um they're all 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.899 equally important in our eyes i guess from contributing 00:10:18.899 --> 00:10:25.710 to um policy legislation changes right down to 00:10:25.710 --> 00:10:28.409 community level, where we're talking to people 00:10:28.409 --> 00:10:31.529 on the ground. I think it's highlighting the 00:10:31.529 --> 00:10:34.490 importance of things. We've got campaigns like 00:10:34.490 --> 00:10:36.990 our light pollution campaign, which people generally 00:10:36.990 --> 00:10:39.470 don't think about, working with the planning 00:10:39.470 --> 00:10:42.289 systems, both local and governmental. So when 00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:44.669 they're designing these systems, how can we make 00:10:44.669 --> 00:10:46.830 sure that there's space for nature and nature 00:10:46.830 --> 00:10:50.850 is protected within that? But I think we value... 00:10:51.659 --> 00:10:54.019 We do value these conversations on all levels. 00:10:54.120 --> 00:10:57.220 It's not just talking to those looking at policy 00:10:57.220 --> 00:10:59.200 and legislation. It's talking to everyday people 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:02.019 who can make changes within their lives and help 00:11:02.019 --> 00:11:04.679 to connect the dots to understand. Yeah, absolutely. 00:11:05.519 --> 00:11:08.809 I think it's important to... to talk about that 00:11:08.809 --> 00:11:11.710 how it's not just a legislation and you know 00:11:11.710 --> 00:11:15.309 the power holders because people at least in 00:11:15.309 --> 00:11:18.070 my opinion I feel like personally I wouldn't 00:11:18.070 --> 00:11:20.429 know the first thing to do so it's good to have 00:11:20.429 --> 00:11:22.889 something like an organization like this to to 00:11:22.889 --> 00:11:26.049 have that to get information on can you tell 00:11:26.049 --> 00:11:30.669 us more about citizen science yeah um it's a 00:11:30.669 --> 00:11:33.490 particular area close to my heart I guess um 00:11:34.559 --> 00:11:37.500 I think years ago when I was studying at university, 00:11:37.919 --> 00:11:41.259 you know, the thought of citizen science was 00:11:41.259 --> 00:11:44.519 just a side thought, I guess. You know, the data's 00:11:44.519 --> 00:11:47.059 not really important. It's not going to tell 00:11:47.059 --> 00:11:50.740 us enough. It's not real science. And over the 00:11:50.740 --> 00:11:54.399 years, I worked with lots of species recovery 00:11:54.399 --> 00:11:57.100 programs. And, you know, when you're trying to 00:11:57.100 --> 00:12:00.919 recover vast areas over short spaces of time, 00:12:01.080 --> 00:12:03.980 you need people. And that's where citizen science 00:12:03.980 --> 00:12:07.679 comes in. And that's, you know, that's what provides 00:12:07.679 --> 00:12:10.899 the magic. I guess you're joining it together. 00:12:10.980 --> 00:12:15.039 But citizen science. can provide data a lot of 00:12:15.039 --> 00:12:18.320 the techniques that we use now are driven by 00:12:18.320 --> 00:12:20.279 science have been tried and tested we have one 00:12:20.279 --> 00:12:23.000 particular project with our guardians of a river 00:12:23.000 --> 00:12:25.980 it's been going for over 10 years through the 00:12:25.980 --> 00:12:29.620 river fly partnership we we know um we have faith 00:12:29.620 --> 00:12:31.179 in the data we're working with our environment 00:12:31.179 --> 00:12:34.059 agencies as well that are using the data but 00:12:34.059 --> 00:12:35.779 i think the big question we've got to ask ourselves 00:12:35.779 --> 00:12:38.940 of where does responsibility lie So with climate 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:41.799 change, we are all responsible. We all contribute. 00:12:41.919 --> 00:12:44.879 We all take from the environment and we all give 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:48.340 to the environment as well. So everybody has 00:12:48.340 --> 00:12:52.200 that role to play. So with our Gardens Over Rivers 00:12:52.200 --> 00:12:54.100 project, for example, we're going out to communities 00:12:54.100 --> 00:12:56.220 across Scotland and we're delivering training 00:12:56.220 --> 00:13:00.919 on how to monitor their local watercourses. So 00:13:00.919 --> 00:13:05.519 understanding what is in their doorstep. how 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.440 it's impacted what is currently being done and 00:13:09.440 --> 00:13:11.840 what you can do about it how you can be involved 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.039 it's also making it simple not taking too much 00:13:16.039 --> 00:13:19.100 of their time making it sustainable within itself 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:21.220 people think about you know you have to make 00:13:21.220 --> 00:13:22.960 everything you do sustainable including citizen 00:13:22.960 --> 00:13:26.799 science um but yeah i think the biggest thing 00:13:26.799 --> 00:13:29.500 about that particular project is what comes back 00:13:29.500 --> 00:13:31.320 you know we have our training program we have 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:33.639 our scientific knowledge but also going into 00:13:33.639 --> 00:13:36.320 communities there's so much learning and understanding 00:13:36.320 --> 00:13:39.940 to gain that can help us in the fight against 00:13:39.940 --> 00:13:42.659 climate change to to bring both these knowledge 00:13:42.659 --> 00:13:46.299 bases together Yeah, absolutely. I know so many 00:13:46.299 --> 00:13:49.379 people who go to the school who actually don't 00:13:49.379 --> 00:13:51.720 even know what citizen science is or have never 00:13:51.720 --> 00:13:54.120 even heard of it. I'm fortunate enough to be 00:13:54.120 --> 00:13:56.360 that sustainability minor. And I took Professor 00:13:56.360 --> 00:13:58.820 Dabb's course and we talked a lot about citizen 00:13:58.820 --> 00:14:01.639 science and what it was. So I was able to kind 00:14:01.639 --> 00:14:04.440 of understand what citizen science is for. And 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:06.700 like you said, it's truly like a magic because 00:14:06.700 --> 00:14:09.240 it brings communities together to help like combat 00:14:09.240 --> 00:14:12.049 climate change. You kind of talked about the 00:14:12.049 --> 00:14:14.389 Guardians of the River project. However, is there 00:14:14.389 --> 00:14:16.909 a project of citizen science that's your favorite 00:14:16.909 --> 00:14:19.470 or a project of yours, your own organization, 00:14:19.629 --> 00:14:21.149 that's your favorite to work on or that you've 00:14:21.149 --> 00:14:25.830 produced? Yeah, I think. the guardians of a river 00:14:25.830 --> 00:14:31.210 was project that i i um worked on within bug 00:14:31.210 --> 00:14:33.629 life but there is other citizen science project 00:14:33.629 --> 00:14:37.389 that i've been lucky to be involved in um and 00:14:37.389 --> 00:14:42.129 we if you go on to our our website um there's 00:14:42.129 --> 00:14:45.179 a project looking at it's called bee lines and 00:14:45.179 --> 00:14:48.039 what it has is it's mapped out the the whole 00:14:48.039 --> 00:14:51.100 of the uk with this kind of insect super highway 00:14:51.100 --> 00:14:54.460 so it's a way of and personally at home i've 00:14:54.460 --> 00:14:56.580 got a patch in my garden that i've let go wild 00:14:56.580 --> 00:15:00.580 um i can actually go in and register that on 00:15:00.580 --> 00:15:02.220 the super highway and what it is is trying to 00:15:02.220 --> 00:15:04.580 build the connectivity across the country but 00:15:04.580 --> 00:15:08.379 it collects um all projects including the ones 00:15:08.379 --> 00:15:10.830 that we are delivering as an organization But 00:15:10.830 --> 00:15:12.929 yeah, all over citizen science across the country. 00:15:13.289 --> 00:15:16.429 There's also another one where you can download 00:15:16.429 --> 00:15:19.970 an app on your phone. I don't know if you remember 00:15:19.970 --> 00:15:22.889 as kids going out driving and having to clean 00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:24.929 off the windscreen because of all these little 00:15:24.929 --> 00:15:28.850 tiny little corpses all over. But what we notice 00:15:28.850 --> 00:15:31.429 is that's not happening so much anymore. So what 00:15:31.429 --> 00:15:33.370 Bug Life has is they've come up with this citizen 00:15:33.370 --> 00:15:36.230 science project where you can clean off your 00:15:36.230 --> 00:15:38.049 registration plate, you can take a photograph, 00:15:38.269 --> 00:15:41.139 download the app. and then before you go on your 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:43.399 journey and when you come back from your journey 00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:45.960 you take another photograph and it counts the 00:15:45.960 --> 00:15:51.700 little carcasses so there's lots of kind of fun 00:15:51.700 --> 00:15:54.059 ways of getting involved but they're what they're 00:15:54.059 --> 00:15:57.279 showing is is really big declines in invertebrates 00:15:57.279 --> 00:16:01.299 so it also helps that general understanding I've 00:16:01.299 --> 00:16:04.799 never thought about that. I was just wiping my 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:06.980 windshield yesterday and I was thinking the same 00:16:06.980 --> 00:16:09.100 thing. Like, I don't see it as much. Or usually 00:16:09.100 --> 00:16:11.139 when you travel, I feel like it's when you notice 00:16:11.139 --> 00:16:13.379 it the most. Right. I feel like I used to have 00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:16.000 to scrape it off like like once a week. And now 00:16:16.000 --> 00:16:17.940 it's like, oh, I can go like two months without 00:16:17.940 --> 00:16:20.639 scraping it off. It just gets dirty. But I didn't 00:16:20.639 --> 00:16:23.600 realize that's like a negative thing. Yeah, yeah. 00:16:23.779 --> 00:16:26.620 I mean, I think the last result, I mean, I don't 00:16:26.620 --> 00:16:28.600 want to misquote here, but I think the slide 00:16:28.600 --> 00:16:30.240 I was talking about in the lecture earlier, they 00:16:30.240 --> 00:16:34.100 noted about 62 % declines. But if you look into 00:16:34.100 --> 00:16:36.500 some of our individual species as well, there 00:16:36.500 --> 00:16:38.460 was a particular spider I was looking at, you 00:16:38.460 --> 00:16:41.259 know, it's seeing 79 % decline of this. I mean, 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:44.360 the numbers are extraordinarily high. The State 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.259 of Nature report think the more recent one is 00:16:47.259 --> 00:16:50.440 talking about an overall 33 % decline. So we're 00:16:50.440 --> 00:16:53.360 talking about really big numbers. And if you 00:16:53.360 --> 00:16:55.539 were thinking about that trophic layer, again, 00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.399 going back to that and what our invertebrates 00:16:58.399 --> 00:17:01.779 are supporting, it has impacts, kind of a bit 00:17:01.779 --> 00:17:08.059 of a cascade. So get involved. Yes. How can citizen 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:10.880 science make climate change more visible and 00:17:10.880 --> 00:17:14.480 climate action more accessible to everyone? Yeah, 00:17:14.500 --> 00:17:16.980 I guess it is what it says on the tin. Design 00:17:16.980 --> 00:17:22.750 is for citizens. it's it's enabling people to 00:17:22.750 --> 00:17:25.509 have the conversations and there's lots of opportunities 00:17:25.509 --> 00:17:29.730 to be able to do that um with our projects you 00:17:29.730 --> 00:17:31.589 know there's there's some examples there and 00:17:31.589 --> 00:17:34.470 and you know there's other organizations of course 00:17:34.470 --> 00:17:37.710 if if you don't happen to to enjoy invertebrates 00:17:37.710 --> 00:17:41.549 that i'll never fully understand of course because 00:17:41.549 --> 00:17:45.130 they're so awesome but yeah it just enables you 00:17:45.130 --> 00:17:48.309 in your day -to -day life to to be thinking um 00:17:49.499 --> 00:17:54.480 about climate change and the variety of of ways 00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:56.720 that you can contribute in a variety of programs 00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:59.740 that allow you to connect to actually collect 00:17:59.740 --> 00:18:03.859 data and to make some change but yeah just keep 00:18:03.859 --> 00:18:08.099 talking and having these conversations yeah absolutely 00:18:08.099 --> 00:18:11.000 and you mentioned earlier that you just said 00:18:11.000 --> 00:18:13.339 like get involved that's most important is there 00:18:13.339 --> 00:18:15.339 a way that our listeners can specifically get 00:18:15.339 --> 00:18:20.529 involved in citizen science Absolutely. There's 00:18:20.529 --> 00:18:23.009 loads and loads of options. But I think what 00:18:23.009 --> 00:18:25.990 I would start with is go out for a walk locally, 00:18:26.130 --> 00:18:29.130 go and explore your local area and think about 00:18:29.130 --> 00:18:33.769 things that you enjoy, where your heart is, what 00:18:33.769 --> 00:18:37.710 you enjoy doing and the areas of nature where 00:18:37.710 --> 00:18:40.289 you would want to contribute to. Because the 00:18:40.289 --> 00:18:42.250 thing about any science or any data collection 00:18:42.250 --> 00:18:44.509 is you want that long term connection for the 00:18:44.509 --> 00:18:47.309 long term data. Okay, so that's the first thing. 00:18:47.609 --> 00:18:50.950 And I think there's lots of organisations, lots 00:18:50.950 --> 00:18:52.970 of ourselves, you would then kind of look up 00:18:52.970 --> 00:18:55.390 or you can contact them to say, I'm really interested 00:18:55.390 --> 00:18:57.930 in my part of the world. I'm interested in, say, 00:18:57.970 --> 00:19:00.930 my lake or the river running into my land. I'm 00:19:00.930 --> 00:19:04.380 interested in looking at this. green park that's 00:19:04.380 --> 00:19:07.299 that's mowed on a regular basis that could quite 00:19:07.299 --> 00:19:10.119 easily be a welfare meadow what can i do there's 00:19:10.119 --> 00:19:12.880 loads and loads of online resources and i think 00:19:12.880 --> 00:19:15.519 the other thing as well is is to get more people 00:19:15.519 --> 00:19:17.839 involved you know so you can build up your own 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:20.500 community group or often you can join the groups 00:19:20.500 --> 00:19:23.480 that are already um established but yeah start 00:19:23.480 --> 00:19:26.440 start with what matters to you first and and 00:19:26.440 --> 00:19:30.509 explore locally and then take it from there I 00:19:30.509 --> 00:19:32.930 think that's important too, especially in San 00:19:32.930 --> 00:19:36.470 Diego County. We have so many places that we 00:19:36.470 --> 00:19:40.509 could take a deeper look into. In every episode 00:19:40.509 --> 00:19:43.490 of our podcast, we have a call to action. We 00:19:43.490 --> 00:19:45.730 like to ask our guests their thoughts about what 00:19:45.730 --> 00:19:48.329 our listeners can do to positively impact our 00:19:48.329 --> 00:19:51.269 community. What are some simple things people 00:19:51.269 --> 00:19:55.509 can do to help address the climate crisis? I 00:19:55.509 --> 00:19:58.470 think that depends on your time. As a mother 00:19:58.470 --> 00:20:02.670 of three, working full -time doing a phd i know 00:20:02.670 --> 00:20:05.589 that time is of the essence yeah so you want 00:20:05.589 --> 00:20:08.289 to start and look at your household you want 00:20:08.289 --> 00:20:10.869 to start and look at your garden you know think 00:20:10.869 --> 00:20:15.109 of simple simple actions let no more let it grow 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:17.230 no more me there's all these sort of slogans 00:20:17.230 --> 00:20:20.890 out there that's really easy um so just just 00:20:20.890 --> 00:20:23.529 choose a patch let it let it go wild see the 00:20:23.529 --> 00:20:25.990 flowers coming through you know you can then 00:20:25.990 --> 00:20:28.130 go and do something that's called a timed insect 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:32.359 count or a fit count where you get a a meter 00:20:32.359 --> 00:20:34.640 square i use duct tape because duct tape's good 00:20:34.640 --> 00:20:36.960 for everything right right yeah you can make 00:20:36.960 --> 00:20:39.579 a square and put it on your lawn put it on before 00:20:39.579 --> 00:20:42.779 and and count sit there for 10 minutes all the 00:20:42.779 --> 00:20:45.619 instructions are online um count for 10 minutes 00:20:45.619 --> 00:20:47.160 and you're looking at the number of invertebrates 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:50.079 that visit that area you then let it grow and 00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:52.140 then do the same thing and you can see the difference 00:20:52.140 --> 00:20:55.880 and you can enter the data You know, think about 00:20:55.880 --> 00:20:58.299 wet wipes. So you flushing down the toilet. Think 00:20:58.299 --> 00:21:01.200 about the flea treatment you might lose in your 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.220 dog, the dishwashing liquid powder you're using. 00:21:03.740 --> 00:21:05.920 There's loads of little things on a day to day. 00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:08.680 And then you can get step to the bigger things 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:12.200 that are happening. Collecting data from the 00:21:12.200 --> 00:21:15.460 environment around you, like projects like Guardians 00:21:15.460 --> 00:21:19.700 of our Rivers. But yeah, try not to overwhelm 00:21:19.700 --> 00:21:23.119 yourself. Because we need to conserve our conservationists, 00:21:23.140 --> 00:21:25.480 the conservationists in all of us. You cannot 00:21:25.480 --> 00:21:28.319 do everything yourself and you can't do everything 00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:31.839 at once. But make these small things happen on 00:21:31.839 --> 00:21:35.119 a daily basis. Yeah, that's truly amazing. I 00:21:35.119 --> 00:21:37.559 know as college students, time is really of the 00:21:37.559 --> 00:21:40.000 essence, especially right now we're recording 00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:42.500 this. It's about to be finals week. And I know 00:21:42.500 --> 00:21:44.940 I'm stressed out. I can't even imagine how like 00:21:44.940 --> 00:21:47.440 our senior class is feeling with figuring out 00:21:47.440 --> 00:21:49.640 what the next steps in their life are. And so. 00:21:50.170 --> 00:21:52.769 You're so right about not letting it overwhelm 00:21:52.769 --> 00:21:55.650 because even I have to remind myself, too. I 00:21:55.650 --> 00:21:58.170 can't like, yes, I can start the change, but 00:21:58.170 --> 00:22:01.609 I as one person am not going to 360 climate change 00:22:01.609 --> 00:22:07.130 or 180, I guess, not 360. I as one human being 00:22:07.130 --> 00:22:09.450 can't completely 180 climate change. However, 00:22:09.569 --> 00:22:11.890 I can be the voice that stands up and kind of 00:22:11.890 --> 00:22:14.410 start that or I can be the person in my household 00:22:14.410 --> 00:22:17.349 with my roommates who's like, hey, let's not 00:22:17.349 --> 00:22:20.380 leave the light on overnight or. Why is the AC 00:22:20.380 --> 00:22:22.740 at 50 degrees? Turn the water off when you brush 00:22:22.740 --> 00:22:24.819 your teeth. Exactly. Like we don't need to be 00:22:24.819 --> 00:22:28.200 taking an hour long shower or anything like that. 00:22:28.259 --> 00:22:31.619 There's such easy ways that you can kind of add 00:22:31.619 --> 00:22:34.759 to combating climate change. And I think that's 00:22:34.759 --> 00:22:37.460 something that's really overlooked. I also think 00:22:37.460 --> 00:22:41.099 it's something you can do together. Like, obviously, 00:22:41.140 --> 00:22:43.240 now that we talked with you, we could take it 00:22:43.240 --> 00:22:45.880 back to our peers, our friends. And even like 00:22:45.880 --> 00:22:47.759 that thing with the duct tape, I think that would 00:22:47.759 --> 00:22:50.400 be something fun to do with your friends, your 00:22:50.400 --> 00:22:54.440 family. I mean, anybody really. Thank you all 00:22:54.440 --> 00:22:57.279 for tuning in to this episode of Climate to Action. 00:22:57.579 --> 00:22:59.579 Remember, whether it's through learning more, 00:22:59.680 --> 00:23:02.220 making sustainable choices or advocating for 00:23:02.220 --> 00:23:04.779 change, every step counts. Keep taking action 00:23:04.779 --> 00:23:11.900 and we'll see you next time. Want to hear more 00:23:11.900 --> 00:23:14.559 from Climate to Action, a CSUSM student podcast? 00:23:14.980 --> 00:23:17.539 Listen wherever you get your podcasts and follow 00:23:17.539 --> 00:23:21.630 us on our socials at Climate to Action. For Instagram 00:23:21.630 --> 00:23:25.049 and YouTube, that's at climate2action. For TikTok, 00:23:25.329 --> 00:23:28.789 it's at climate2action. Visit for updates, behind 00:23:28.789 --> 00:23:32.269 -the -scenes content, and more. Finally, Climate2Action 00:23:32.269 --> 00:23:34.950 wants to remind you to take climate action. We 00:23:34.950 --> 00:23:37.029 challenge you to take the first steps in your 00:23:37.029 --> 00:23:39.289 own climate journey. Like Rebecca suggested, 00:23:39.789 --> 00:23:41.750 let's make sure that we take time for ourselves 00:23:41.750 --> 00:23:45.390 and really can take into consideration each individual 00:23:45.390 --> 00:23:48.579 impact that we have. Let's transform our climate 00:23:48.579 --> 00:23:51.400 curiosity and climate action together. Remember, 00:23:51.579 --> 00:23:54.319 every small change can create a big impact when 00:23:54.319 --> 00:23:57.460 working collectively. Climate to Action is produced 00:23:57.460 --> 00:24:00.759 at Inspiration Studios on the CCUSM campus and 00:24:00.759 --> 00:24:02.960 is funded through a generous donation from the 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:05.839 Rosemary Kramer Raitt Foundation. Until next 00:24:05.839 --> 00:24:08.680 time, this is Alex and Molly from Climate to 00:24:08.680 --> 00:24:09.720 Action signing off.