Blue + Green Session 2: Traditional Knowledge in Regenerative Aquaculture

The Blue + Green 2022 webinar series will include 4 one-hour webinars scheduled Thursdays from June 2, 2022 – June 23, 2022 at 4 pm.  The goal of the project is to shine a spotlight on emerging aquaculture sector in our economy.  Aquaculture and the supporting technologies bring together all the key ingredients – future growth opportunities that support our coastal ecosystems, the economy, jobs, and our communities.  This webinar series reimagines partnerships between business, government, universities, and communities through regenerative ocean research, exploration, and equity-based economic development.

Speakers:

Rhiannon R. Tereari’i Chandler-‘Īao

Rhiannon R. Tereari’i Chandler-‘Īao earned her B.A. in Ethnic Studies from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in 2004 and graduated from the William S. Richardson School of Law in 2016 with certificates in both Native Hawaiian and Environmental Law. After graduating, she worked as a Post-JD Research & Teaching Fellow at Ka Huli Ao Center for Excellence in Native Hawaiian Law and as the Executive Director of Waiwai Ola Waterkeepers Hawaiian Islands.  Prior to attending law school, Rhiannon served as the Executive Director of the environmental non-profit Community Work Day Program, d.b.a. Mālama Maui Nui.  While on Maui, Rhiannon served as a member of the Maui Nui Marine Resource Council, Maui County Cultural Resources Commission, a board member of the Maui Non-Profit Directors Association and a Steering Committee member of Ka Ipu Kukui Fellows Leadership Program.  She currently serves as the Aquaculture Extension Specialist for the Pacific Aquaculture and Coastal Resources Center at UH Hilo, where she channels her past experiences into current efforts to protect and preserve natural resources.

Matt Teutimez

Mr. Teutimez has attained over 20 years of professional experience in large-scale construction monitoring, endangered and rare species surveys, focused species surveys, National Environmental Policy Act/California Environmental Quality Act (NEPA/CEQA) documentation, regulatory permitting, wetland/jurisdictional delineations (JDs), vegetation mapping, Global Positioning System (GPS) mapping, restoration monitoring, wildlife assessments, and report documentation, as well as over 15 years of experience in long-term monitoring and management for some of Southern California’s rarest bird species, including the California least tern, light-footed clapper rail, Belding’s savannah sparrow, snowy plover, burrowing owl, Swainson’s hawk, coastal cactus wren, least Bell’s vireo, and coastal California gnatcatcher. Mr. Teutimez possesses a scientific collecting permit (SC-007113) and is listed as an independent researcher for California least tern on KBC’s federal 10 (a)(1)(A) recovery permit TE-777965-9.

Matthew is the son of John Teutimez Jr., Elder of the Kizh-Gabrieleno Band of Mission Indians. Matthew is an enrolled member of the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians – Kizh Nation and has served as Tribal Biologist since 2010. Mr. Teutimez has been designated by his Tribe to possess and share Kizh-Gabrieleno cultural knowledge and practices taught to him by Chief Ernie P. Teutimez-Salas along with multiple family Elders of the Kizh-Gabrieleño Tribe. Mr. Teutimez received both his Bachelor of Science degree and his Master of Science degree in Biology from California State University, Long Beach and is the Tribe’s specialist in ethnobotanical and cultural uses of native plants and animals including the pre-historic distributions of natural resources throughout the ancestral territory of the Kizh-Gabrieleno Tribe. Mr. Teutimez is a Committee member on California’s Environmental Protection Agency’s Tribal Advisory Committee where he works with the State’s Environmental Boards, Departments, and Offices to support tribal involvement and environmental concerns and provides traditional ecological knowledge for State agencies to enhance their environmental policies to work towards restoring, preserving and protecting the natural environment for our future generations. The KizhGabrieleno Tribe is the only representative of a non-federally recognized Tribe on the EPA’s Tribal Advisory Council.

Moderator:

Nat Zappia

For two decades, Professor Natale Zappia has directed, created, and participated in multiple projects related to food systems, urban farming, environmental sustainability, and food justice. Between 2008-10 he served as the Executive Director of the Garden School Foundation (GSF), a 501(c)(3) developing garden-based curricula for students of need in South Los Angeles. His position afforded several opportunities to develop strategic planning in consultation with the board of directors, write grants, build new programs, undertake fundraising initiatives, manage the organizational budget, oversee staff and volunteers, and examine the power of food to shape communities in Los Angeles through neighborhood assessments on garden-based programs. Between 2013-16, he also served on the Board of Directors for GSF, heading up the strategic planning committee.

More recently, Zappia has co-founded and launched Open Gärden (OG) a history app connecting urban garden spaces with historical environments in Los Angeles and around the world. OG’s is particularly focused on connecting urban gardeners in South Los Angeles through peer-to-peer digital networks. As the Director for the IS at CSUN, Zappia is involved in numerous campus-wide, regional, and national sustainability projects, including overseeing climate and CO2 reduction initiatives. At Whittier College, Zappia co-directed (2011-2019) the Sustainable Urban Farm Lab (SUrF), where he taught and coordinated programming related to permaculture, environmental history and studies, and the humanities. SUrF is a 1/8-acre micro farm with a small orchard managed by faculty and students.

Photo by Oleksandr Sushko on Unsplash