We will share two half hour interviews followed (we hope!) by a Q&A. Please RSVP HERE if you would like to join the Q&A at 5:15pm.
- 4:00pm—The full length version of “Restoring Indigenous Ocean Stewardship to California’s Central Coast,” a dialog between the ocean conservation organization Save Our Shores’ Executive Director and the Chairman, and two tribal youth members, of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band. (An abbreviated version of this interview will be shown on the national Earth Day Live stream.) Details below.
- 4:30pm—“Bringing the Ocean Climate Action Plan to Life,” a dialog between the ocean conservation organization Save Our Shores’ Executive Director and the Director of the Center for the Blue Economy at Middlebury Institute of International Studies. Details below.
- 5:15pm—We hope to host a Q&A about climate-focused regenerative ocean goals and implementation and the importance of indigenous ocean stewardship in this work following the two interviews. Please RSVP HERE if you would like to join the Q&A at 5:15pm.
The Amah Mutsun are an a historic and continuous California Tribe that is composed of the descendants of Indigenous peoples taken to the missions Santa Cruz and San Juan Bautista. The Amah Mutsun is comprised of over 600 enrolled members and is not federally-recognized tribe. The Tribe was forcibly removed from it ancestral territory beginning the late 1700’s and today the owns no land. The Amah Mutsun maintain their sacred obligation to care for Mother Earth and all living things. In 2013 the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band established the Amah Mutsun Land Trust, a non-profit organization that serves as a vehicle for the Tribe to return to the path of their ancestors and restore their role as environmental stewards of their ancestral lands. The Amah Mutsun Land Trust has a successful Native Stewardship Corps program, which engages Tribal youth in the research, restoration, and Indigenous stewardship work to which the land trust is committed. Four years ago the Tribe began the difficult process of restoring the indigenous knowledge of how their ancestors stewarded and managed and stewarded ocean and coastal environments. We will trace that journey during this conversation, and learn how the Amah Mutsun are restoring their traditional practices and relationship with the ocean to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change.
The mission of the Center for the Blue Economy is to promote a sustainable, resilient ocean and coastal economy (the “Blue Economy”) through leadership in research, analysis, and education. The “Blue Economy” comprises the economic activities that create sustainable wealth from the world’s oceans and coasts. The center examines ways that ocean and coastal resources can support economic development and enhance healthy, resilient oceans and well-managed coastlines. The center’s research focuses on two areas—helping organizations understand how to measure the size and changing nature of economic relationships with the oceans and coasts in order to guide choices and monitor progress, and the economics of climate change adaptation in coastal regions.
Katherine O’Dea is Executive Director of Save Our Shores, an ocean conservation organization located in the Monterey Bay area of California. As a nonprofit leader, conservationist, and sustainability expert, Katherine has tackled environmental challenges from coast to coast for the last 25 years. She has worked for environmental organizations including Business Social Responsibility, GreenBlue, and the Nantucket Conservation Foundation. Katherine is an expert on product and packaging sustainability and identifying pathways for abating plastic waste which comprises so much of the debris in our marine environments.
Steven Pratt is a descendant of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and an active member of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust Native Stewardship Corps. He is currently a student at Cabrillo College studying environmental sciences with a focus in marine science. He works with the Stewards of the Amah Mutsun Land Trust doing plankton research at Cabrillo College. Steven’s interests lie with restoration of native plants, animals, and culture. He has also been accepted to go work with the Native people of Ulithi Atoll with One People One Reef, working with their process of restoring coral reefs. He hopes to continue a path of restoration that is indigenous led.
Jason Scorse is Chair of the International Environmental Policy Program and Director of the Center for the Blue Economy at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies. He teaches courses in environmental & natural resource economics, sustainable development, and behavior design. His work focuses on ocean and coastal policy and helping to transition the world towards a plant-based food system.