Fall 2019 kicked off the third year of our environmental lecture series, which aims to engage the LMU community in the range of environmental research studies and projects taking place on and off campus. On October 14, CURes hosted Swarthmore College's Dr. Mark Wallace for a talk, entitled “When God Was a Bird: Christianity, Animism, and Re-Enchantment of the World", which offered a thought-provoking exploration of Christian roots, evoked ideas of animism and challenged student to see God in all things as a way to promote care for the environment.

On November 16, LMU’s Director of Environmental Science, Dr. Rachel Adams, provided an interesting glimpse into the research applications of a civil & environmental engineering degree in her talk "Assessing Legacy Contaminants on a Remote Northwestern Hawaiian Island." 

In Spring 2020, we will host three more lectures:
January 28 - Dr. Bemmy Maharramli, UC Irvine Social Ecology: “Your Ecosystem Disservice is My Ecosystem Service: Narratives of Nature in Cities”
February 25 - Dr. Trevor Zink, LMU Management: “Is Recycling a Waste? Promises and Pitfalls of a Circular Economy”
April 16 - Dr. Tyler Harlan, LMU Urban & Environmental Studies: “Constructing a Low Carbon Frontier in China”

CURes continuously strives to understand coyote ecology in Los Angeles. Though coyotes have lived in Los Angeles for centuries, human-coyote conflicts have begun to increase as urban areas continue to grow into natural areas. In both Long Beach and Culver City, concern about coyote-cat interactions have prompted the cities to begin several year studies to learn more.

In November, CURes completed a three-year study in Long Beach that involved collecting coyote scat and placing camera traps along a transect in a local nursery and fire station. As part of this study, a group of undergraduates completed the scat analysis and sent samples to a lab in Idaho for DNA analysis that will reveal what type of prey can be found in coyote diets. In addition, undergraduate Ashley Rietmann finished analyzing more than 250,000 photos that will reveal coyote movement patterns and interactions.  

With the Long Beach research reaching completion, CURes will now begin a three-year study in the City of Culver City. This month, 20 camera traps were placed throughout the City in parks, backyards, and trails along Baldwin Hills to determine how coyotes are entering the area and utilizing the neighborhood for travel and food sources. In addition, CURes launched a backyard assessment survey to determine what factors may be attracting coyotes to certain backyards. For this study, CURes scientists will visit yards in areas both highly visited by coyotes and those absent of coyotes to compare resources that citizens may be inadvertently providing to coyotes. Learning the differences between the yards in these areas can help you make your yard less inviting!

If you are interested in providing your coyote footage, monitoring a camera in your backyard, participating in a backyard survey, or learning more about the results of these studies, please contact Dr. Melinda Weaver.

As detailed in our recent Restorative Justice Project (RJ Project) blog post, the work continues with community stakeholder groups to implement RJ Practices on the LMU campus and in the greater Los Angeles County and Riverside County areas with K-12 schools and nonprofit organizations.  

The RJ Project and the Catholic Mobilizing Network were invited to be part of the The Harm, Healing, & Human Dignity: Catholics in the Restorative Justice Movement webinar hosted by the Zehr Institute for Restorative Justice.

For information about our work with Loyola Marymount University Partners and others, contact Schoene Mahmood at (310) 338-4442 and visit the CURes Blog!

CURes Fellow Lisa Fimiani and Friends of Ballona Wetlands Board Members participated in a series of bird surveys at the Ballona Wetlands as part of the Friends' ongoing project to provide baseline data to the State on the birds' location in the watershed. This information is essential to the State's upcoming restoration plans to improve tidal flow into the degraded wetlands. Kyla Danforth, a current LMU Intern, and Taylor McGrath, an LMU alumni, assisted on several of the surveys. Lisa also participated in the Friends of Ballona Wetlands Grow Native! Workshops held in Ballona Discovery Park, which were managed by Neysa Frechette, Manager of Scientific Programs. Both the Friends and CURes promote the use of native plants in gardens and neighborhoods in an effort to help wildlife live and thrive.

We’re so excited to congratulate our students on their upcoming graduation! Before we have to say goodbye, we’d like to highlight their accomplishments and work throughout their time with us through a series of senior spotlights.

OSCAR REPREZA is a Biology major, with a minor in Environmental Science. He loves nature, and his interests in ecology, specifically on the topic of rewilding, have led him to pursue a career in the field.

His involvement in CURes has helped him further his passions for urban ecology.  “CURes has helped to broaden my view of the field of ecology into a more holistic view that isn't just concerned with conservation and restoration but also with public engagement and environmental justice issues,” Oscar said. “Getting the public involved and aware of the natural world around them can have some great results.”

Working with CURes has also taught him the skills to engage with the community around him, an essential part of creating change. Oscar hopes that future Lions also engage with their community here at LMU. “Get involved and enjoy the many intellectual and cultural benefits offered” He stated.

Before pursuing graduate school, Oscar plans to spend some well-deserved time with his wife and son.

The LMU Center for Urban Resilience co-hosted a two-day conference on consciousness held at both Chapman University in Orange and Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. The conference honored physicist and nonagenarian Dr. Henry P. Stapp, who made important original contributions to consciousness-based interpretations of quantum physics. The event was supported by The Nalanda Foundation, The Annenberg Pet Space Foundation, and Navin and Pratima Doshi. The second day of the conference was held at LMU and titled "Reimagining Consciousness: A Conversation Across the Natural Sciences". Aimed at the general public and structured as a salon, it featured formal presentations by noted experts Dr. Deepak Chopra, from the Chopra Institute, and Dr. John Hagelin, President of the Maharishi University in Fairfield, Iowa. Dr. Eric Strauss from LMU and Dr. Menas Kafatos from Chapman served as moderators of two panels that attempted to apply the lessons learned from consciousness to their own disciplines of study. Panelists discussed a broad range of fields, such as philosophy, humanities, theology, mathematics, biology, veterinary sciences, animal consciousness and physics, and featured experts, such as Dr. Kat Weaver from LMU and Dr. JJ Rawlinson from the Wallis Annenberg PetSpace. The task at hand was to reimagine consciousness from its current understanding as an emergent property of living brains to the idea of consciousness as a universal force consistent with some modern interpretation of quantum physics.

With a full audience and an electric conversation, experts and the audience alike wrestled with one of the most vexing challenges of human knowledge – that of understanding the true nature of consciousness. As in any great conversation, more questions were raised than could be answered, leaving fertile ground for future research and engagement. The proceedings of the conference are headed for publication in an upcoming edited volume.

January 30th – CURes hosting Vandana Shiva lecture in Hilton 100

April 4th & 5th - GNG Green Earth Film Festival on Playa Vista Campus

June 3-6th – CURes participating in Justice in Jesuit Higher Education Conference at Georgetown University