Marine consultant to study La Jolla Cove stench In a further effort toward odor abatement at La Jolla Cove, the city is reportedly set to sign a contract with Rancho Santa Fe marine consulting firm Hanan & Associates to study and identify potential opportunities for changing the behavior or haul-out conditions of the sea lion colony now expanding along the La Jolla coastline and file a report with the city. In a reversal of an odor-abatement plan it was considering, the city will not hire a marine mammal behaviorist to coax sea lions from a La Jolla Cove bluff. A grass-roots group called Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement had asked the city to hire a private company as part of a plan to get the animals to relocate.
Hanan was previously employed by the city to survey the harbor seal population at Children’s Pool/Casa Beach. UCSD tied at No. 15 among alumni in volunteer service UCSD passes muster in yet another national category, ranking tied at No. 15 among the top volunteer-producing colleges and universities nationwide, according to The Peace Corps.
Among universities with more than 15,000 undergraduates, UCSD currently has 39 alumni volunteering worldwide. The University of Wisconsin topped the list with 90 volunteers.
Alumni from more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide have served in the Peace Corps since the agency’s founding in 1961, including 790 alumni from UCSD. This marks the ninth straight year the university has appeared in the top 25.
“The Peace Corps provides an indispensable opportunity for young people out of college to gain work experience, learn a foreign language, and develop intercultural skills,” Peace Corps director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “International service helps volunteers refine qualities that can be difficult to measure but are critical to long-term success, all while impacting the lives of people around the world.”
In total, six University of California system campuses are ranked on the list of top 25 large universities this year. San Diego Foundation announces climate change grants The San Diego Foundation, in partnership with the San Diego Regional Climate Collaborative, has announced the availability of $200,000 in grants to help local governments prepare for climate change.
The Building Regional Resilience to Climate Change grants will support projects that advance community efforts to prepare for climate change and put the “San Diego, 2050 Is Calling; How Will We Answer?” report into action. The report, released in 2014 by Climate Education Partners and The San Diego Foundation, outlines challenges faced by the San Diego region and a call to action for communities to work together and invest in solutions to manage risks and prepare for a changing climate.
Preference will be given to projects that stress working with more than one city/public agency to address shared challenges, leverage other sources of funding, engage community residents, have the opportunity to share lessons learned and can be completed within 18 months. Grant guidelines are available at sdfoundation.org/Grants.
An informational webinar for grant seekers will be held on Monday, March 2 from noon to 1 p.m. RSVP to Kim Fields at [email protected] to receive log-in information. The application deadline is 12 p.m. Monday, April 20. Top two editors leaving San Diego CityBeat San Diego CityBeat editor David Rolland and associate editor Kelly Davis, the paper’s initial editorial forces, have announced they are leaving Southland Publishing, Inc., the paper’s publisher.
Rolland, CityBeat’s editor since its inception in August of 2002, is joining the Sacramento staff of state Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins as a communications specialist. Davis, instrumental in the paper’s launch, will report on criminal justice issues on a freelance basis. Davis departs the staff March 3; Rolland’s final issue is that of March 18.
Pasadena-based Southland also publishes Pasadena Weekly; The Argonaut, serving West Los Angeles; The Ventura County Reporter, its flagship paper; and four monthly magazines. (Editor Martin Jones Westlin’s aside: I worked alongside Dave for 12 of the last 16 years; in fact, he hired me at The Ventura County Reporter amid my return to this industry in 1999. He is among the finest editors it has ever been my pleasure to know, and I wish him and Kel nothing but the very best.)