September 2025 Newsletter

Earth Discovery Institute
Sep 30
4 min read

California Climate Action Corps Fellows

We are so excited to welcome our California Climate Action Corps Fellows, Carrie, Asilia, and Kendall, who will be spending the next year working with our conservation team to protect and restore wild places in San Diego! In their first week, they collected seed at EDI's Milkweed Farm, installed six new farm rows, helped with weeding at our cactus scrub restoration site, and learned all about the work we do at EDI. We are so looking forward to the impactful year ahead with them!

Removing Barriers & Catching Waves

While visitors from around the world come to San Diego for our famous beaches, many local residents have never had the chance to experience the coast. Barriers like parking fees, limited transportation, or the hesitation of going somewhere new alone can make the beach feel out of reach, especially for families living farther inland.

We’re proud to share that over three weekends in September, 143 East County children and adults enjoyed a healthy dose of Vitamin Sea at beautiful Torrey Pines State Beach! We provided bus transportation, lifeguard supervision, and support from our staff, making it possible for families to play in the waves, boogie board, build sandcastles, sunbathe, watch shorebirds, and embrace one of San Diego’s most beloved pastimes. For many, it was their very first trip to the beach, and we suspect it won't be their last!

These beach trips are funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.

Celebrating California Biodiversity Day

We had an incredible time at our Twilight BioBlitz hike this month in celebration of California Biodiversity Day! Accompanied by birders and plant experts, we were surrounded by nature enthusiasts and loved exchanging knowledge and insight with one another. All participants successfully uploaded at least 30 species to various community science apps, contributing to the California 30x30 initiative! We were blown away by how popular this event was and we cannot wait for the next adventure with this community.

San Diego Environmental Leadership Summit

This past weekend, our wonderful Conservation Director, Ida, enjoyed the San Diego Environmental Leadership Summit, where she had the opportunity to network with partners from across the county who work tirelessly to protect our natural environment! Panel discussions focused on fire resilience in the face of our changing climate, coastal resilience, and the importance of collaboration - topics that are critical in today's political climate. These events are truly invaluable and a great reminder of how many passionate people there are out there who want to protect not only our wild spaces in San Diego, but our planet!

Field Trips (& Field Instructors) Are Back!

It's not uncommon for outdoor education organizations to experience high turnover of their seasonal staff between school years. We're ecstatic to report that this school year, all of our field instructors are returning staff who have been with us for one or more school years! Each member of this talented team brings experience, passion, and a deep commitment to the communities we serve. We're also excited to announce that Erin Francisco has been promoted to senior field instructor! Erin is entering her third school year with EDI. In addition to being at every school field trip, she also leads many of our classroom lessons. Please join us in congratulating Erin, and welcoming back our team of phenomenal field instructors!

Earlier this month, we assembled the education dream team once again for a refresher training at the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge (SDBNWR), followed by a second training at a brand-new field trip site: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park (CRSP). Both trips are part of a program focused on watersheds, with CRSP representing the headwaters of the Sweetwater Watershed, and SDBNWR representing its terminus.

Thanks to the support of Parks California’s Route to Parks grant, we brought 185 students from two East County Title I schools to explore Cuyamaca Rancho State Park! For many, it was their first time hiking through a mountain woodland habitat and experiencing a freshwater stream at the headwaters of their local watershed. These students will join us again next semester for a follow-up field trip to see where that water flows - ending up at the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge. It's going to be an impactful year!

Classroom Nature Program

With the new school year underway, we've also returned to Lexington Elementary School for another semester of our Classroom Nature Program, led by senior field instructor, Erin Francisco, and field instructor, Sabrina Herrera. What started as an after-school program was successfully adapted into an in-school program, and thanks to high student engagement and the number of students served, teachers have enthusiastically invited us back again this fall! This year, we're expanding the program with an additional lesson, bringing 10 weeks of nature-based learning to five third-grade classrooms!

Native Plant Sale THIS SATURDAY!

EDI's Native Plant Sale is THIS Saturday!!! We are sooo excited to see you all this weekend! From California Mountain Lilac and California Fuschia, to Fragrant Pitcher Sage and Apricot Mallow, we have native flowers of all colors to attract pollinators to your yard and make your home garden pop! And don't forget:

EDI members gain early access at 8 AM before the sale officially begins!
EDI members receive 10% off their purchase
EDI volunteers receive 20% off their purchase
Purchase & pick-up of plants will be in-person only

We hope to see you this Saturday! To learn more about the sale, click here.

EDI's Fourth Annual Fundraiser

We are just about a month out from our fundraiser on Saturday, November 1st, in the Garden at Lemon Grove Bistro! We are beyond thrilled by the traction our early bird ticket sales made - and don't forget, there is still an opportunity to receive a discount on your ticket(s)! If you're an educator, student, program partner, or donate an item to our silent auction (worth $25 or more), you can receive 20% off!

We hope to see you for a magical evening of hors d'oeuvres, drinks, a silent auction, presentations, and great company. All proceeds benefit environmental education and biodiversity conservation programming! We couldn't do all that we do without you!

To learn more and purchase tickets, click here.