Wrigley Institute 2023 Roundup

December 21, 2023, Vanessa Codilla

This year has proven to be a year of firsts and a year of transformation for the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability. From offering exciting new experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate students, to bringing together experts from varied areas to share their groundbreaking environmental research, we’ve helped sharpen the focus on sustainability in all its forms across the USC campus and beyond. As we reflect on the past year, join us in revisiting the pivotal milestones that have shaped the trajectory of our endeavor to secure a brighter future for our planet and its communities.

Wrigley Institute L.A. Climate Careers Spring Break illuminates green career paths

This year, we launched our first L.A. Climate Careers Spring Break, a four-day program for aspiring environmental professionals to learn more about climate and sustainability careers in Los Angeles. Open to all USC students, our first cohort of the program consisted of majors from across 5 USC schools in disciplines ranging from communication to engineering. For two days, program participants toured companies and organizations in Los Angeles that are spearheading efforts to protect our planet, including the Los Angeles Zoo, Community Services Unlimited, Allen & Overy, and The Energy Coalition. To end the program, participants embarked in an overnight trip to the Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, where students heard from leading conservation and marine scientists and explored Catalina Island’s unique environment.

Our next L.A. Climate Careers Spring Break will take place Tuesday, March 12 – Friday, March 15, 2024. For more information, visit the Climate Careers Spring Break webpage.

Students participating in the 2023 L.A. Climate Careers Spring Break visited the Los Angeles Zoo, where they heard from professionals passionate about tackling California’s conservation challenges and engaging with the community. (Vanessa Codilla/USC Wrigley Institute)

Inaugural Wrigley Institute Research Symposium elevates environmental and sustainability efforts across campus

This spring, we hosted our first Annual Research Symposium, bringing together Wrigley-affiliated faculty and their lab groups, Faculty Innovation Award recipients, postdocs, graduate fellows, and undergraduate students to share insights from their environmental and sustainability research. We heard from a total of 14 researchers from the natural and social sciences, applied and health sciences, and business and the humanities, as well as 13 students who presented research posters. Student lighting talk and poster winners covered topics from solar fuel production to machine learning for climate solutions.

The 2024 Wrigley Institute Annual Research Symposium will take place on March 21, 2024. 

five people, four of them holding prize bags with the USC Wrigley Institute logo, pose for a group photo in a reception room
Inaugural Wrigley Institute Research Symposium student lightning talk and poster winners and runner ups. From left, Thabassum Nattikallungal, Sara Spears, USC Wrigley Institute Director Joe Árvai, Lauren Kelly, Kayley Butler. ⁠(Nick Neumann/USC Wrigley Institue)

Catalina Residential College Maymester welcomes a stellar lineup of guest speakers

Through four Catalina Residential College Maymester courses offered in the disciplines of biological sciences, environmental studies, and archeology this year, USC undergraduate students gained an understanding of the challenges facing Southern California’s unique ocean environment. To supplement classroom and fieldwork learning, students attended weekly plenary speaker events designed to train them in environmental leadership. Among the lineup of speakers this year were Dr. Elizabeth Bagley, Managing Director at Project Drawdown; Dijanna Figueroa, Chief Academic Officer for Black Girls Dive and Innovation and Design Chair and science teacher at Chadwick School; Nancy Sutley, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; and Cindi Alvitre and Desireé Martinez, Tongva Culture Bearers.  

Maymester 2024 will run Monday, May 13 – Friday, June 7, 2024. Register before January 4th, 2024 to avoid late registration fees. For more information, visit the Maymester webpage.

Dijanna Figueroa, also known as the “Deep Ocean Doctor,” is a marine scientist, educator, and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education advocate. During her Wrigley Marine Science Center visit in May, she shared her career trajectory and advice with students. (Jason Goode/USC Wrigley Institute)

The Wrigley Institute collaborates with the L.A. Zoo and Catalina Island Conservancy to offer conservation internships

This summer, several students gained career experience in zoo and conservation fields through the Wrigley Institute’s collaborations with the Los Angeles Zoo and the Catalina Island Conservancy. Interns worked on a variety of projects, including native wildlife and plant restoration on Catalina Island and in Los Angeles, plus initiatives to revive the Catalina Island fox population. Read more about our conservation interns’ summer experiences with the Conservancy and with the Zoo.

To learn more about Wrigley Institute undergraduate internship opportunities offered for 2024, visit the Internship section of our website.

Catalina Island Conservancy intern Audrey Stavish at the Ackerman Native Plant Nursery, which was established by the Conservancy to aid in its habitat restoration efforts. (Nick Neumann/USC Wrigley Institute)

The Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability: New Name, Same Values

Formerly known as the USC Wrigley Institute for Environmental Studies, our name change to the Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability is a testament to our long-term growth as we continue to advance efforts for the good of our planet and the people living on it. Over the past three years, we’ve expanded to house the USC Environmental Studies Program, USC Sea Grant, and three multidisciplinary research centers, in addition to increasing learning opportunities at the Wrigley Marine Science Center and on USC’s University Park Campus. With a new name to reflect our expanded reach, we’re eager for another year of inspiring environmental solutions through frontier education and research.