February 15, 2024

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Diversity: A Spark for Solutions

If you view diversity as a mere “nice to have,” you're approaching it incorrectly.

A company with a diverse boardroom draws from a multitude of lived experiences and perspectives. A school with a diverse student body engages in more informative and enriching classroom dialogues. When addressing global challenges like the nuclear waste crisis and climate change, it is imperative to include diverse voices in the search for solutions.



Read on to learn about a Black History Month initiative that has particularly excited SLF this month, among the diverse range of issues we care about.

Bart Ziegler, PhD

President, Samuel Lawrence Foundation

Brilliance Exposed

Alena Analeigh, youngest student ever accepted to medical school in the US and NASA Intern

Hubert Massey, Renowned Fresco Artist

SLF Board Member Alexis Dixon, a Guyanese-born mediator trained at Harvard University, offers conflict-management facilitation to government, corporate, and nonprofit clients. But he has another passion: artistically presenting the brilliance of African Americans in the fields of science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics (STEAM).

Together with international photographer and friend Michele Zousmer, Alexis is curating "Brilliance Exposed," a national photographic exhibition showcasing the contributions of 45 black-presenting individuals in STEAM professions. This project, created as a result of a speaking engagement with students at UCSD, invites us all to experience the brilliance of men and women of color in STEAM.

For Black History Month, we salute Alexis' work and invite our community to support the exhibition by donating using the drop-down menu linked below.

THE SAN ONOFRE BRIEFING

The Latest On SoCal's Shut Down Nuclear Plant

In our February “First Fridays” episode, we delved into a topic that quite literally keeps us up at night: the nuclear waste at San Onofre.

How can anyone sleep peacefully knowing that nearly 10 million people live within close proximity to this decommissioned nuclear site that contains 3.6 million pounds of high-level radioactive waste, stored in 50-year-old metal canisters that have a perishable date of some 40 years, near a shoreline that is seeing increasingly explosive King Tides, in an area that is so seismic it was once nicknamed Earthquake Bay?

Our panel of experts—including former head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Rear Admiral Len Hering, Sr. (USN, Ret.), San Clemente Green's Gary Headrick, and Beyond Nuclear's Cindy Folkers—offered detailed insights about the nuclear waste stored on site. Admiral Hering noted that, “Even if you found a place tomorrow to move the canisters, those canisters cannot be moved tomorrow to a consolidated facility because they're not approved by the Department of Transportation for movement.”

To introduce the webinar, Congressman Mike Levin shared proposed Bill HS7271 that ensures the nuclear waste canisters will last 100 years. SLF is continuing to keep the issue front and center with the legislators who can, and must, make a difference.

2023 First Place Surf Shot: “King Tide Timing” shot at Terramar Beach

Fisher Rosete (Surf Action) Age 14, Grade 8, Valley Middle School

Surfing is a tradition as affiliated with California as the Hollywood Sign, sequoias, and the Golden Gate Bridge. Now the California Surf Museum (CSM) in Oceanside is encouraging young people to carry on that tradition while catalyzing a passion for a new skill: photography.

In an effort to encourage creative and marketable skills, the CSM is encouraging students to participate in its 2nd annual “AR Gurrey, Jr. Surf Photography Competition.” Participants must submit an original photograph to be reviewed by a panel of judges. The photographs fall under six categories, paying homage to surfing or the sea and shore ecosystems that comprise healthy beaches. Eighteen winners will receive prizes, including GoPro cameras and the honor of having their work on display at the Museum.

Entries are due by April 15. Good luck, young photographers!

Check out En-Roads Climate Solutions Simulator, another great find by SLF Senior Advisor, Tom English. Thank you, Tom! 

As our climate becomes ever-more unpredictable, how do we best prepare for the future and be resilient in the face of weather-related threats? This new climate change modeling software allows users to see precisely how variables like coal reliance, renewable energy sources, population growth, and other factors impact our climate.

Users can also see what global temperatures might become without immediate action. And knowing that an average global temperature rise of even 1.5 degrees Celsius will lead to irreversible negative consequences, we can see which steps must be taken to avoid that scenario.

Sign SLF's Change.org Petition!

San Onofre serves as a dumping ground for 3.6 million pounds of dangerous and deadly radioactive nuclear waste, posing significant risks to both the environment and public health.

Join SLF in demanding action from Governor Newsom and the federal government by signing our petition.

Your signature matters!

Last month we informed you about a film festival that has received, well, glowing reviews. The International Uranium Film Festival (IUFF) is “dedicated to all nuclear issues and the whole nuclear fuel chain: from uranium mining to nuclear waste, from nuclear war to nuclear accidents.”

Now the festival is coming to Chicago, and the Nuclear Energy Information Services (NEIS)—Illinois' nuclear power watchdog—has started a Go Fund Me to raise money for Chicago film venues and to cover food and housing costs for IUFF's nomadic crew.

Like these topics? Check out our "First Fridays" Live Webinar Series on YouTube, where we bring together leading experts to discuss climate change, nuclear safety, environmental issues, energy solutions, and public health and wellness.

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