{"id":89,"date":"2019-03-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-03-06T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/weebly-import-post-80"},"modified":"2026-06-17T01:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T01:43:23","slug":"la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future","status":"publish","type":"wingbeat","link":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"paragraph\"><strong>By Guest Blogger Jessica Kochick<\/strong><\/div> <div><div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-7387b849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\"><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Picture\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/img-4584_1.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><\/div><div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\"><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u200bFor the past three years, I\u2019ve been teaching an Urban Ecology class at RFK Community Schools in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. K-Town has one of the lowest percentages of tree cover in the city, and the school campus, built only nine years ago, is lined with concrete. In spite of these challenges\u2013or maybe because of them\u2013there is so much for students to observe and learn. On our last trip outside, we saw a Western Gull rip apart a discarded sandwich. Near the landscaped entrance to campus, house sparrows were hopping about looking for food. One student shouted, \u201cA hawk!\u201d and sure enough, a red-tailed hawk was soaring overhead. Another student informed the class of\u00a0\u200b<span>the location of its nest on the other side of the softball field.<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n<!--more-->\n\n  <div class=\"paragraph\">My students are aware that in our highly urban environment, these are the types of species that manage to thrive. We don\u2019t just study the neighborhood\u2013we look at the whole watershed and the connectivity of the landscape. When I take them to the natural-bottom portion of the L.A. River, they see a much wider variety of wildlife: great blue herons, snowy egrets, mallards, coots, and black phoebes. For some students, this is their first encounter with these animals, and their first visit to a portion of the river that doesn\u2019t look like a concrete ditch.<\/div> <div> <figure class=\"wp-block-gallery wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\"><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/la-river-pic6_1.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/la-river-pic7_1.jpg?ssl=1\"\/><\/figure><\/figure>\n<\/div> <div class=\"paragraph\">Exciting changes are underway, as the city begins to implement the LA River Revitalization Master Plan along portions of its 51-mile stretch. It will bring Angelenos access to revamped natural beauty, while improving wildlife habitat that was destroyed when the river was channelized for flood control. In the process, communities are fighting to ensure that the improvements won\u2019t price them out of their own neighborhoods along the river. Many of these families had been displaced from Chavez Ravine in the 1950\u2019s, when after being promised better housing, the site was sold to the LA Dodgers for a stadium.<br\/><br\/>As we strive for a more sustainable future, we do so with a vision of social and racial equity. The public health benefits, and the opportunity to connect with the natural world, belong to everyone. The LA teachers\u2019 union, UTLA, recently went on strike. Among other social justice demands, we reached an agreement to remove asphalt and provide more green space on our campuses. I look forward to seeing my students encounter more wildlife and natural beauty in their daily lives.\u00a0<br\/><br\/><em><strong><span style=\"color:rgb(34, 34, 34)\">Jessica Kochick teaches urban ecology at a high school in Los Angeles, and she studies anthrozoology as a part-time graduate student. Last summer, she was an intern at SFBBO where she supported the development of science education materials.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em><br\/><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Guest Blogger Jessica Kochick<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1230,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"nf_dc_page":""},"class_list":["post-89","wingbeat","type-wingbeat","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Guest Blogger Jessica Kochick\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-06-17T01:43:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/\",\"name\":\"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/weebly-migration\\\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-03-06T00:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-06-17T01:43:23+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/weebly-migration\\\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/weebly-migration\\\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1500},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Wingbeat\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wingbeat\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/\",\"name\":\"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/40th-sfbbo-logo-final-1%EF%B9%961676307269.jpg?fit=159%2C136&ssl=1\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/i0.wp.com\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/40th-sfbbo-logo-final-1%EF%B9%961676307269.jpg?fit=159%2C136&ssl=1\",\"width\":159,\"height\":136,\"caption\":\"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\\\/staging\\\/1924\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","og_description":"By Guest Blogger Jessica Kochick","og_url":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/","og_site_name":"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","article_modified_time":"2026-06-17T01:43:23+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1500,"url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/","url":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/","name":"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future - San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","datePublished":"2019-03-06T00:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2026-06-17T01:43:23+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/weebly-migration\/866415237.jpg?fit=2000%2C1500&ssl=1","width":2000,"height":1500},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/la-ecology-striving-for-an-equitable-sustainable-future\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Wingbeat","item":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wingbeat\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"LA Ecology: Striving for an Equitable, Sustainable Future"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/","name":"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#organization","name":"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory","url":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/40th-sfbbo-logo-final-1%EF%B9%961676307269.jpg?fit=159%2C136&ssl=1","contentUrl":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/40th-sfbbo-logo-final-1%EF%B9%961676307269.jpg?fit=159%2C136&ssl=1","width":159,"height":136,"caption":"San Fransisco Bay Bird Observatory"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wingbeat\/89","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wingbeat"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wingbeat"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sfbbo-test.twomoons.systems\/staging\/1924\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}