Artist Sam Shoemaker, recently in the news for successfully paddling across the 26-mile Catalina Channel in a kayak he built from mushrooms, will be the keynote presenter at the Climate Palooza Educators’ Symposium at West Los Angeles College on Friday, October 17 at 10:00 am.
Shoemaker is part of a small community of scientists and artists exploring the potentiality of fungal innovation as an alternative material that could be used in everything from kayaks and buoys to surfboards. That spirit of experimentation is now helping educators see how art, design, and science can intersect to inspire action on climate.
“Teaching about climate change can be challenging,” said Dr. Jo Tavares, Director of the California Center for Climate Change Education (Climate Center) at West Los Angeles College. “The topic often brings up feelings of anxiety and helplessness for both students and educators. Climate education can’t just be about fear—it has to be about possibility.”
The symposium is co-organized by the California Center and the Sustainable Environment Institute (SEI). Elementary, secondary and college instructors will explore new ways to “climatize” curricula and engage students through creativity, equity, and local relevance.
“Sam’s project reminds us that innovation and imagination are key tools for resilience. When educators connect those ideas to their teaching, they give students a sense of agency,” added Tavares.
Following the morning presentation by Shoemaker, the event will spotlight faculty-led climate education models across the Los Angeles Community College District (LACCD), including the Los Angeles Community College District Environmental Equity Education Demonstration Project (LEEEDP). Developed by SEI with significant funding from the Climate Center, the initiative embedded faculty liaisons at all nine district colleges and engaged 50 instructors across disciplines in the inaugural Global Environmental Equity Education Cohort (GEEECo). The project provided professional development, seminars, field trips, and community-based learning opportunities, helping thousands of students see environmental issues as intertwined with equity and place.
Building on this success, SEI has proposed a $7.5 million, three-year expansion of the Environmental Equity Education Project—supported by the Academic Senate for California Community Colleges (ASCCC)—to reach 1 million students statewide.
Climate Palooza 2025 – Educators’ Symposium
Friday, October 17, 2025 | 9:30 a.m.–3:00 p.m.
West Los Angeles College’s – HLRC Library – 4th Floor | 9000 Overland Ave, Culver City, CA
Free with RSVP (includes breakfast, lunch, parking)
RSVP at //gqr.sh/wsDr
Michelle Long Coffee/WLAC
