Spread out across two days in September, we brought nearly 100 community members made up of Magnolia Elementary families to South Carlsbad State Beach for a family beach day extravaganza as part of our Route to Parks grant. We built sandcastles, boogie boarded, played games, spotted sea creatures, and had a blast making a splash with everyone. We can’t wait until our next trip!

We celebrated California Biodiversity Day with an early hike to beat the heat and had a great time chatting about the incredible biodiversity in San Diego County. Did you know San Diego is a biodiversity hotspot? A biodiversity hotspot is an area that contains rich biodiversity that is also threatened. To be considered a biodiversity hotspot, an area must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants not found anywhere else on Earth, and lost at least 70% of its primary native vegetation. San Diego has more plant species than any other county in the United States! Now that is something worth celebrating (and protecting!) not just on California Biodiversity Day, but every day.

We’ve begun a new project with the City of San Diego, contributing to the creation of a San Diego Trails Master Plan. Since August, we’ve hiked various trails and documented key features to support trail mapping and planning efforts!

We bid a fond farewell to our wonderful Conservation Technician, Lyla, who left EDI mid-September for a new role closer to her family in Davis! While we’re sad to see her go, we’re thrilled that she has embarked on an exciting position with the Resource Conservation District (RCD - one of our partners!). Lyla will continue her vital work in protecting Monarch Butterflies in her new position. We wish her all the best and are confident her dedication and expertise will be felt far and wide! Thank you, Lyla, for all your contributions to our team. We’re excited to see the positive changes you’ll bring in your new position.

We had a fun-filled tide-pooling adventure with EDI members at Bird Rock! We discovered sea anemones, crabs, snails, algae, and so much more, and soaked in some wonderful vitamin sea.

We are so excited to welcome our newest interns, Sabrina (left) and Avery (right), to the EDI team! Their first days consisted of helping us prepare for our annual fundraiser and they proved right away how invaluable they are. We love their dedication! They’ve both graduated from college and are eager to get their feet in the door of the environmental world. We can’t wait to see how they grow and all they learn through their internship!

EDI is thrilled to offer internships as part of our Education Through Recreation program. This program is funded by the Outdoor Equity Grants Program, created through AB 209 and administered by California State Parks, Office of Grants and Local Services.

We spent an incredible evening with our community at EDI’s third annual fundraiser! It’s always such a joy to bring everyone together and connect beneath the beautiful oak grove at Crestridge. We had our best silent auction yet loaded with handcrafted items by local artists, gift cards to local restaurants, stays at beautiful places in Vermont, Yucca Valley, and Coronado, and even tickets to the San Diego Zoo, Birch Aquarium, the NAT, whale watching, kayaking, rock climbing, and more! As we were setting up the day-of, we met a Crest neighbor on a stroll through Crestridge who purchased a ticket on the spot and joined in on the fun. We are so grateful for each one of you who joined us on Saturday night to celebrate EDI’s growth, and highlight the importance of supporting our local wild spaces and our next generation of environmental stewards. We hope to see you again soon!