Events

Bringing people together is what we do – on the ground and online. We’re honored to unite a wide-ranging network of experts to share their commitment to solving California’s environmental challenges, answer your most pressing questions, and talk about what we can do to help. We hope you’ll join us for our educational webinar series, and we invite you to watch and share past webinar recordings. 

Many thanks to our generous sponsors Environmental Science AssociatesHolland & Knight, and Spottswoode Estate Vineyard and Winery for supporting our Fall 2024 webinar series and sharing Sustainable Conservation’s vision of stewarding our most precious natural resources for all Californians.

Want to sponsor an event or series? Contact [email protected]

UPCOMING EVENTS

Join us for Sustainable Conservation’s fall 2024 webinar series, Recharging California. We’ll be joined by climate and water experts to demystify climate change impacts in California and explain how we can better understand and prepare for our weather whiplash of drought and deluge. We’ll highlight how groundwater recharge is vital to our climate adaptation toolkit. And, we’ll dive deep into Sustainable Conservation’s collaborative efforts with communities and partners to scale resilience strategies like recharge, soil health practices, and ecosystem restoration. 

Join us on Wednesday, October 2 from 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM for the second webinar in our Recharging California series, Scaling Solutions for Water Resilience. We’ll sit down with water experts working at the government level and on the ground as we highlight the work being done to align incentives and scale groundwater recharge to secure water resilience in California.

RECENT EVENTS

The series kicked off with a conversation between Sustainable Conservation CEO Ashley Boren and climate scientist Dr. Daniel Swain. Daniel brought his climate expertise to explain how climate change is reshaping California, and together with Ashley, discussed its effects on water management and strategies to enhance drought and flood resilience. 

PAST EVENTS

Climate Resilience Through Regeneration

Healthy Soils from Coast to Valley

This webinar focused on the impact of healthy soils on ecosystem, economic, and community resilience in the face of climate change. By championing practices and policies that nurture soil health and promote regenerative outcomes, we pave the way for a stronger, more sustainable future. 

Recharge for Farms, Nature, and People

While California is no stranger to the drought and deluge cycle, another wet winter sparks conversations about water security and climate resilience. However, climate resilience isn’t just about bouncing back; it’s about propelling forward. It’s about adapting, innovating, and uniting to confront climate challenges head-on and build a stronger, more sustainable California.

Featuring Aaron Fukuda, General Manager, Tulare Irrigation District; Abigail Hart, Agriculture Project Director – Water Program, The Nature Conservancy; and moderated by Joe Choperena: Project Director of Water Resources, Sustainable Conservation

Our Watershed Moment Series

A Holistic Approach to Water Resilience

We kicked off our Fall 2023 webinar series with a panel on groundwater recharge and what this extraordinary weather year means for water in California. We sat down with water experts representing growers, scientists, and government to explore how multi-benefit recharge at scale is key for a healthy and resilient water future.

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

Restoring Our Water Resources

We highlighted the innovative and collaborative statewide work by the restoration community, from NGOs to government agencies, to restore miles of riparian habitat, revitalize our rivers and streams, protect iconic species, reconnect our surface and groundwater resources, and meet our complex climate challenges ahead.

A Community-Based Path to Water Sustainability

More than one million Californians in the San Joaquin Valley do not have access to reliable, affordable, or clean drinking water due to severe groundwater overdraft. With climate change causing drought cycles to intensify and recur more frequently, there’s pressure on all water users to adapt, but communities like those in the San Joaquin Valley remain particularly vulnerable. As we work towards long-term water sustainability and climate resilience, it’s essential that we take a community-centered approach that balances both water quality and quantity.

More resources about our watershed moment

Solutions in our Soil Series

In Conversation with Liz Carlisle

We kicked off our Spring 2023 webinar series, Solutions in our Soil, with a deep dive into the work of Liz Carlisle. Carlisle is an agroecologist, author and professor whose deep expertise in the microbial community beneath our feet – and the human community connected to it – informed an amazing conversation with our Director of Circular Economies, Ryan Flaherty.

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

The Soil-Water Nexus

Healthy soils are home to a wealth of benefits – including climate solutions like carbon sequestration, increased biodiversity, and thriving farmlands that produce nutritious food. The health of our soil is also integral to drought resilience and protecting water quality. Our panel of experts unearthed the vital connection between soils and water – discussed the latest research and policies as well as the importance of taking a community-centered approach that’s rooted in equity.

Building Sustainable Supply Chains

Throughout this series, we’ve learned what soil health means and why it’s so important for increasing drought resilience, improving water quality, boosting biodiversity, and nourishing healthy farmlands and communities. But, what does this look like in practice and how can we ensure soil health is prioritized throughout the food system? Our panel of experts shed light on the importance of soil health practices and how they’re turning science into practices throughout the supply chain.

From Science to Practice

Throughout this series, we’ve explored what soil health means and why it’s so important, how it’s connected to water, and where we can promote soil health throughout the food supply chain. We heard from our expert panelists, Katie Chiapuzio of Braga Fresh and Justin Wylie of Wylie Farms, and learned how they’re turning science into practice to nourish both our communities and our environment.

More resources about soil health

Resilience Through Restoration Series

In Conversation with Kim Delfino and Curtis Knight

We kicked off our Fall 2022 webinar series, Resilience through Restoration, with a conversation between President and Founder of Earth Advocacy and Sustainable Conservation Board Member, Kim Delfino, and Executive Director of CalTrout, Curtis Knight, moderated by CEO of Sustainable Conservation, Ashley Boren. This conversation set the scene for the rest of the series and explored why we must accelerate the pace and scale of ecosystem restoration to boost climate resilience in California.

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

A Collaborative Approach for California

We celebrated our recent restoration permitting accomplishments and the partnerships that make them possible. We heard from agency representatives at various levels as we highlighted the impact these new permitting pathways will have on ecosystem restoration in California, and why collaboration across sectors is essential to building a healthy and climate-resilient future.

Sustainable Conservation’s Journey to Expedite Permitting Statewide

We looked back on our evolution and celebrate the perseverance and long-term vision that brought us to the success of today.

More resources about habitat restoration

Climate Resilience from the Ground Up Series

In Conversation: CEO Ashley Boren and Secretary Wade Crowfoot

We kicked off our Spring 2022 webinar series with a conversation between our CEO Ashley Boren and California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot on what climate resilience means for California, why it matters, and what Sustainable Conservation and California’s Department of Natural Resources are working on to build the foundation for a healthy and climate-resilient California.

More videos in this series

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

A Restored California is a Resilient California

Our panel of experts explored how we can work with nature through habitat restoration to build climate resilience, and highlighted projects incorporating various restoration methods in different ecosystems around the state.

A Watershed Approach to Drought, Fires and Flood

Our panelists shared their expertise on river restoration, sustainable groundwater management, and indigenous ecological knowledge and practices as they explored how nature-based solutions can boost California’s climate resilience.

More resources about climate resilience

Water in a Warming World Series

Preparing for our Water Future

We kicked off our Fall 2021 webinar series, Water in a Warming World, with Sustainable Conservation’s CEO Ashley Boren and State Water Resources Control Board Chair Joaquin Esquivel. They reflected on the current drought and discussed the partnerships, practices, and policies that will help us prepare for the years ahead.

More videos in this series

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

Protecting Water Quality While Replenishing Aquifers

Balancing long-term groundwater sustainability and water quality will help California weather future droughts, ensure safe drinking water, and support our thriving agricultural community that feeds the nation. Our panel of experts shed light on how California can work to replenish our aquifers while protecting water quality for the health of our communities.

Fortifying California’s Water Resilience

Sustainable Conservation’s Director of Resource Stewardship and leader of our water team, Daniel Mountjoy, sat down with our expert panel to discuss the best practices for groundwater recharge, and the importance of taking a multibenefit approach.

More resources about water supply and management

Feeding the Future Series

Sustainable Food for People and Planet

Sustainable Conservation CEO Ashley Boren set the stage for our Spring 2021 webinar series by discussing our global food system, the unique role California plays, and the key factors of a sustainable and climate-friendly food system.

More videos in this series

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In Conversation with Karen Ross and Mark Arax

Sustainable Conservation CEO Ashley Boren moderated a conversation on water, agriculture, and climate change in California between Karen Ross, Secretary of the CA Department of Food and Agriculture, and Mark Arax, author of The Dreamt Land.

Fighting Food Waste

We dove deeper into some of the systemic issues of our consumption. Sustainable Conservation Advisory Board member and Co-Founder and Chair of the Center for Good Food Purchasing, Paula Daniels, moderated an excellent panel of experts to discuss food waste, sustainable diets, and a circular economy approach that could both reduce food waste and boost more climate-friendly food choices.

Can Dairies be Environmentally Sustainable?

Watch as we shed light on the complex world of dairying. Our panel of experts discussed the controversy over dairies’ contribution to greenhouse gas emissions, other important environmental considerations, and what California dairies are doing to address these challenges.

Solutions in our Soil

To wrap up our Feeding the Future webinar series, we got down to the foundation of our food system – the soil. It’s no secret that healthy soils are vital to healthy food, but we dug deeper to explore the climate and drought solutions living beneath our feet.

More resources about food waste, dairies and soil health

Check In & Connect Series

California Water 101

During this webinar, Ashley Boren discusses California’s historic and increasingly variable weather, what we are learning from the latest climate research, and how we can adapt for extremes to create a sustainable water future for agriculture, communities, and the environment.

More videos in this series

Click any video title to watch on our YouTube channel.

Ensuring Safe and Affordable Drinking Water for All Californians

While residents of California’s metropolitan areas rarely have to worry about having access to clean drinking water, it is a daily concern for over one million Californians. As California experiences more frequent and intense droughts, these concerns will become more urgent. Thankfully, addressing them has finally been recognized as critical, and serious efforts are being made to find both short- and long-term solutions. We learned what the state, water agencies, and non-profits are doing to solve this issue and ensure all Californians have access to safe and affordable drinking water. Upon registration, you will receive a confirmation email and login instructions.

Cutting the Green Tape

Following the release of the California Secretary of Natural Resources’ Cutting the Green Tape Initiative’s recommendations, we heard from restoration experts about what this initiative is, why it’s needed, and how it will help accelerate restoration and protect our natural resources and ecological systems.

More resources about California Water

Get Involved

Speakers Bureau

  • Ashley Boren

    Chief Executive Officer
  • John Cardoza

    Project Director
  • Charles Delgado_staff

    Charles Delgado

    Policy Director
  • Ryan Flaherty

    Senior Director of Circular Economies
  • Erika Lovejoy

    Senior Program Director, Accelerating Restoration
  • Richael Young

    Senior Director, Water for the Future
  • Daniel Mountjoy

    Senior Advisor
  • Aysha Massell headshot

    Aysha Massell

    Program Director, Water for the Future

Learn more