BSFI 2019
2019 marked the sixth year of the BSFI Program with 16 students from UCSD and one student from UCLA. Interns were selected through an application process to engage in a two-month paid internship working with the UCSD Center on Global Justice Community Stations located in San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. Interns worked in groups across the three Community Stations: Casa Familiar in San Ysidro, EarthLab in Encanto, and Divina Providencia in Los Laureles Canyon region of Tijuana. The 2019 interns offered a range of different experiences and backgrounds to the internship program and built leadership skills through community engagement, research, creative processes, program design, and more. Below is more detail about their work at each community station:
UCSD-Casa Community Station
Field coordinators: Camille Campion and JoAnna Proctor
At the San Ysidro Community Station in partnership with Casa Familiar, interns with a range of experiences and interests worked in partnership with the community to create a working atlas of San Ysidro, a compendium of the neighborhood’s brief histories, existing conditions, qualities and potentialities. The atlas packages together five areas of research to create a compelling narrative including, maps, historical documents, community resources, photography, design ideas, and more. The atlas offers a holistic view of the San Ysidro community and is utilized as a resource for the community as a pdf and as a video.
UCSD-EarthLab Community Station
Field coordinator: Paúl Moscoso
At the 4 acre outdoor space that is EarthLab in Encanto, Blum Interns furthered the mission of merging traditional learning with outdoor, hands-on learning by engaging with the Middle School Science Academy. Interns taught middle school students about water quality and water conservation through interactive outdoor activities like the Walter Filtration Competition, providing them with a sense of environmental justice and autonomy. Also at EarthLab, through the partner organization, Groundwork San Diego Chollas Creek, interns engaged with local high school students on the Green Team. The Green Team is comprised of students from local high schools and teaches leadership through conservation, community engagement, and research. The interns hosted weekly activities with the Green Team including electric vehicle days. The Green Team also attended a forum hosted by an organization, YouthWill, that is creating a Youth Bill of Rights for the City of San Diego.
UCSD-Divina Community Station
Field coordinator: Kyle Haines
Interns worked together at the Divina Providencia Community Station in Tijuana to produce workshops ranging from a video project with local students and a community workshop on the everyday impacts of trash to educating on political and biological strategies for building resilience to flooding and erosion. The interns worked in smaller groups to
- Assist a local native plant nursery, Vivero Hormiguitas, and
- To deepen community capacity in Divina Providencia by:
- Advancing online systems to report dumping
- Building social media presence
- Working with local youth to develop pedagogical gardens for food and native plants at the Divina Community Center
In the final community workshop, the interns delivered activities, games, and presentations to explain the relevance of their work over the summer.
