Meet our Advisors: Gina Garcia

Having moved from the East Coast to Santa Monica over 35 years ago, Gina considers herself a native. In addition to her current roles as Co-Executive Director, Community Sustainability Director, and Buy Local Santa Monica Manager, she has worn many additional hats since she began her journey with Sustainable Works in 2007. Her first roles were as Outreach Volunteer and Workshop Instructor. In early 2009, she became the Coordinator of the Student Greening Program and supervised its expansion into the Los Angeles Community College District breaking participation records at Santa Monica College. In August 2010, Gina transferred to the Residential Greening Program as its Director, a position which allowed her to bring issues of sustainability to a broader segment of the Los Angeles Community. When the Residential Greening Program transitioned to the Community Sustainability Program in 2013, Gina began the coordination of city-wide community events, producing over 50 events to date. Gina became Co-Executive Director of Sustainable Works in July 2014, executing the mission and managing the overall operations and growth of the organization. As an Advisory Board Member of Climate Action Santa Monica (CASM), a local grassroots organization dedicated to empowering the community to action on climate change, Gina has the opportunity to connect with and learn from another local nonprofit. She draws inspiration from her family and strives to be a model for her two daughters. She holds a BA in Speech & Theater from Montclair State University and a certification in Horticulture from UCLA.

Meet our Advisors: Jeff Bush

Jeff Bush is a long-time resident of Santa Monica and has many years of corporate energy and utility industry experience. He has served in analytical, regulatory, managerial, and business development roles, developed new service offerings, and testified as a witness before the California Public Utilities Commission.  He also helped structure energy transactions to help corporations, commercial businesses, and universities manage energy cost volatility, and achieve savings and renewable energy/greenhouse gas reduction goals.  He has been following the progress of the Clean Power Alliance and has helped CASM identify opportunities to enroll additional Santa Monica meters in CPA without incurring additional costs.  He currently operates a consulting business, Greenbush Capital LLC, which provides insight into the California and West Coast wholesale electricity, capacity, and RPS markets. He has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from UCD and an MBA from UCLA.  Having worked in so many parts of the energy industry, Jeff brings expertise to CASM’s efforts to accelerate decarbonization of our energy system. In his spare time, Jeff is an avid biker and runner. 

Jeff’s favorite climate action: working with the CASM team and also spending time exploring the great outdoors.

Meet our Advisors: Katharine King

Katharine’s great talent is organizing projects that bring people together and support the community.  Early in her career, in her home state of Connecticut, she co-founded a statewide arts and education organization that placed artists in classrooms integrating the arts into basic education.  After making her way to California and briefly working in film, she re-committed to work on her passion, the performing arts.  For 28 years, she produced the Twilight Dance series at the Santa Monica Pier attended by thousands and showcasing acts from the world over. The Twilight Dance was a much-loved feature of local culture, entertainment and the local tourism economy.    

Katharine brought those same skills to bear in her work on climate. It was around 2006 that Katharine learned from a Bay-area friend about a new state law that would allow local communities to band together and procure clean renewable energy for themselves.  This was an alternative to the prevailing investor-owned monopolistic electric utility, and it allowed formation of locally governed non-profit entities called community choice aggregators, to buy and sell energy.   The potential and importance of this concept as a climate solution motivated Katharine to connect with others working to bring this concept to Southern California and Santa Monica.  Katharine gave presentations and worked with other advocates and local government representatives to push the concept forward.  After years of lawsuits, advocacy, and proof-of-concept around the state, local success was finally achieved in 2018 when the Clean Power Alliance (CPA) was launched as the region’s community choice aggregation organization.  The CPA has since reduced greenhouse gas emissions by over 1 million metric tons, the equivalent of removing over 200,000 gasoline powered cars from the road. Providing clean renewable energy to the community through the CPA is the top-ranking climate action in the city of Santa Monica Climate Action and Adaptation plan.  

It was in 2013 that Michael Tarbet and other members of the Church in Ocean Park saw a need for a local community group to focus on the climate crisis, and a small group was convened to explore the issue.  That group agreed to form Climate Action Santa Monica, and Katharine, who was active on the Church board at that time, once again stepped up with her management talents to serve as co-chair of CASM’s Steering Committee.  Katharine remains an active CASM Advisor and participant, and continues to support a number of civic and charitable initiatives.

Katharine offers this reflection on her work for climate.  “While it was a bit of a slog…to watch, participate in and experience the CPA going from mere concept to being realized it’s confirmation that climate activism can & does make a difference. We can’t stop now.  There’s so much to do!”

Meet our Advisors: William Selby

William Selby accrued valuable experiences in private industry before beginning his teaching career in 1981. He taught geography and science for different grade levels and age groups, before taking his full-time position at Santa Monica College in 1985. In addition to teaching a wide range of earth science courses at SMC and serving in several leadership roles, Professor Selby has organized and led many field trips throughout the state and beyond with his colleagues and students. He helped establish SMC’s Center for Environmental and Urban Studies, hosted their lectures series, and served as an advisor to the City. His work with SMC’s Global Citizenship initiatives includes the production of field guide booklets, films, and teaching geography, and science courses for the Study Abroad Program. He has been one of the most requested speakers for SMC’s Speakers Bureau for community groups, and has presented papers each year for professional organizations; such as the AAG, APCG, and CGS. He is a decades-long member of the American Meteorological Society (AMS) and the National Science Teaching Association (NSTA).        

His diverse research interests and professional and personal activities reflect Professor Selby’s devotion to earth science, geography, atmospheric science, and environmental studies. His book, Rediscovering the Golden State: California Geography, combines his academic expertise and practical experiences within California’s myriad landscapes to present an invaluable guide to developments and issues that are changing California in the twenty-first century. 

Selby was featured as science consultant in the 2020 documentary, Dry Times, a story about the impacts of California’s prolonged drought. He carries decades of personal and professional weather observations and climate research experiences from numerous sources (including the National Weather Service) into his latest California Weather and Climate Guide project, anchored by a major publication scheduled to appear next year.

Meet our Advisors: Jing Liu

Jing Liu is a Geography Professor teaching a host of classes that include Physical Geography and GIS (Geographic Information Science) at Santa Monica College. Jing earned her Bachelor’s degree in Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China in 2007 and her Master’s degree in Beijing Normal University and the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Science, Beijing, China in 2010. She then traveled across the Pacific Ocean to the United States and earned her PhD from the Department of Geography at the University of Wisconsin – Madison in 2017.

Her research interests include digital soil mapping, citizen science, and spatial analysis. In her classes, she uses various spatial technologies to teach topics in Physical Geography, Environmental Study/Science, and Climate Change. Below are a few examples:

• Using PurpleAir to guide students to explore the air pollution issues in different areas in Los Angeles, and lead students to critically think and discuss topics in Environmental Justice. 
• Using Google Earth Engine and ArcGIS Online to guide students to explore the spatial variation of ground-surface temperature in Los Angeles, and lead students to find the environmental factors that may contribute to the differences. Students will also discuss potential solutions that can help solve the Urban Heat Island Inequity problems.   Last year, Jing advised CASM’s youth Climate Corps on using data to generate urban heat island maps.
• Collaborating with Adventure Scientists Organization on the Global Microplastics Initiative Project to map and to analyze the hot spots of micro-plastic pollution in East-Pacific and US water bodies. 
• Use SurgingSeas to guide students to explore the risks brought by the rising sea-level and the impacts on coastal cities
• Use Web Maps and Apps to guide students to explore and think how location intelligence can play a role in combating various climate crisis