Cannabis & Environmental Stewardship Symposium Brings Leaders Together to Address Sustainability and Equity

Image
Instructor and students standing beside a creek in the redwood forest
Cannabis Studies Instructor Dan Mar and students visit a local watershed as part of the Cannabis Studies program's cannabis and regenerative agriculture course.
The third annual Cannabis & Environmental Stewardship Symposium will bring together experts throughout California to Cal Poly Humboldt on Friday, April 17, to explore equitable and environmentally responsible practices in California’s cannabis market—the nation’s largest, valued at more than $5 billion.

Sponsored by the Resource Legacy Fund and the Campbell Foundation, the student-organized symposium convenes policymakers, Tribal leaders, scientists, farmers, and leading cannabis scholars from Cal Poly Humboldt for a collaborative series of panels and presentations. 

“This symposium creates a space where policy, research, and lived experience can inform one another in real time,” said Dan Mar, panelist and instructor in Cal Poly Humboldt’s Cannabis Studies program.

This year’s panel discussions will focus on land stewardship, environmental management, and equity within the cannabis industry. Panelists include Kason Grady, racial equity liaison with the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board; Alan Archuleta, vice chairman of Mooretown Rancheria; Ryan Bourque, senior environmental scientist with the Cannabis Restoration Grant Program at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife; and Taylor Stein, farmer at Humboldt County’s Briceland Forest Farm, among others.

Cal Poly Humboldt President Richard Carvajal and Assemblyman Chris Rogers will also be speaking. 

The symposium will also feature presentations from Cal Poly Humboldt students, alumni, and faculty on topics ranging from Tribal youth programs to the ergonomics of cannabis farming.

In addition to local cultivators, past participants have included experts from UC Berkeley’s Cannabis Research Center, the Department of Cannabis Control, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture, among many others. 

For more information, including a schedule of events and speakers, visit the Cannabis & Environmental Stewardship Symposium website.