Environmental Educator at WILDCOAST Jules Jackson

Jules Jackson is one of two Environmental Educator’s of the Year for 2022.

WILDCOAST supports a clean environment in California and Mexico.

Jules’ life has been dedicated to increasing access, opportunities, and participation of underserved and underrepresented groups in coastal and marine disciplines. Jules grew up at the beach in Delaware and is a member of the Nanticoke Nation/Tidewater People. As an Indigenous Water Protector with African ancestry, she is uniquely aware of the coastal accessibility challenges to aquatics, which is why she is just now learning to surf as an adult despite having grown up at the beach. She is deeply committed to dismantling the harmful barriers that have prevented BIPOC communities from learning about and participating in marine science and helping them reclaim their water birthrights. After working with BIPOC youth for two consecutive summers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, Jules relocated cross-country specifically to advance this work in an environment conducive to year-round coastal usage and has been working in the field in California ever since. After relocating to San Diego, Jules coordinated UC San Diego’s ‘Black Surf Week’ and has served as a coach for Indigenous and Native Hawaiian youth in the ‘Native Like Water’ program held on the UCSD campus. Atthe conclusion of 2020 she was selected out of 300 people worldwide to be one of twenty-nine members of the 2021 Scripps-Rady Ocean Plastic Pollution Challenge (SROPPC) cohort. Her focus was on increasing BIPOC representation in coastal STEM fields. As a docent at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) and a Tidepool Interpreter and Open Ocean Whale Watch Instructor for Birch Aquarium, she serves as the scientific communication bridge between academia and the public. Due to her work at Birch and SIO she was selected to serve on ‘The Matlahuayl Project’ advocating for Indigenous language inclusion and university land acknowledgements. Jules has furthered Indigenous scientific representation through her work on the Tribal Intertidal Ecological Surveys (TIDES), a partnership with the Tolowa Dee-ni Nation and SIO to document climate change and sea level rise. Jules has volunteered for a number of environmental non-profit organizations such as The Surfrider Foundation, San Diego Coastkeeper, and I Love A Clean San Diego. In 2021, Jules joined the team at WILDCOAST, an international non-profit that conserves coastal and marine ecosystems and addresses climate change through natural solutions. As WILDCOAST’s Ocean Conservation & Outreach Coordinator, Jules works to conserve our coast and ocean through youth engagement, public outreach, monitoring, and stewardship. Jules is expanding on and developing new community partnerships, creating new youth conservation opportunities, and engaging community members, especially from Indigenous and underserved communities, in the conservation of their coastal and marine spaces. Jules leads WILDCOAST’s Coastal Leaders Internship for Indigenous Youth, a year-long innovative program that partners with Indigenous Nations to conserve the coast and ocean through hands-on conservation opportunities. Last year, Jules recruited 14 student interns ranging from ages 13 through 16 representing the San Pasqual Ipai band of Kumeyaay, the Payómkawichum bands of Rincon, Pauma, Pala and La Jolla and the Desert Cahuilla of Torres Martinez. In addition, the program consulted with three Indigenous Advisors for program development, cultural advising, and assistance with program coordination and implementation. Jules is currently recruiting for the next Coastal Leaders cohort, with her eyes set on expanding the program to include Indigenous wetland restoration and ethnobotany, a county-wide effort to include Indigenous language on signage in natural spaces, and advocating with the State of California to change the name of the [Juan Rodriguez] Cabrillo State Marine Reserve, which sits on the historic land of the Kumeyaay Nation, a people who were forcibly removed from what is now the reserve by Cabrillo and subsequent settlers. You can read more about the Coastal Leaders Internship Jules started here. Jules is a genuine, enthusiastic, and committed individual working towards achieving a more overall just, equitable, inclusive, and supportive society through the investment in BIPOC communities through her commitment to conservation and education. Jules embodies what an environmental educator should strive to be and AEOE is delighted to celebrate her contributions to the field as our southern California Environmental Educator of the Year.

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