Attend in person at the Ludwick Community Center, 864 Santa Rosa Street, SLO, or via Zoom (REGISTER for the Zoom)

Our “stronger together” portion of the gathering will feature Tribal Advisor for the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, P.J. Webb. She will present updates on the Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary designation process – where we are, what happens next, and how you can help the first tribal-led nomination become a sanctuary to protect our beautiful coastal waters.

She will highlight the visionary eDNA project partnership with the tribe, Dr. Steve Palumbi, Stanford University, Hopkins Marine Research Station and Lenfest. The project uses Traditional Ecological Knowledge to inform scientific research that will make adaptive ecosystem-based management accessible, affordable and lower the carbon footprint for gathering data.

P.J. Webb is a public interest attorney focusing on marine conservation, wildlife advocacy, and environmental justice. She is a recipient of the Bill Deneen Environmental Award; the National Marine Sanctuaries Volunteer of the Year Award; and the Leon Panetta Sea Star Award. She is an advisor to the Northern Chumash Tribal Council and served as an at-large representative on the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Advisory Council for 20 years. Webb has worked to protect coastal waters in the gap between the Monterey and Channel Islands Sanctuary along with many community organizations such as the Northern Chumash Tribal Council, Marine Sanctuary Alliance, Santa Lucia Sierra Club, ECOSLO and Surfrider. As the campaign to designate the proposed Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary has progressed, she became a founding ally member of the Indigenous Ocean Solidarity Alliance, an international group of first people’s ocean conservation efforts. Together we are working toward the ultimate designation of a Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary in central California and ocean protection efforts all around the globe.