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Coastal Defenders

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Coastal Defenders

Climate, social + restorative justice org creating equitable pathways for the next 7 generations 🌊💙

03/26/2026

For the last several years Coastal Defenders has posited the question “What is science?”

Scientific knowledge, research practices and innovation systems didn’t originate in academic buildings. They’ve emerged from the wisdom of Indigenous communities, the Global South and the African Diaspora, spanning thousands of years.

The definition of science and scientific practitioners aren’t singular - and either is our approach.

Through Coastal Defenders Knowledge Exchanges we weave together Indigenous + academic science at the intersection of sustainable design, art, policy, advocacy + economy, equipping the next generation of Coastal Defenders with the resources, training and leadership opportunities to develop solutions to climate challenges.

Through meaningful engagement that has spanned decades, we’re helping to re-build community connections to the coast. Swipe left

10/01/2025

Celebrate ‘Gullah/Geechee Cultural Heritage Awareness Month” with Queen Quet, Chieftess of the Nation at Bluffton Gullah Cultural Heritage Center in Bluffton, SC in the Gullah/Geechee Nation. Hunnuh ain waan miss disya “Gullah/Geechee Evening of Healing & Heritage!” Git hunnuh ticket pun EventBrite ya! Link in bio.

09/30/2025

Join us in community to learn about our work protecting kelp forests + make your own seaweed pressing art to keep!

Please register at our for our ‘Indigenous Youth + Kelp Restoration’ Knowledge Exchange 2-4PM, this SUN, 10/5 on Kumeyaay Territories for 🙌🏽🌊🩵

08/07/2025

We’re celebrating by sending waves of love + gratitude to the DIVERsity program, Dive Locker, lifeguards + for their support of our Introduction to SCUBA Diving Program through funding from +
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Indigenous + African diving dates back millennia, well before the invention of dive gear. We share a profound aquatic legacy that we’re committed to safely teaching to future generations of 🌍 guardians.
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Definitions + Techniques we learned in alignment with current best practices of diving + emergency first response protocols:

〰 Neutral, positive + negative buoyancy
〰 Heat Escape Lessening Posture (HELP) Position
〰 Intro to CPR, First Aid + AED Usage
〰 Dive equipment maintenance + decontamination
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As sea levels continue to rise creating new challenges for our eco-systems we continue to draw upon the universal connection of our collective water birthrights to restore balance to ourselves + our planet.
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02/02/2025

we affirm ALL folks have the right to care for + work for justice in our communities + for our people, plant + animal families 🙌🏽

As a youth coach for over two decades I’ve repeatedly witnessed the school to prison pipeline first hand. My grandfather was assaulted and killed by police + the prison industrial complex and I grew up volunteering with + am now looking forward to volunteering with ‘Get On The Bus’ re-connecting children to their families inside.

Economic justice, social justice, legal justice + climate justice are inextricably intertwined + the below quote deeply resonates with us. Please find the full article at our + follow .equity to learn more about their powerful anti-recidivism work 👏🏽
🌊🩵,
Coach J

“Incarcerated people have as many reasons to care about the environment as anybody on the streets. Environmental crises don’t impact us less in here just because there’s walls around us. That doesn’t change the droughts, heat waves...It doesn’t change anything.”
~Kelton O’Connor

01/30/2025

Waves of love + gratitude to + all of the beautiful folks featured here for continuing to hold space for our people, plant + animal families 🌊🩵

01/14/2025

As a grassroots social, climate + restorative justice organization our response to disasters is always to support mutual aid first.

The Coastal Defenders Equitable Pathway Indigenous Leadership Youth + Young Adults continues to be grateful for our partnership with for their time in teaching ILY about their work with + helping to create innovative, sustainable opportunities for system-impacted youth + young adults to participate in protecting their communities.

We believe helping Indigenous folks return to their ancestral eco-systems + waterways, elevating Indigenous science + providing equitable access to resources helps to heal ourselves + the planet.

Waves of love + gratitude to all folks putting their lives on the line to protect our human, plant + animal families 🙏🏽🌊🩵

11/23/2024

The Coastal Defenders Equitable Pathway Indigenous Leadership Youth + Young Adults (ILY) supports the reclamation of Indigenous land + water guardianship birthrights by fostering re-connection to coastal spaces, building capacity and sharing resources with Indigenous nations + communities. We love making research, publication + leadership opportunities fun + accessible 🤙🏽

Check out our brand new interactive 3D models apart of our ‘Healing Ecosystems’ display made in partnership with the Scripps Center for Marine Archaeology! was initially created in 2015 through the initiative of Scripps Professor Oceanographer + Geophysicist Dr. Walter Munk, who secured seed donations and approval to begin center operations. To honor Dr. Munk we of course debuted the models at the Annual Walter Munk Day!

Dr. Isabel Rivera-Collazo + Dr. Andrés Garzón-Oechsle used models made in their Human Ecology lab to help teach everyone from Navy SEALS, to scientists, journalists + elementary school students in both English + Spanish! Swipe left

10/29/2024

༄ WAVES OF ACTION ༄
Were putting the ‘A’ in STEAM 🙌🏽

The Equitable Pathway Indigenous Leadership Youth + Young Adults (ILY) traveled from multiple Indigenous reservations in San Diego County to visit reclaiming their land + water guardianship birthrights during Tijuana River Action Month (TRAM.) We studied, painted + presented on the inter-connectivity of our water systems on Kumeyaay + Payómkawichum territories in the Tijuana River Watershed + followed the the San Luis Rey River, through estuaries, to the 🌊

༄ WAVES OF GRATITUDE ༄
This day has been years in the making- Wanishi Empress Holiday, Lorena Warner-Lara + Ann Marie Tipton, Cristina Bigham, Kristin Goodrich + of course our Youth Advisor Mr. Blaine Mazzetti who generously gives of his time organizing ILY + helping to ensure safe, chaperoned travel to + from our gatherings.

Thank you as well to all of the beautiful collaborators of most especially for sharing photography, artwork, poems + ideas as to the many ways to support learning using art as medicine 🎨

We also got a first look at our 3D models ILY helped to design with 🤿 that ILY will use to share the love of their land + water by teaching the public about the intersections of water rights + quality on Indigenous reservations in San Diego County, Indigenous-led guardianship, coastal policy + climate resilience 🌍

༄ WAVES OF LOVE ༄
To heal our planet we must heal ourselves which means prioritizing returning Indigenous guardians to their eco-systems from which they have been forcibly displaced.

Swipe right —> to check out our beautiful day restoring the balance of our planet through Indigenous guardianship + check back soon for our next post showcasing our 3D model debut 🙌🏽

10/14/2024

Happy Indigenous People’s Day!

If we’re talking about protecting our planet ~ we should also be talking about protecting each other. If we’re talking about loving our planet ~ we should also be talking about loving each other.
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Our land + water has been disconnected from it’s guardians for too long + our planet is showing us the affects. Returning to Indigenous-led guardianship means re-connecting with our plant + animal family who have sustained us since time immemorial and listening to how they want to heal, live + thrive 🌱🐟
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San Diego County is home to 18 Indigenous reservations, the highest amount in a county in all of Turtle Island. Due to forced displacement none of the reservations exist along the coast which significantly impacts Indigenous people’s ability to engage in guarding vital + vulnerable eco-systems, harvesting + engaging in coastal policy.
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Indigenous people account for less than 1% of the STEM workforce on Turtle Island. The Equitable Pathway Indigenous Leadership Youth + Young Adults (ILY) provides resources + opportunities to increase parity in STEAM + help heal our people + planet 🙏🏽🌊🩵
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Swipe right —> to learn about how we’ve partnered with the Jen Smith Lab on Kumeyaay Land to help co-create Indigenous knowledge exchanges in the field of kelp restoration 🙌🏽
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8622 Kennel Way (Formerly Discovery Way)
San Diego, CA
92037

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Water4Life Ministry
PO Box 23361

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