Webinar Series
Spring 2021

FEBRUARY | Best Management Practices (BMPs) in Cannabis Cultivation

Moderated by Phoebe Parker-Shames, PhD Candidate in the Dept. of Environmental Science, Policy & Management. Her multidisciplinary research studies the ecological outcomes of cannabis legalization.  Featuring expert panelists Patty Madigan of the Mendocino County Resource Conservation District (MCRCD) who shares a video of BMP, Margaret Mantor, an Environmental Scientist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and Amit “Bamboo” Vachher Gnanathurai, a legacy and now commercial cannabis outdoor and greenhouse cultivator who shares a video of his fully licensed, eco-friendly farm.

MARCH | Water and Cannabis

Environmental scientistChristopher Dillis, PhD  moderates and gives an overview of how water is used on outdoor cannabis farms, the amount of water used and the water sources.

Panelist Derrick Smith of the Resource Innovation Institute (RII) shares data from the recent Cannabis H20 Report.  The Deputy Director of Watershed Branch at Karuk Tribe Dept. of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy, Earle Crosby, explains the legal and illegal aspects of cannabis farming and how it has negatively affected the water quality on rural tribal lands according to water sampling tests conducted downstream from illegal grows. His focus is on the restoration of Karuk cultural resources and lands. Elijah Portugal, Senior Environmental Scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), addresses the realistic limitations of natural water sources and regulations around  conservation.

APRIL | Equity and Cannabis

Moderated by Laura Herrera, MPA the CRC Digital Communications Specialist who is presently facilitating state funded social equity programs in Oakland, Los Angeles and Sacramento.
Featuring an expert panel of cannabis social equity activists; Lanese Martin, Chair  of the Oakland Cannabis Regulatory Commission , Executive Director and co-founder of The Hood Incubator, Ramon Garcia, founder of the newly established Equity Fair Trade Certification, Dominic Corva, Co-Director of the Humboldt Institute for Interdisciplinary marijuana Research, Will Armaline, Director of the Human Rights Institute and Associate Professor of Sociology at San Jose State University and Edith Kinney, Legal Director for the Human Rights Institute and Associate Professor, Department of Justice at Studies San Jose State University.

MAY | Preparing for Federal Legalization

Moderated by Laura Herrera MPA, the CRC Digital Communications Specialist, who is studying the administration of community reinvestment funds and reparations through cannabis social equity programs. Featuring legacy cannabis experts, Omar Figueroa, Founder and Principal Attorney of the Law Offices of Omar Figueroa, 
 and Chair, Nina Parks of the San Francisco Cannabis Oversight Committee, Cannabis Regulators of Color Coalition (CRCC), Original Equity Group (OEG). Last is Cristál Gallegos, a Commercial grower in AZ and CA  and an organizer for Labor Rights and Social Justice in Cannabis Cultivation.