The Wildland-Urban Interface Climate Action Network (WUICAN, pronounced “we can”) is a consortium of community-based organizations, California Native American Tribes, land managers and universities in Southern California working together to address the climate crisis. We aim to:
- Create a new model for co-governance and co-design of climate solutions that center the needs of impacted communities
- Build capacity for collaboration, communication and decision-making across community-based organizations, universities and land stewards
- Develop community-driven policies and practices for land and water stewardship in the face of climate change
By leveraging innovative climate research, land stewardship and educational projects, WUICAN is generating science-based and community-driven best practices for responding to climate risks.
Recent and Upcoming Events
Thursday, June 5, 2025
EARTH: An Interfaith Exchange
Pacifica Institute, Lake Forest
6:30 – 8:00 PM
Join WUICAN’s Interfaith Climate Action Working Group for a conversation about earth with a focus on soil stewardship and environmental justice. Learn about native plants and urban farming. Participate in a tree-planting ceremony at the Pacifica Institute, which promotes interfaith dialogue from a Turkish Muslim perspective. Learn more and RSVP
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Cultivating Consciousness on Acjachemen and Tongva Homelands
Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, UC Irvine
6:00 – 8:00 PM
Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples and UC Irvine’s Research Justice Shop warmly invite you to join a conversation about community-university collaborations aimed at reclaiming and reconnecting with Indigenous and place-based histories in Orange County, including on lands currently owned by UC Irvine.
News and Stories
Madison Killebrew: Promoting wildfire prevention at the wildland-urban interface
As the Fire Prevention and Management Program Manager for Irvine Ranch Conservancy (IRC) Madison Killebrew facilitates collaborative wildfire prevention efforts among various organizations and leads education programs to help the public protect themselves, their communities and the California landscape from wildfire. Read more
Image: Madison Killebrew gives a presentation at an IRC Wildfire Prevention event. Photo credit: Madison Killebrew
Gabriella Lassos: Amplifying Native voices to preserve Indigenous land and culture
As the Research and Policy Program Director for WUICAN partner Sacred Places Institute for Indigenous Peoples, Gabriella Lassos is passionate about amplifying Native voices in environmental and land policy conversations. Read more
Image: Gabriella Lassos presents on the symptoms of heat exhaustion versus the symptoms of heat stroke to Indigenous community members at Chief ya’anna Learning Village for the Prioritizing Local Action for Climate Equity (PLACE) Study. Photo credit: Gabriella Lassos
How the humanities are redefining climate communication
Working with WUICAN partners, UC Irvine humanities students are addressing climate change with creative thinking as part of the Climate Communications Internship. Read more from participant Jake Szabo in this piece for the School of Humanities.
Image: UC Irvine undergraduates participate in a zine-making workshop led by WUICAN postdoc Dr. Marianna Davison as part of a UCHRI led Climate Communications Internship class. Photo credit: Matthew Hartman, UCHRI
Janelle Bohey: Can you smell a changing climate?
From researching the effects of climate change on floral traits like color and scent to working with the Research Justice Shop on WUICAN initiatives, UC Irvine PhD student Janelle Bohey is passionate about engaging communities. Read more
Image: Janelle Bohey, PhD student in the Campbell Lab at the University of California, Irvine. Photo credit: Janelle Bohey, UC Irvine
WUICAN acknowledges our presence on the ancestral and unceded territory of the Acjachemen and Tongva Peoples, who still hold strong cultural, spiritual and physical ties to this region.
Contact:
Research Justice Shop
researchjustice@uci.edu
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