NEWS RELEASE: Baja Dispatch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

[Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico, Sept. 9, 2024] - After a year of planning, UC Davis students completed their first day of teaching in Escuela Secundaria Estatal Modesto Sánchez Mayón in Loreto. This program involves 2 weeks of teaching water science, with the goals of promoting education in a community facing critical water-supply challenges and, more broadly, bilateral California-Mexico engagement.

The UC Davis students are all fluent Spanish speakers and majors in science and engineering. The program is a collaboration between the Loreto schools, local conservation non-profit Eco-Alianza, and the UC Davis CalTeach/MAST program.  CalTeach/MAST provides students with training, internships, and other opportunities to explore careers in mathematics and science education. UC Davis serves nearly 25% Hispanic and Latinx/Chicanx students, highlighting the deep cultural roots between California and Latin America.

Loreto is the oldest city in the Californias, having been founded as a mission in 1697. Loreto is located in south-central Baja California, on the shores of the Gulf of California. The town is the jumping-off point for Parque Nacional Bahía de Loreto, which include the ecological sanctuary islands in the Gulf and areas of the Baja mainland. Loreto is currently wrestling with critical challenges in supplying sufficient water to the community.  

For more information contact Susann Pinter at spinter@ucdavis.edu.