USC students explore conservation careers on Catalina Island
Over lunch at the USC Wrigley Marine Science Center on Catalina Island, JD Black found himself talking about reptiles and amphibians with a conservation professional.
Black, who is pursuing a communication major at the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism along with a minor in psychology from the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, was working as a summer education intern when a team from the Catalina Island Conservancy visited campus. As he spoke with them about the island’s wildlife and their careers, conservation began to look less like an abstract interest and more like a possible future.
“I have always thought conservation was cool, but this experience made me seriously consider it as a career path,” says Black.
It was the kind of encounter the David H. Meid Visiting Mentor Program was created to foster.
Supported by The Macfarlane Foundation, the program brings leaders in environment and sustainability to the USC Wrigley Institute for Environment and Sustainability’s Catalina Residential College to engage with students participating in the Urban Oceans Maymester.
“The hope is that by bringing creative, driven people together, a simple conversation may turn into an influential event in a student’s life and career,” says Duncan Macfarlane, trustee of the Macfarlane Foundation.
By giving mentors time to interact with students and faculty in informal settings — over a meal or on the dock overlooking the harbor — the program enables connections to develop naturally.
The Meid Visiting Mentor Program originated at Marymount College, where it honored the late David H. Meid, a former trustee and supporter of the college’s mission to transform lives through education.
When Marymount closed in 2022, Macfarlane — with his longstanding interest in the ocean — saw the Wrigley Marine Science Center as a natural new home for the endowment and its original purpose: giving students and faculty opportunities to spend meaningful time with people they might otherwise never meet.
Learning beyond the classroom
Each summer, the Urban Oceans Maymester transforms the Wrigley Marine Science Center into a learning community where students explore environmental challenges from multiple perspectives.
In 2026, more than three dozen students took courses spanning aquatic microbiology, marine biology and biological oceanography, coastal sustainability, and environmental history.
Alongside their coursework, students participated in activities and conversations connecting what they learned with people putting those ideas into practice. Support from The Macfarlane Foundation allowed the Wrigley Institute to bring more visiting speakers to Catalina Island than ever before, including conservationists, scientists and civic leaders.
Scott Atkinson and Luisa Tam, both senior directors at Conservation International, discussed a conservation approach that works with surfing communities to protect biologically important coastal areas. Afterward, they spoke with students about internships and leadership opportunities through a collaboration between Conservation International and the Wrigley Institute.
For Annika Harusadangkul, who graduated this spring with a BS in environmental studies from USC Dornsife, the conversation offered a glimpse of how she might turn her interest in marine science into action.
“Hearing Scott and Luisa talk about their journeys in the field of conservation has motivated me to pursue marine conservation nonprofit work during my upcoming gap year,” she says.
Other mentors showed students how environmental challenges intersect with economics, policy and community engagement. Paul Armsworth, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Tennessee, explored how ecological and socioeconomic data can inform conservation decisions. USC Vice President of Civic Engagement and Economic Partnerships Effie Turnbull Sanders drew on her experience with the California Coastal Commission to engage students in questions about environmental justice and coastal decision-making.
The Catalina Island Conservancy team expanded the model further. With support from The Macfarlane Foundation, seven representatives came to campus, giving students opportunities to speak with professionals specializing in Channel Islands ecology, invasive plant management, ornithology and Catalina mammals, among other topics.
“At the core, this is an opportunity to encourage and support the exceptional USC students to explore more, learn more, and create more through their individual and collective efforts,” says Macfarlane.
“It’s not really giving back,” he added. “It’s investing in the students.”