My Summer of Mussels

My name is Luisa Tripoli-Krasnow, and I am a rising junior at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism majoring in journalism. This summer, while participating in the Wrigley Institute Environmental Communications Internship, I worked closely with Amalia Almada and Maria Madrigal from USC Sea Grant.

Sustainability has been a passion of mine for a very long time. Since I was young, my parents have always encouraged composting and eating sustainably sourced food. When I was in high school, I became involved in the youth climate organization Fridays For Future, serving as their media liaison. This motivated me to become involved in environmental communications, but I had not been able to combine my love for journalism and video with my love for environmental science until now. This opportunity has provided me with the support and resources to do what I love. 

The South Central Los Angeles Sustainable Seafood Hub aims to improve public health through expanded education and access to seafood and to increase the amount of nutrition Americans receive through said seafood. This Hub works to ensure equitable access to mussels, a very nutritious and sustainable source of protein. But mussels are a lesser known seafood, and many people are unfamiliar with how to prepare them safely. For this purpose, my mentors tasked me with developing a video that breaks down the steps of cooking (and preparing) mussels.

This task, while relatively simple, came with many challenges. For one, mussels are not currently in season. This means that it is very hard to find fresh mussels in the proper form to fully clean them. Since cleaning is an important part of cooking fresh mussels, my mentors and I had to find creative solutions to this problem. We found mussels at the grocery to cook, and then harvested mussels from San Pedro for the cleaning process.

This took multiple different shoots, and taught me how to edit creatively! Now, I feel more comfortable with Adobe Premiere Pro, my chosen video editor, than ever. This summer, I also worked on Canva for the first time. As someone who had never worked with graphic design before, this was a brand new experience. I felt extremely supported by my mentors, who gave me specific and constructive feedback. 

In addition, this was the first I have worked for a non-profit with many different partners. The expanse of resources felt huge, and yet working to communicate effectively between multiple organizations was quite difficult. I initially had a hard time directly asking for what I needed, as I had never been put in a position to advocate for myself before. As this was a hybrid/remote internship, I had to be very accountable for myself, which was a different experience than working in an office or going to class. Learning to communicate and advocate for myself to my mentors and the community partners was a growing experience. I feel that I am a more self-sufficient, confident communicator than I was before. The skills I have learned this summer will carry over into my career in journalism by making me a more confident communicator.