Field Clips: What 7 Newly-Minted Climate Leaders Did for Solano County
On June 7, 2025, reporter Niba Nirmal interviewed seven graduates of the Resilient Roots Climate Leadership training program at a summit in Suisun City. Resilient Roots is a 10-month climate education program led by Greenbelt Alliance and Sustainable Solano and funded by U.S. EPA. Check out Nirmal’s take on what these climate fellows learned.
Four More Perspectives
Shailee Everett
Resilient Roots Project: Exploring Solar Energy Solutions for Everyday Living
“In Fairfield, where I live, it gets very hot. Electricity bills are very high because you have the AC on. Other times they tell us to keep our AC off to save the power grid, but we need that energy to stay safe. So I decided to create educational pamphlets about the benefits of community solar, which is for people who may not have the option to go for full-on solar panels, because obviously they’re very expensive and take up a lot of space, or because you may not own your building. With community solar you pay a subscription fee to a solar farm, and all you do is buy out or rent out a solar panel. For my project, I tried to find more options for community solar inside of Fairfield.”
Ayushi Akhani
Resilient Roots Project: Greener Cities, Safer Shores: Building Climate-Resilient Communities
“Right now we face rising sea levels, which are very bad because they could flood the part of the city we’re standing on. So my project is about urban solutions, greenspaces, and nature-based solutions that can help us build more climate resilient communities. I’m a big advocate of micro green spaces and green spaces in general, because they’re very good for the community and improve everybody’s health.”
Edlin Simental
Resilient Roots Project: A Community Seed Library for Ecological Connection
“I’m starting a network of little seed libraries in Suisun City, similar to the little free libraries you see in front of houses with books, but for seeds. The idea is that neighbors can share seeds. I have a garden at my house, I have native plants, I have food, so I end up with a lot of seeds. What happens is the plants go to seed, they dry up, and then I get so many seeds, right? So it made me think, why are people going to the store for seeds, when they can just get it for free?”
Shannon Ramirez
Resilient Roots Project: Raising Awareness of Suisun Marsh
“At the end of my fellowship, I asked myself – ‘What can I do right here, right now, where I am, with what I have, that will have the biggest impact?’ I did the research and I thought, ‘Oh my god, it’s the Suisun Marsh.’ Because it is the heart, it is the shield, it is the living shield of the San Francisco Bay estuary, which touches every Bay Area city and community. It’s our protector, it’s what we need for our environment, our waterfowl, our fish, our air, our freshwater, our health. This little bitty marsh helps keep our ecosystem thriving.”
Field Clips: What 7 Newly-Minted Climate Leaders Did for Solano County was produced for KneeDeep Times by videographer Niba Nirmal. The interviews were filmed on June 7, 2025 at the Resilient Roots, Climate Leaders Summit in Suisun City. Special thanks to Daniela Ades for location support, and to Brianna Casanares/Greenbelt Alliance for most of the photos.
