May is Clean Air Month and the APCD works hard every day to protect the blue skies in San Luis Obispo County. We share a common goal with the community we serve, to live in an area with clean, fresh air. In honor of Clean Air Month, we created a short video about our mission and goals. Check it out! 

APCD staff also presented the status of the Oceano Community Monitoring Project during this workshop. Last spring, a resident of Oceano nominated the community for participation in the Community Air Protection (CAP) Program. This incentive program was introduced by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2017 in response to Assembly Bill 617 (AB 617) and established a special funding source that air districts can use to improve the air quality in low income and disadvantaged communities across California. As a result of the CAP Program and in response to the nomination, APCD is allocating CAP funding to purchase, install, and manage several particulate matter (PM) sensors throughout Oceano. These new air monitors allow APCD to evaluate air quality by measuring ambient particulate matter concentrations. Monitoring data will be made available, in the late fall, to the public on our Oceano Community Monitoring Page. For questions regarding the May workshop proceedings or the Community Monitoring Project, please contact Jackie Mansoor at [email protected] or 805-781-5983.

In April, the APCD co-hosted a Conservation Burn Training and Biochar Production Workshop at J. Lohr Vineyards in Paso Robles. With the help of the Vineyard Team and the Sonoma Ecology Center, this workshop provided classroom instruction followed by a demonstration burn. This hands-on training included over 25 attendees from vineyards, orchards, CalFire, the Resource Conservation District, and Cal Poly.

The workshop began with a presentation on the science behind the conservation burn technique and the simple alterations land managers can make to their traditional pile burn techniques that enable their operations to become more sustainable and economical. The second half of the workshop involved a live demonstration of a conservation burn using dried vines removed from vineyard blocks.

Carissa grew up in a mountain town in northern California called Weaverville. After graduating from high school, she attended Cuesta College and later transferred to Humboldt State University where she graduated in 2016 with a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science. Since graduating, her work experience has ranged from Interpretive Park Ranger for the Bureau of Land Management to Consulting Utility Forester for Davey Resource Group. She enjoys biking, gardening, and coaching the girl’s wrestling team at Morro Bay High School in her spare time.

Fun Fact: Carissa was the first female wrestler at Cuesta College!

Jackie grew up near Sacramento and made her way down to San Luis Obispo to attend graduate school at Cal Poly. Last June, she graduated with a Master’s in City and Regional Planning. During her second year as a grad student, she was hired as an intern for the APCD in the Planning Division. After receiving her Master’s, she stayed on as a full-time temporary Air Quality Specialist for about 8 months until she was hired as a permanent Air Quality Specialist I. She’s very excited for the opportunity to be a permanent employee and to continue working on all her projects throughout the County. Jackie loves gardening and was passionate about helping with the APCD’s garden and landscaping project. She and a few other volunteers from the staff completely transformed the garden outside our office and helped plant a variety of vegetables. She’s extremely happy about how it turned out and can’t wait for the summer veggies to arrive!

Fun Fact: Jackie walks to work almost every day!