On June 27^th, Luke Meyer, director of the Los Angeles Center of Excellence (COE), was a featured speaker at an event examining the role of community colleges in building resilience to climate change.

The California Community Colleges and Climate: Defining the Possible kick-off event was hosted at the CA Center for Climate Change Education at West Los Angeles College. 

Meyer participated in a workforce development panel alongside Becky Roe, director of forest health at Shasta College, and Stephen Cheung, president and CEO of the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC).

Meyer was selected as a speaker due to the COE’s labor market analysis on aspects of the region’s economy that offer promising career opportunities for community college students. One of those projects, in conjunction with LAEDC and the Center for a Competitive Workforce, resulted in the report “Ocean Economy 101: Emerging Educational Supply and Labor Market Demand,” which examines six sectors that comprise the blue economy.

The report concludes that the tourism and recreation sector and marine transportation (specifically shipping) sector will be the biggest contributors to future growth in the Los Angeles region’s ocean economy while several emerging sectors have the greatest potential for long-term growth, including offshore wind, surveillance and safety, and marine aquaculture.