Santa Barbara City College (SBCC) will host the inaugural Blue Economy Symposium, an event dedicated to exploring and expanding sustainable ocean and coastal career opportunities within the Santa Barbara Channel.

The symposium, which is free to attend, will take place 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 4 at the SBCC East Cliff Campus Campus Center.

The event is designed to foster greater awareness and engagement with the Blue Economy, a vital sector that encompasses sustainable fishing, aquaculture, coastal conservation, renewable ocean energy and blue tech.

Included will be a panel talk with the following representatives:

• Doug Bush, director of CA Operations, Ocean Rain Forest
• Jaime Diamond, president of Santa Barbara Landing and vice president of Sportfishing Association of California
• Kristin Miller, president/CEO, Santa Barbara South Coast Chamber of Commerce
• Holly Nolan-Chavez, director of South Central Coast Consortium
• Tricia Ramos, dean of Academic Affairs, Santa Monica College
• Ted Roche, president of Aqueous
• Peter Rupert, executive director of Economic Forecast Project and professor of economics, UCSB
• Craig Shuman, Marine Region manager, California Department of Fish & Wildlife
• Bruce Stenslie, Economic Development Collaborative
• Karen Tillman, associate executive director, Economic Development, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
• Chris Voss, president, Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara

The symposium will also mark the launch of the Santa Barbara Ocean Collective, a partnership between SBCC, the Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara (CFSB), SBCC Foundation, city of Santa Barbara, and Economic Development Collaborative.

The collaboration aims to build robust ocean career pathways and support the necessary infrastructure for sustainable ocean industries on the SBCC campus.

For more information and to register for the event, visit the Evite event link.