The University of California San Diego was awarded $7.35 million in funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for a multidisciplinary program to advance understanding of marine contaminants and nutrients in a changing climate, and to ensure that safe and healthy seafood is available and accessible to all people.
The funding, to be awarded over five years, will enable the re-establishment of the Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health as one of four new nationwide centers focused on understanding how ocean-related exposures affect people’s health.
The center brings together experts from UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, and the School of Biological Sciences, as well as NOAA’s California Sea Grant and the Southwest Fisheries Science Center. Its multidisciplinary research team will explore the sources, fates and potential toxicity of human-made and natural chemicals in the ocean, and further study their environmental distribution and movement through the marine food web.
“The Scripps Center for Oceans and Human Health will bring together a range of scientific disciplines to advance of our understanding of seafood security to ensure we maintain our access to safe and healthy seafood,” said Bradley Moore, professor of marine chemistry at Scripps Oceanography and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, who will serve as center director. “Scientific discoveries are the first of many steps to ensuring seafood safety, and to help with the process, the center will also have a focus on community engagement to work with fishers, chefs, non-profits, and the public at large to bridge scientific discovery with the community.”
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Center director Bradley Moore, right, and former student Kate Bauman streak Salinispora cultures. The Moore Lab focuses on chemically exploring and genetically exploiting marine natural products, primarily as drug leads and environmental toxins. Credit: Erik Jepsen
The team will look at health benefits from nutrients like selenium and omega-3 fatty acids, and examine toxic heavy metals like methylmercury and organic pollutants like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and how concentrations may be impacted in a changing climate. PCBs are industrial chemicals banned in the U.S. in 1979, and PBDEs are a class of fire retardant chemicals that can be both human made and occur naturally in the ocean.
“The ocean is absorbing more than 90% of excess heat caused by human activity, which is causing habitat migration and compression, low oxygen zones, and biodiversity loss,” said Margaret Leinen, vice chancellor for marine sciences at UC San Diego and director of Scripps Oceanography. “It’s important to understand how these changes may impact seafood security, given that three billion people consume seafood globally each year. UC San Diego is uniquely positioned to bring together leaders across oceanography, biomedical and human health sciences, and community engagement experts to bridge the science to society.”
The center will focus on three primary research endeavors and include a large community engagement program:
Climate change impacts on the human intake of seafood micronutrients and contaminants
Led by Scripps Oceanography marine biogeochemist Amina Schartup and biological oceanographer Anela Choy, this project aims to understand how nutrients and contaminants like methylmercury and other chemicals are bioaccumulating in the marine food web. Schartup and Choy will also develop models to simulate the cycling of methylmercury and PCBs, and potential human exposure, under different climate change scenarios.
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In 2019, Schartup led novel research that found warming oceans could lead to an increase in methylmercury in popular seafood, including cod, Atlantic bluefin tuna and swordfish. Her findings attributed the increases to corresponding changes to food web dynamics.
“Habitat change such as fish leaving or fish joining an ecosystem means a new food source has entered the ecosystem of a region,” said Schartup. “We’ll be looking at if those ocean changes are potentially going to impact contaminants or micronutrient levels in these animals.”
Four suspects were behind bars Friday for allegedly beating a man to death two months ago during a fight at Linda Vista Park.
Arrested Wednesday on suspicion of murder in connection with the violent death of 59-year-old Ruben Rimorin were Juan Garcia Alavez, 21, Juan Manuel Lopez, 26, Brian Reyes, 20, and Franklin Joseph Tuell, 21, according to the San Diego Police Department.
Rimorin was found gravely injured about 3:45 a.m. Oct. 18 on a sidewalk in the 6800 block of Osler Street, just west of the park, SDPD Lt. Chris Tivanian said. Paramedics tried in vain to revive the victim before pronouncing him dead at the scene.
It remains unclear what sparked the deadly fight.
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The suspects were being held at San Diego Central Jail without bail pending arraignment, scheduled for Friday afternoon.
National City’s Pepper Park can soon expand in size by nearly 50%, thanks to a ruling this week by the California Coastal Commission to approve the National City Balanced Plan.
The approval of the plan at the CCC’s Wednesday meeting, developed by the Port of San Diego, means that not only will the popular park have the ability to increase in size, big changes are coming for commercial, recreation and maritime uses on the National City bayfront.
“We are grateful to the California Coastal Commission for its support of the National City Balanced Plan,” said Danielle Moore, chair of the Board of Port Commissioners. “The progress we have made has been anchored in tireless collaboration with the community, business leaders and, of course, the city of National City. It’s about bringing more recreational opportunities to the bayfront while also streamlining and strengthening maritime operations, and we are eager to bring these projects to life.”
Other components of the balanced plan include:
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Realigning Marina Way to serve as the buffer area between commercial recreation and maritime uses
The closure of Tidelands Avenue between Bay Marina Drive and West 32nd Street, and West 28th Street between Tidelands Avenue and Quay Avenue, around six acres, to increase terminal efficiency by eliminating redundancies
The development of a recreational vehicle park, tent sites, cabins and the “ultimate development of up to two hotels with up to 365 rooms, as well as dry boat storage,” a port statement read
A connector rail project to connect the existing rail and loop track located on the National City Marine Terminal to additional rail car storage spots at the existing Burlington Northern Santa Fe National City Yard east of the National Distribution Center
The Board of Port Commissioners must accept the CCC’s certification, then the port and city can begin the process of completing the above projects.
“I am proud of the work we have done to help create a lasting legacy for National City, the Port of San Diego, and the entire region,” said Port Commissioner GilAnthony Ungab. “Nearly a decade in the making, this plan balances the interests of the community and many other stakeholders, addresses public access, maritime, and recreation uses, and expands waterfront access in my community.”
The National City Bayfront is 273 acres of waterfront land and 167 acres of water, and includes the National City Marine Terminal, Pepper Park, Pier 32 Marina, the Aquatic Center and pieces of public art.
Mayor Todd Gloria announced an initiative Wednesday intended to expand housing options in neighborhoods by integrating small-scale residences such as townhomes, rowhomes and cottages into an area’s existing character.
The Neighborhood Homes for All of Us initiative is also intended to support community land trusts — nonprofit organizations that acquire land to create permanent affordable housing.
“Since Day 1 of my administration, I have been focused on building more homes that San Diegans can actually afford — and getting them built faster,” Gloria said at a news conference Wednesday. “‘Neighborhood Homes for All of Us’ is the latest piece of that puzzle. This innovative program will break down the barriers that have gotten in the way of building the type of housing that I believe is ideal for young families and first-time homebuyers for whom the dream of homeownership has long felt out of reach.”
Around 80% of land zoned for housing in the city is restricted to single-family homes, which continue to increase in price, Gloria said. And a significant portion of new housing being built consists of apartment buildings with primarily studio and one-bedroom units, leaving working-class families fewer and fewer options for homes.
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Neighborhood Homes for All of Us is intended to increase the housing supply and allow community land trusts to keep housing affordable in disadvantaged communities for low- to middle-income families.
“San Diego is an incredible place to raise a family, and more families need the opportunity to do that in San Diego’s existing, highly desirable single-family neighborhoods where their kids can learn and play in a great community,” City Planning Director Heidi Vonblum said. “But today, that comes at a price that is out of reach for too many. Integrating more options for families requires careful and thoughtful planning, with input from existing and future community members across the city, to ensure these new home opportunities for San Diego’s families are built in ways that best enhance and benefit San Diego’s amazing neighborhoods.”
The initiative will roll out in two phases. In the first phase, beginning this week and continuing through next summer, San Diegans can help determine what the neighborhoods can look like. The public will be able to see renderings showing small-scale neighborhood homes within San Diego’s existing communities, along with new regulations that “provide a clear pathway for building these homes,” according to a statement from Gloria’s office.
Phase 1 will also include an open house and ways for the community to provide feedback and concerns.
Phase 2, scheduled for the second half of 2026, will be for city staff to develop regulations allowing for the building of more neighborhood homes in a way informed by the public feedback.
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The initiative is partly funded through a Regional Early Action Planning grant from the San Diego Association of Governments.
