The Tijuana River National Estuarine Research Reserve’s Training and Engagement Program traveled to Washington, D.C. to present at the 2026 Sea Grant Marine Debris Symposium, held August 25–27 at the NOAA Science Center in Silver Spring, Maryland.
Representing the project team, Ana Eguiarte presented progress on Cultivating a Trinational Marine Debris Leadership Coalition, a collaboration with California Sea Grant and Un Mar de Colores that brings together partners from Mexico, the United States, and the Kumeyaay Nation to address land-based marine debris in the Tijuana River watershed.
The presentation highlighted the program’s work to translate leadership training into sustained collaboration across borders and sectors. Key milestones included the 2025 Marine Debris Leadership Academy, which engaged 28 leaders in 56 hours of bilingual training, and the coalition’s launch in April 2026. Five working groups now support collective action in education, funding, technology, policy, and research. By sharing these accomplishments with the Sea Grant community, the program underscored the importance of investing in relationships, reducing barriers to participation, and connecting upstream waste management with the protection of downstream estuarine and coastal ecosystems.