San Diego Mesa College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) student interns are putting their skills to work in the community through a partnership with Friends of the 32nd Street Canyon.
Psychology major Emerald Moreno is inspired by a passion for understanding and interpreting others, along with a deep faith that psychology is her calling. She plans to transfer to a university to earn a bachelor’s degree in psychology, minor in Spanish, and continue exploring a future in law.
After a major surgery and months of recovery, Tracey Kushner faced a decision that would reshape her future. In 2024, she returned to San Diego Mesa College determined to finish the degree she had started years earlier.
SAN DIEGO, Calif. — San Diego Mesa College proudly celebrated the achievements of the Class of 2026 during its annual Commencement Ceremony on Friday, May 29, 2026, honoring 1,958 graduates who earned more than 2,017 academic degrees and 414 certificates. A total of 727 graduates participated in the ceremony, joined by family, friends, faculty, staff, and community supporters.
August 25, 2026
San Diego Mesa College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) student interns are putting their skills to work in the community through a partnership with Friends of the 32nd Street Canyon.
Through the San Diego Mesa College Internship Program, students gain hands on experience while helping the organization better understand the canyon’s natural resources and restoration needs.
GIS interns collect and organize field data, map invasive plant species, develop geospatial databases, and create visual resources that support habitat restoration, environmental planning, and community education.
According to Mesa College Professor Rachel Russell, the partnership has provided opportunities for different student interns each semester to contribute to the ongoing work at 32nd Street Canyon. Supported through the Mesa Impactship Program, students have been working on the project for the past year, allowing multiple interns to gain experience while contributing to a larger, ongoing conservation effort.
The partnership gives Mesa College students an opportunity to apply what they learn in the classroom to a real world project while providing Friends of the 32nd Street Canyon with valuable data and mapping tools to support the long term stewardship of this important urban open space.
Explore the GIS students’ work and learn more about the partnership
Anabell Pulido
Public Information Officer
[email protected]
(619) 388-2759
San Diego Mesa College Geographic Information Systems (GIS) student interns are putting their skills to work in the community through a partnership with Friends of the 32nd Street Canyon.
This May, Navy Veteran and Mesa College student Nicholas William Case was selected by the National Geospatial Technology Center of Excellence (GeoTech Center) as a winner in the 2018 GeoTech Center’s Geospatial Technology Student Competition. This summer on June 4 to 6, the GeoTech Center will host Case and other selected students at the GeoEd ’18 Workshops to be held in Louisville, KY on the Southwest Campus of Jefferson Community and Technical College.
