Cira Mejia on Land, Climate & Environment
This summer, KSP welcomed back Cira Mejia, a Koreatown resident, 2023-2025 KSP alum, and intern who created the podcast series Notes from Koreatown and Que Podemos Hacer?, which explores the ICE raids in L.A. For her 2026-2027 Middlebury Climate Action Fellowship, she will create multiple KSP podcasts for our Land, Climate, and Environment cohort.
Returning to Los Angeles from college, Cira saw her hometown with fresh eyes. “While I thought I knew Los Angeles better than most,” she reflected, “I found myself questioning how well I knew the history that shaped my city.” One question in particular pulled at her: How does water actually flow through Los Angeles?
“Water inequities across Greater Los Angeles became a hot topic amongst my circle of friends,” Cira wrote. Living in an area that doesn’t struggle with clean and accessible drinking water, she felt a responsibility to look closer after hearing from friends in the San Fernando Valley “that their water was coming out brown.” She had already witnessed other environmental issues around her city: lack of green spaces, poor air quality, and heat-impacted neighborhoods like her own.
Through the Climate Action project, she interviewed community members, friends of friends, and hardworking individuals—including Carlos Carrillo, Conzuelo Rodriguez, Diana Martinez, Victor Macias, Hesusita Vargas, Emmanuel Rivera, Natalie Quinonez, and Kamryn Mercer. “I wanted this series to be welcoming and community-oriented,” she said, “so I looked to my community for their own stories.” She made sure the language was accessible and the information relevant to the communities most impacted.
In working with so many different people, her understanding of climate action expanded far beyond what she expected. “It reminded me that there are so many ways to create change and remain resilient,” she added.
The interviews Cira conducted will be released on our website in mid-September, so stay tuned to hear directly from our community.
We are so grateful for Cira’s time, passion, and dedication to her Climate Action Fellowship project this summer, which contributed significantly to our investigation into the environment of Koreatown. Thank you, Cira! We can’t wait to see where your journey takes you next.