Urban Nature Walk with Diana Martinez

On Sunday, June 28, KSP welcomed environmental science educator Diana Martinez for an urban nature walk through K-Town. Learn more about Diana's work on her website and LinkedIn.

Our group met at Liberty Park, where we explored the Koreatown ecosystem together, from the land we inhabit to the wildlife living among us. Almost immediately, our group spotted three hawks! Diana located the birds of prey on top of the Radio Korea building, where they like to hunt.

Thousands of years ago, the Wilshire area was a marshy ecosystem of acres of wetlands with water sources ranging from ancient springs, the Los Angeles River, and rainwater. As evidenced from our close neighbor, the La Brea Tar Pits, the area’s paleobiota included saber-toothed cats, mammoths and mastodons.

This KSP x RYSE event was the final workshop for our 2025-2026 Land, Climate, and Environment of Koreatown, Pico-Union, and Westlake cohort, which was made possible with a grant from the Department of Public Health's Substance Abuse Prevention and Control Bureau for their RYSE initiative.