Alisal High School + Xinampa

PROJECTS 2022

MyNeem Insulation

Teresa Ochoa-Villicana

The team combined mycelium and neem oil to create cost-effective insulation for housing that also repels termites and bugs.

instructor 2022

Leticia Hernandez

Leticia Hernandez is a wife, mom, volunteer, community gardener, advocate, and educator. She is the founder of the Local Urban Gardeners and the Community Garden and Learning Lab at Natividad Creek Park in Salinas, California, for which she has been a steward for the past five years. When Leticia is not in the garden or with her family, she is working for the Center for Land-Based Learning running the FARMS Leadership Program for the Central Coast. Most recently, she has taken on the role of Program Coordinator at the Xinampa community biolab. Leticia serves the Salinas community through her work as a resident advisor on the Alisal Vibrancy Planning Committee, the Food Policy Council for Monterey County and serves on the Traffic and Transportation Commission for the City of Salinas.

Advisor 2022

Corinne Okada Takara

Corinne Okada Takara is a San Jose Area artist/STEAM educator who works with museums, libraries, colleges, and after school programs to create workshops that elevate and empower community voices in conversations centered on civic spaces, identity, and technology. She conducts sustainability/biomaterial design programs that celebrate existing cultural and community knowledge out of her garage makerspace, the Nest, and at the Salinas community biolab Xinampa as the Program Director. Takara has mentored four teen Biodesign Challenge teams, several of which have won awards including the Science Sandbox Prize for Public Engagement, Outstanding Field Research Award, and the Runner Up to the Grand Prize. She also received the 2019 Biodesign Challenge Outstanding Instructor Award. Corinne is a 2020 Global Community Biosummit Fellow and is co-founder of BioJam, a teen camp of the Stanford Bioengineering Department.