November 30, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It’s the 2nd day after Thanksgiving/Indigenous Foods Day and we are fired up in our house! For various reasons and seeing how money flows through our society, I am realizing more and more that this model of how our advocacy group is doing work is 100% my right path. San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air never formed a non-profit because we don’t have any money flowing through our organization. We are all volunteer advocates in this beautiful organic sustainable group that is just working together at this moment in time, trying to do what is right for the climate and children. Not having monetary strings attached to this work is truly liberating. What we’ve been about to do with a $20 website, and just caring together – has been remarkable. I’m still a pediatrician, working on the front-lines and get paid for my clinical duties.

Others are working too, and I totally get it. Everyone is doing their part. But it’s empowering to know that I am where I am supposed to be. Our family is where we are supposed to be. And our daughter is where she is supposed to be (currently sleeping in her room recovering from surgery). That sense of rightness and peace is empowering. I just finished all my charts, and I have the 2025 year of climate work mapped out in my mind.

I am half through our November newsletter and will get that out today. Lots of updates for our amazing students, pediatricians and other public health friends. Public Health Advisory Council (OC) is going well, and a subgroup led by a very brilliant premedical student is taking on the gas companies to help block hydrogen blending at the UC Irvine campus and hopefully in the country. We have gathered the A team, including local OC pediatricians, nationally renown pediatric environmental health specialty experts, locally trusted high school students, and the most important part – a smart and motivated premedical student to lead the project from our side. Paired with our collaboration with Climate Actions Campaign, this is a recipe for success. I am so excited about this project! If you see me in real life, ask me about it!

The San Diego Heat and Human Health Summit 2025 is coming along well, and will be in it’s 3rd year this summer. The people that need to be there will be there. Likely some of the people who were the inspiration for H3SD and filled me with so much joy and love, will not be there. But that is okay. Wherever they are meant to end up, they will end up. I know in my heart, that it’s okay to love as long as that love is true and sincere and not selfish. And for them, my love was childlike and innocent and dream-like. But climate work does that to folks. It’s so filled with purpose and meaning, that it fills you up with these real emotions because we are doing real work. The heat summit will happen in District 8 (Western US minus California) as well. I just texted my good friend from college and we are well on our way. It’s still the holiday weekend so I won’t send any emails. Just texted her and yes District 9 Heat and Human Health are 100% going to happen! And I have three premedical students who need a project anyway and this will be their project. I just sent an instagram message to one of them.

And the little one. She’s about to get up soon. We’ve been off this week and she is healing from her wisdom teeth extractions. She’s been swollen and the healing has been harder than expected. But she was so adorable and darning her old jeans while swollen from her surgery. Perhaps that is what happens to dreams and wishes that I had for her. They get torn and tattered by circumstance, and events and feelings beyond your control. But I and she chose to mend them. We chose beauty and healing, and to stay on our path. Others would have chosen a whole new set of jeans and just thrown out the old. But we try to be sustainable in our choices here, including relationships. But I can’t and don’t want to control the world and folks feelings. Everything has to be a choice. And I choose to go with my heart and to work with those that bring me joy, and putting children and climate at the center – this usually leads me in the right direction.

I can’t wait to see what our group is going to accomplish this year. And I can’t wait to see how more awesome our little one becomes. She’s growing up to be a wonderful girl, for those that care to take notice.

November 23, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I think at some point when I was chatting with my sister, I realized that we aren’t a normal family. We have a lot of accomplished adults in their mid to late 40s that care about our country and society, and actually taking responsibility for things. It’s a heavy load, but I realize that it’s us that keep us going. I look at my brother-in-law (which I don’t share too much on Instagram because of the anti-military rhetoric) is a naval hero, and I admire him and it keeps me going knowing how much he cares and works on behalf of what he thinks is right. When you are in that milieu, it pushes one further in your goals and ambitions and responsibilities. It’s a heavy load but we keep on going on, and supporting each other and playing our roles.

Just meandering thoughts as we head into the holiday weekend. The election results were crazy and the world is a bit off-kilter these days. But I’m strangely okay. I just know what role I’m supposed to play in this timeline and I’m playing it. I find life vastly amusing for the little stories that are happening just locally in the climate space. When there is hardship, there is also vast opportunities. So I’m moving forward with our premedical team and we are going to make lemons into lemonade.

We are getting involved in the UC Irvine Hydrogen blending project, pretty much trying to help stop it. It’s just a wonky subject that is perfect for this brilliant premedical student that I am working with. So we’ve reviewed the information. I just submitted my own personal comments, and will be working with our student on this project. It’s the prefect project because it’s so wonky, so important and it entails the skillset I’m the best at – which is making NOISE! Oh, Dr. Plastic Picker can make tons of NOISE about this. Resolutions, op-eds, blogposts, webinars. There are a lot of ways to work on this! Yeah!!! Where there is a motivated premedical student and also a just cause, that is the secret sauce to a great project!

We are also moving forth with H3SD 2025 and the chief of urology has already jumped in as a new piece, and bringing a group urologists for social responsibility. I didn’t even know they existed but they exist and that is wonderful and they are coming! We are working with AAP District 8 and helping to make a District 8 (which is the whole western US minus California) heat and human health summit in May and I’ve gotten the initial green light to bring along our HMO to co-brand and help. I just Instagram messaged a contact (which is also a Harvard connection) from HMO Oregon and I think this should be relatively easy to get involved with to move the climate work forward.

So lots to do. But realizing that some of all of this is that we went to top notch schools and that branding and networking does help. It’s hard to admit that to our daughter who is in the middle of junior year. She’s doing really well and I’m proud of her. I still fundamentally remember that she is an ex 28 week preemie, and seeing her aim for a top Ivy League is humbling – when I’m just grateful that she is alive and every day I get to be her mother. But I am also not stopping her from reaching for her dreams. So this thanksgiving break we are mostly just resting and resetting after her finishing the trimester. Her brother will be coming home as well soon from his sophomore year of college and I’ve been deep cleaning his room and excited he’ll be sleeping in a room relatively free of dust and gross things in the carpet. That is my climate activists life! I’m still manifesting many things and there are so many possibilities about how this whole drama is going to end. But I believe in happy endings for everyone!

November 1, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Can you believe it’s really November 1 2024? I had to submit schedule requests for April and May and it was kind of surreal. That is when our daughter will be taking AP exams and finished with her SATs. I can’t even begin to imagine her being that far into junior year. This time is so precious to me, and I want to slow time all the way down.

The list of the ever expanding doximity resume for me, continues. Which is completely ridiculous because I already have a job that I love. I keep on at it, because it’s part of how I address the existential threat of climate change and global heating. I decided I can’t now remember 5-6 years ago, to begin mentoring premedical students in climate and health and environmental health related projects. I am a projects based person. And as they get advising and meaningful projects to do, we advance the work of decarbonization forward. So because I was blogging to you about my resume, I just updated it on more stuff.

But here is my emotional journey. And I’m content today. I have a new tooth! Well at least a new good crown which I hope will last me at least 10 years as we continue to fight this existential crisis. My goal is to keep that crown and tooth healthy, and also to help keep us below 2 degrees of global warming. It might be easier to stop global heating then prevent a new root canal? And I’m serious about that.

But I’m content because I am here with you. I am just who I am. I posted above a picture of one of my biggest successes as a climate and health advocate. Dr. Melissa Campbell is my continuity clinic resident. I’m super proud of her! She’s going to be chief resident next year and is co-chair with me of the AAP -CA3 Climate Change and Health Committee. She’s really awesome. I missed her awards dinner because I had to work so much that weekend (YES I’M STILL WHINING ABOUT THOSE EXTRA SHIFTS). But it ended up well. I would have gone but I had just one day to spend with my teen daughter. I usually show pictures of her, and she has super gorgeous ones that I can’t post nor share. But if you see me in real life and you are a real friend, I’ll show you.

She had homecoming and all her little innocent teen drama. She has the day off today, and is working on her Informative speech for the next speech tournament. She gets to go to a pizza party on Monday for getting high grades and also doing well in certain classes (which I’m not sure!). So I’m excited to just be in the room next to hers, and I know she is doing her academic things and I’m typing nonsense into the blog. She peaked in and asked me “are you updated my resume AGAIN?” Yes, I told her. It’s my joy. That and taking cute pictures of her.

Otherwise since she is sixteen and busy with life and our also wonderful son is in college, I otherwise just try to save the earth for our collective children.

We have spread the heat and human health summit idea to District 8 AAP which is the western US and Canada, minus California. This is via real friends and colleagues and through natural networks. We are expanded our leaded aviation fuel advocacy model to our friends hopefully in Oregon, Arizona, Utah and New York State. We have a team for both things. And also indoor air pollution advocacy team that a very capable climate and health leader will take over, since she wants to do it and I have the team formed and there is too much work for everyone. What else? Oh yes the Tijuana Sewage Crisis and then decarbonizing Orange County.

It’s funny that anytime someone tells me no, I find a way to get things done. I’m not sure where I learned to be so contrary.

But it’s a beautiful day today because I have a great new tooth and crown and we are having homemade pizza tonight! Sending the blog readership a lot of green hugs and thank you for following along on my journey.

October 26, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

It happened. It really happened. Our advocacy team submitted the abstract to the Pediatric Academy Societies National Meeting. It’s one of two abstracts we submitted, and we are grateful to have been at the right place at the right time to help address leaded aviation fuel hazards first in San Diego and then in our state. This has been a long term project that has touched so many people. So just really grateful today, and we have plans to show our workflow with Oregon, Utah, Nevada, and New York friends. We realize that there are other groups like us across the nation, and it’s best to share and collaborate.

I won’t share the abstract text right now, since I’m not the first author. But all the names on this abstract are those that I deeply care for and they deeply care for the community. That a small group of committed and concerned citizens can make a difference, cannot be repeated enough.

Our other team led by Dr. Melissa Campbell submitted the extreme heat and youth sports abstract as well, and we will have two abstracts at the conference. I was going to try to get in the Public Health Advisory Council, Climate Actions Campaign Abstract – but I think submitting it to a more local conference is better so that the students can actually attend. That also gives me two more weeks to write it up.

Otherwise I’m a pretty happy person now for someone who got a root canal yesterday! My dentist was really young and I asked him “How OLD are you??!!” He was 31 but very gentle and did a great job! I am so grateful to that dentist. I had to work the late shift yesterday and I have to drive ALL THE WAY TO FRICKIN’ SAN MARCOS TOMORROW to work for some reason – I have no idea. No one from the north quadrant ever comes down south to work. But two of us have to go up there. The inequities in our department used to bother me so much, but now I know they reflect the general inequities in the world. So rather than trying to implode my department, I just am happy being part of a motley group of fractious pediatricians at times and work with everyone and just do my job. My dad reminded me in the midst of when I was burning out, that it was okay to just show up to work. And now I just show up, and it’s actually joyful. I do what I’m supposed to do, and recognize all those extras are gifts I give to my community and my patients. I don’t feel I am obligated to do those extras, so there are times I say no. I said no yesterday to an add-on and that is okay.

And this Saturday, it’s my DAY OFF. And I’m going to say YES to hanging out with our teen. I’m going to try to call our son who is a sophomore in college as well. I really miss him. More than I probably realize. Sometimes I don’t let myself love him as much as I want to, because I had to share him so much when he was a baby. The pain of doctoring and mothering is very really. It makes climate work actually pale in comparison.

Sending everyone green hugs!

October 23, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Life is really great right now! I’m sorry I’ve been absent from the blog but I float between blogging, Instagram and Facebook. I also found some really good new Netflix /kdrama shows! I have to wait for the next episodes so in between I’m doing climate work. We also had homecoming for my daughter recently and that was an entire adventure in itself. Isn’t she adorable? If you know we in real life, I shared some of the innocent 16 year old drama. Her dress was gorgeous and she pulled off the red matte lipstick. Next up! White Go-Go boots! That she is so adorable and has such a high GPA is really unusual. High GPA I’m used to, but the cuteness overload is what keeps me going! In the end, she loves me more than any boy that has liked her – and that I really have to thank the climate work. When you are happy, life goes well and your teenagers don’t go seeking affirmation from boys that are not ready to do anything other than attend to their own academic needs. It’s junior year and our daughter is definitely locked in with her academics, test preparations, and activities. And I’m locked into climate work.

Oh, I finished my taxes! I was really worried about not finishing our taxes but I finished them and predicted pretty well what was going to happen. We did not owe really anything, and are now paid up in full to the federal and state government. I hope our government uses that tax money wisely, and to combat climate catastrophe.

What else? Oh yeah! The Oregon CPR (Cows Creek Professional Retreats) is coming along nicely! Our good family friends are up on the almost 200 acreage and getting settled. The buildings are being or planned to be repaired. We should be running some professional retreats about mid April (right around tax day!) to about August. I can’t believe it’s really happening but it’s happening!

And the most unexpected thing happened! I’m going to become a voluntary UC San Diego undergraduate instructor of some sort! I’m already a VONS (not the grocery store) but UCSD School of Medicine Voluntary Non Salaried clinical instructor since I teach residents. But now I will be able to mentor students in hopefully two courses. Definitely “Heat and Human Health” but I’m also hoping “Tijuana Sewage Crisis and Pediatric Health.” I wasn’t sure if it was the right thing to do. But it’s the right thing to do and I’m actually really excited.

I’m already going to designate some students as my teaching fellows and assistants. If I get that national award I’ve been nominated before, I wonder if I can use some of it to give my students a small stipend?

That’s it! That’s life! Life is really great! Mostly because my daughter is cute.

October 12, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I’m back at my trashart and it feels right. I have some ideas inspired by someone I admire. I think the exhibition will be called “trash cyborgs.” I’m making my trash cyborg people now. I’ll invite him to the exhibition but I don’t think he’ll come.

But the big thing that happened this last few weeks, is the third edition of the Youth-Art Climate Exhibition happened at LOS/NR fine art gallery. It’s been this amazing collaboration and synapse-making journey with Dr. Andrei and myself and many others. When we dream together, create together and think together – this is where the answers are.

But rather than veering into the philosophical, the actual day and coming together of the big event was beautiful. The opening day which was actually a Sunday was filled with students and their families. The happiness and joy, and community was palpable. The art work was beautiful and meaningful, and the community that gathered for this event created out of love left feeling more connected. Then we had the reception on Thursday evening, and it was a smaller gathering but the conversations we had that evening were meaningful and ultimately inspiring.

I’m so proud to be a part of this. We had this simple idea five years ago, and it grew and merged with other ideas into this event. The first year it was covered by KPBS. This year it was really experienced by us in this beautiful space.

But I really do have to do my taxes because I still live in this world and not a trash cyborg yet.

September 27, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Wow. It’s been a marathon few weeks since the H3SD 2024 Summit. We finished the summit but I had agreed to speak at the Early Childhood Mental Health Conference which is a big regional conference in San Diego. It had been weighing on my mind, and I had agreed to do it in order to give an opportunity for someone who I am mentoring to speak. But in the end because we all live in our own realities of jobs/family/illnesses, we had to pivot and I ended up speaking with one of our premedical students. I am a believer in if things are meant to be , they are meant to be. And the talk at the end stages went fantastic. We were both definitely at the right place at the right time, and with each other at that moment.

We both delivered and I progressed on my thinking of so much of my environmental health work and thinking. I re-watched another recent talk I gave on indoor air pollution which actually was really good – now that I’m rewatching it. I need to move forward with that work as well. I am reminded that I am a very good public speaker, as I was rewatching some of my work.

But this weekend, I honestly need to catch up on sleep. My favorite kdrama is dropping a new episode! I have to help my daughter finish a really big application she is working on. And we want to have some fun and go out to Balboa Park. I also need to do my taxes. I have the money ready to pay my quarterly, but I need to get all my paperwork together. My father was an accountant, so I actually like getting together our tax paperwork.

That’s it! I just wanted to let my blog readership know that I have to really concentrate on my taxes this weekend!

September 19, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

What a relief just to type out the title of this blog. I’m absolutely exhausted. I’m tired. And yes I’m tired of bullies. You know who you are. Everyone has a bully in their life, even my good climate friends have people who have bullied them in their work-homes. And I have mine. There are bullies on city council. There are bullies in HMOs. There are bullies at school. There are bullies on committees. There are bullies at non-profit foundations. There are bullies in universities. And as my back is spasming and I’m thinking about just the mundane day to day of my life, I’m furious at the bullies that exist in my life.

But those bullies, have prepared me for the climate work. There is no bigger bully than the fossil fuel industry, entrenched interests, and those that sit around while the rest of us worker-bees actually work. I’m pretty sure I never bullied anyone in my life. If I have, please text me and I’ll apologize to you. Maybe I was having the same back spasms I’m having right now and was not in my right mind. Maybe the back spasms is a reminder of my own mortality (which I’m acutely aware of).

But now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I am grateful. I’m grateful for the kind-hearted and loving people who are doing climate work. The real work that needs doing. Not the posturing, not the easy stuff. The hard work. The organizing the summits. The fighting the Tijuana Sewage Crisis. The calling of legislators. The passing of bills. The work that is going to the root of systemic racism, environmental racism and addressing head on the climate crisis and global heating. It’s what my mentor Nicole Capretz from Climate Actions Campaign said, “the cavalry is not coming.”

Actually Nicole, the sad imagery is that the cavalry is coming. It’s coming with Dr. Plastic Picker and it’s literal children. Sometimes I look at the premedical students, medical students and high school students that have joined hands with pediatricians to do this work in San Diego – and I realize they are like toddlers in diapers. We have children that are rising up and fighting back. And it’s absolutely daunting.

But those children have done amazing things this week. They’ve written a blogpost that was published in the AAP-CA3 newsletter about their advocacy. They helped form the backbone of the OC Public Health Advisory Council of Climate Actions Campaign. They helped delivery testimony regarding the dangers of hydrogen sulfide gas to developing lungs and children to the San Diego Air Pollution Control District board, and get a promise of 10K air purifiers to the south bay.

That I have my own bullies makes me a better pediatrician. It makes me understand better what so many of my patients especially those that are neurodivergent go through. That I have my own bullies makes me a better mentor for the medical students and premedical students that dare to dream to be physicians, that though they know they have had to overcome so much to get to where they are. They have many more mountains to climb, financial barriers, prejudices about their gender, growing up in communities that they dearly love that are also burdened by pollution. It makes me a better mother, helping my daughter navigate the dicey world of junior year where some around her don’t believe in her dreams. When you try to rise, others will try to pull you down or others will try to push you down. But to my daughter and to so many that I mentor, we’ll rise up. We have to. There is no cavalry coming. There is just us. But we are a powerful force. Thank you for listening. And I feel better, and I’ll show up to work today despite the ridiculous things I have to deal with day to day sometimes in order to be a doctor.

September 14, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

Honestly you can’t make up some of this stuff!!! I called my sister and called our niece Zoe in New York. I’ve told all the details to some friends and patients, but here I can’t tell all the details because the internet is forever. But OMG, honestly life is stranger than fiction sometimes.

We had just almost finished the leaded aviation fuel project which is awaiting the Governor’s signature and then the Tijuana Sewage Hydrogen Sulfide (perhaps there was Hydrogen Cyanide) crisis happened. There was news coverage, gas masks, drones deployed, governor called, chancellor and congressionao delegations, messages to the President of Mexico, competing press conferences, mayors and board of supervisors involved, front line doctors, public health doctors, graphs, talks of swirling eddies and hot spots. But in the end, why I got involved is because I heard about the schools and children that were affected. It was Nestor Language Academy, Southwest High School, Mar Vista High School and Berry Elementary School. These are all schools that our clinic takes care of. So the entire issue hit home.

In the end, I’ll keep the details to myself. If you know me in real life, I told you my version of the story. But this is what is on public record. This is the letter we sent to the Governor of California, Board of Supervisors, San Diego Air Pollution Control District and posted all over our socials. We were told that our letter made a difference, and that at least our patients will be getting air purifiers.

And with that, I made the news for the 50th time. It was wild for sure! For now our part is done. I have to email and thank everyone! But the funniest thing I texted my niece and a few of the students is that in my mind I was thinking the entire time “Why do we need nuclear weapons when you have sewage? Countries can just build sewage treatment plants at different borders, and when they get mad at each other just stop the plants, and then Hydrogen Cyanide will just waft over to the other side.” LOL. A reason to get rid of nuclear weapons.

https://www.10news.com/news/local-news/south-bay-news/funding-for-more-air-purifiers-approved-to-help-south-bay-families-affected-by-sewage-crisis

September 7, 2024

by Dr. Plastic Picker

I feel better. I feel better just titling the blog post “It’s hot. I’m tired.” I just sent the Public Health Advisory Council San Diego email group and a included a few other doctors and medical students a plea for someone to show up on September 17 at the Vista Unified School District at 6pm to help present with one of the staff. All this work is volunteer, but the volunteers are very busy physicians like myself. I just wanted to remind them that there is some work that is important, and since we are laser focused on decarbonization – electrifying this school district is very important.

It felt very good to send the following email snippet

“One last plea for anyone who might be available to speak at Sept 17 at 6pm with Climate Actions Campaign to help Serena with the work up in Vista to help electrify.  We asked PHAC members first, but I’m including some of my AAP peds colleagues and some of our medical students who might know someone.  As long as it’s a med student, pediatrician or other physician – we can catch you up easy.

I’m asking because if no one volunteers, I will go. But I will be honest, I’m completely exhausted.  I have a PHAC OC press conference that morning (because we are doing a press release for the CAP report there which is hugely important) but the VISTA work is important too. No one in OC can physically be there yet, as I’m trying to build up the council.  And I have realized I need to figure out how to fit in a bunch of dental stuff for myself and my daughter because her wisdom teeth are coming in.  So asking for help, if anyone can do it. If not I will do it, and it will be fine. But it helps me to ask knowing that I reached out.  I’m not as good as Bruce as keeping connected with everyone, but would like to start making sure I ask because I know everyone wants to help with impactful stuff – and helping VISTA get to district electrification is fundamental decarbonbization and important.”  

I was on KPBS yesterday and the interview went well. It actually got published as an article “San Diego Unified students sweat it out in class as air conditioners malfunction” Let me update my doximity resume. Here is the link if you want to watch it. https://www.kpbs.org/news/health/2024/09/06/san-diego-unified-students-sweat-it-out-in-class-as-air-conditioners-malfunction

I’m glad I can just type stuff on this blog. I posted on Instagram and it’s true, whenever it’s time to retreat and delete the social media – I’ll be okay. I’ll always keep the blog and my personal emails. But the social media Instagram stuff, I’m not sure how much of it is real? You know? I’m tired because I have real stuff I need to catch up on. My daughter has real teeth that we already went through braces, and her wisdom teeth are starting to move. I also need to see the dentists myself. I also need to do my real taxes. I totally forgot we could paid yesterday. But I need to pay the government their substantial portion so I need to file our taxes. I started real folding and organizing our closet, and I need to move our teens ceramics from the extra dining room table we have to the upstairs game room that has a perfectly good display case already. Lots of real things that need to be done today.

Decarbonization is real work as well. So I hope one of my other PHAC and doctor friends shows up in REAL life to help do a presentation. If not, I’ll do it. But I’m hot and I’m tired because there is a heat wave. But at least I was on KPBS for it! That was COOL!