August 16, 2026

by Dr. Plastic Picker

OMG I am so tired still from yesterday’s summit. It was wildly successful with record number attendance and the sessions went flawlessly. We had to stay late to clean up, and the student leaders understandably were ready to move onto their weekends. If you know me in real life, there will be a lot of food in the lunchrooms! We overbought some Costco food. Most of the conference attendees ate the empanadas instead of the mediterranean food this year. It’s hard to know why.

There were a lot of interesting developments. More organizations want to become officially involved. Lots of those connections folks were looking for. Students were milling around having finished their projects. We moved the climate conversation with new and innovative sessions, and really talked about the idea which is not so new to veterinarians of “One Health.” We had a new logo and stickers this year. There are always little hiccups and this year toward the end because some of the student leaders were not communicating as well, there were actually a lot of hiccups. But other people and students stepped up and filled in the gaps. This is the natural ebb and flow of working in a team. I learn so much about the students through this process, and I hope serve as a positive mentor to them. In the end, as long as everyone leaves the entire process having learned something. Learned something about themselves, about others, about the climate, about microplastics. I hope that student leave with new skillsets whether it be making social media ads, postering, how to run a panel, presenting a poster, dressing up for a conference, or how to jump in a figure out how to record a session when the microphone doesn’t work.

I know yesterday was very impactful and our family did what we could for the climate movement. Yesterday was our day where we gave San Diego and the earth a big hug.

But the next 9 days! No more summit. No more climate stuff (except for one session for our HMO). It’s all about getting our kids off to college. Our oldest starts his last year at UC Berkeley! And our youngest heads off to Cambridge/Harvard in 9 days. Yes, we are going with her. And we wish everyone else during this big time – please enjoy every moment with your child and family! We get to live today which is such a blessing. And if you do something that helps the earth or that is more sustainable – than that is wonderful! Thank you to everyone who made it out to H3SD this year! There were so many lovely people there.