Edgar Carrillo (he/him) is the Grants Program Manager for the Climate Science Alliance, where he works with the people and organizations that are bringing about community-driven, nature-based solutions to climate change every day. Edgar is deeply rooted to this region; he was raised on Kumeyaay land, having been born in Tijuana and moved to San Diego at a young age. He briefly left Southern California for college, concentrating on comparative politics and environmental studies at Princeton University. Over the course of his studies, he conducted independent research on the political economy of natural disaster resilience and spent time as an intern with the environmental stewardship track of the Clinton Global Initiative. After a few years on the East Coast, Edgar returned to San Diego in 2019. Prior to joining the Climate Science Alliance, Edgar worked with a food access and education organization named FoodCorps, where he supported the organization’s fundraising efforts through philanthropic revenue administration, data management, and research. Outside of work, Edgar and his partner are raising a daughter, who as a toddler already loves cultivating wildflowers alongside her dad, and two small dogs, who manage to keep up and enjoy the family hikes in spite of their shorter legs. Edgar is active in the native plant community, regularly volunteering and attending events with the California Native Plant Society’s San Diego chapter and learning about field botany in the county on weekends. A good way to get Edgar to lose track of time is to start talking to him about any of California’s native sages and where you have observed them.