LASA gathered at the Port of Los Angeles to think about the history, present, and future of the port, supply chains, labor, and the environment. We split our time between two spaces: a working terminal and a public-private ocean institute committed to innovation in science, business, and education.
First, we traveled over the Vincent Thomas Bridge onto Terminal Island. Thanks to our expert guest, Geraldine Knatz, who serves as Practice of Policy and Engineering at USC Sol Price School of Public Policy and USC Viterbi School of Engineering and formerly was the executive director of the Port of LA, we had the opportunity to visit a working terminal. HJ Yoon, Chief Commercial and Strategy Officer, welcomed us to the Yusen Terminal (YTI).
He jumped aboard the LASA bus and we drove around the property. From crane operators transferring containers off a vessel onto trucks, to the loading of an outbound train of containers, to the stacks of containers waiting to move off the 185-acre property, LASA asked detailed questions about economics, labor, and impact of Covid-19. We are so grateful to HJ who offered his thoughts about his career path, YTI, and the port more generally.
We then crossed back over the bridge to the San Pedro side of the harbor to visit Alta Sea. Geraldine serves as the chairman of the board of trustees of this space dedicated to scientific collaboration aimed at using the ocean to address, per their website – altasea.org – “the planet’s most pressing challenges, such as climate change, energy supply and global food security – and prepare today’s generation of students for future jobs in science, technology, engineering, business and the ocean.” While hosting an open house, Geraldine shared with us her story, some of the history of the port, as well as plans for blue energy innovation at Alta Sea.
We are grateful to our guests and hosts at the port and grateful to all for such a terrific LASA 2022. We look forward to gather again in January.