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The eighth and final Faculty Pub Night of the 2026-27 season features Gregory Ruzzin (School of Film and Television) and Eric Strauss (Seaver College of Science and Engineering). They will discuss their recent film collaboration, "Rooted in Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden."

About Faculty Pub Night

Students, staff, faculty, alumni, and members of the public are all invited to the 2026-27 series of Faculty Pub Night at the William H. Hannon Library. Eight LMU professors are selected annually to discuss their latest publication or project in a comfortable setting and format that welcomes diverse perspectives for an inclusive conversation aimed to educate the entire community. All Faculty Pub Nights are free and open to the public.

About the Authors' Work

What is possible when art and science come together? One of the many challenges scientists face in talking about the climate crisis and the rapid exploitation of the Earth is that their message often comes across as apocalyptic and alarming - and let’s be honest, that can be hard to engage with.

In their film Rooted in Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden, Gregory Ruzzin and Eric Strauss take a different approach. By sharing the story of Susan Gottlieb and the extraordinary garden that she started in her back yard 33 years ago, their film reveals the power of native plants to combat climate change and species decline around the globe while simultaneously reveling in the beauty of the natural world. The story is shared through Susan’s perspective and grounded in a sense of wonder and gratitude.

Over her 30-plus years of dedication and perseverance, Susan’s garden has become a living example of positive physical and cultural change - a reminder of the good work that people are capable of. Her garden’s impact has spread to institutions across Los Angeles, inspired similar efforts in neighborhoods with a wide range of socioeconomic realities, and proven that everyone can play a role in protecting our planet.

Eric and Greg believe science is most powerful when it is accessible to everyone and invites participation. Tonight’s presentation will include excerpts from the film, and they encourage you to join the conversation and see yourself as a stakeholder in the future of our climate. Attendees will be provided a free link to watch the film following the evening’s event.

About the Authors

Gregory Ruzzin is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and educator who teaches courses in fiction and documentary directing at LMU’s School of Film and Television. His recently completed film “Rooted in Change: The Story of the Gottlieb Native Garden” was made in cooperation with the LMU Center for Urban Resilience and the Gottlieb Native Garden Foundation. In 2022 Ruzzin was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship for “SMALL WORLD THIS: Cycling, Climate Change, and Japan”, which explores the relationships between energy, cycling, and the natural environment. He produced 13 short films while in Japan and is currently editing a longer-form project filmed in Japan in 2022/23. His film “St. Declan’s and THE MAGIC CHAIR” (2024), made with and about the children of a unique Jesuit school for children with disabilities in Dublin, Ireland, was released by Indie Rights Films in 2024 and awarded the Best Children’s Film award at the 2023 Helsinki Educational Film Festival International.

Helping his younger sister Alyssa, who lives with epilepsy and a developmental disability, tell her story in their documentary feature film “Lost Child?” (2012) marked a turning point in his career, luring Ruzzin from fiction into non-fiction storytelling.  A committed cyclist and bike commuter in a city known for its car-centric culture, he can often be found with his camera and his bike, meditating over the miles. 

Eric Strauss has served since 2010 as President's Professor of Biology at Loyola Marymount University and executive director of the LMU Center for Urban Resilience (CURes). With collaborative research specialties in animal behavior, human/animal conflict, urban ecosystems and science education, Strauss has extended the model for faculty scholarship by co-founding the Urban Ecology Institute in Boston while he was a faculty member at Boston College and CURes in LA, both of which provide educational, research and restoration programs to under-served neighborhoods and their residents.

In addition, Strauss is the founding editor of a web-based peer-reviewed journal, Cities and the Environment, which is. His research includes collaborative long-term studies of coyotes, ecosystem restoration projects in Ojai, Ca and studies of recreational beach usage of the Oceano dunes in Central California. He has co-written multi-media textbooks in biology and urban ecology as well as hosting multiple video series on the life sciences and ecology. Strauss received his BS in mass communication from Emerson College and Ph.D. in biology from Tufts University in 1990.

About the William H. Hannon Library

The William H. Hannon Library fosters excellence in academic achievement through an array of distinctive services that enable learners to feed their curiosity, experience new worlds, develop their ideas, inform their decision-making, and inspire others. More information can be found at http://library.lmu.edu

For more information about this event, contact the Outreach and Engagement team at the William H. Hannon library via email at library.outreach@lmu.edu or call 310-338-5234.