In 2021, Aileen Cassinetto was named an Academy of American Poets Laureate Fellow. The fellowship will support the work of a cohort of twenty youth eco-poets selected in collaboration with local librarians and teachers. The eco-poets will participate in a series of workshops led by Cassinetto and field trips to deepen their understanding of San Mateo County's ecology, and to allow them to express the intricate, layered connections between nature, culture, and people through poetry. Cassinetto also plans to collaborate with the College of San Mateo’s film and digital media departments to document the project. The footage will be used in a short poetry docu-film featuring the youth eco-poets’ experiences as they craft their poems. The film will be distributed to the county’s school districts and libraries, as well as the U.N.’s Youth Advisory Group on Climate Change, and will be shown at the College of San Mateo’s twelfth Asian American Film Festival and the Youth Ecopoetry Exhibit at the San Mateo County Fair.