Addressing Community Needs through environmental stewardship

In my first year at Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, I learned so much about working at a field station in the oak woodlands/savanna. As I now enter my second year at Blue Oak Ranch Reserve, I’m anticipating exciting adventures and new experiences. With my current experience, I feel prepared to tackle the projects for the upcoming service year. Collecting seeds from Elymus elymoides during the summer for our grass seeds collection Who would have thought a dude from San Jose would get

The first thing I noticed when I moved to California was the light, how it sharpens the edges of everything, from orchard rows to mountain silhouettes, to the redwoods. The landscape feels alive in a different register: drier, more exposed, constantly reminding you of what it gives and what it withholds. For someone who grew up in Appalachia, surrounded by a different terrain, California feels both foreign and familiar. It’s a place that asks for attention; and rewards it wit

By Marielle Fehrenbacher When I began my service year in September, I had five summers of experience working in regenerative agriculture and was intimately familiar with small scale agricultural settings. However, my experience was limited to Oregon’s Willamette Valley, always focused on harvesting and processing the summer bounty. I was familiar with tomatoes in the summertime, how to prune and trellis and harvest at perfect ripeness. My memories of farming were of abundance

California’s Central Coast isn’t just golden sunsets and perfect surf. Beneath the rolling hills and coastal fog lies a hardworking...

by Brianna Brockman Wildfires in California have been a hot topic for many years across the country, but perhaps never as much so as they...

by Sarah LaFazia As I enter the 11th and final month of my service year, I look back on all the different projects, trainings, and events...

by maddy johnson Sometimes I forget to trust in the ebb and flow of things–the natural cycles and rhymes that govern the universe and our...

by kirthana pisipati One of my favorite projects of my fellowship so far has been compiling a list of native pollinator gardens in San...

by Shamik Chandrachood My most distinct memory of nature around my childhood home in Kentucky is a small preserve that was outlined by a...

by Lauren Pong Last week, I answered an unexpected call from a farmer.  “ Xiaowen* ,” Kathy began, “ when are you going to come visit my...