Home, a Rediscovering of California Through GrizzlyCorps

Serving as a Grizzly Corps Fellow has been an educational homecoming. I was born and raised in the Bay Area and have recently moved back out West after several years on the East Coast. Being back here - and working in environmental restoration -has shown me there is so much more to know about California and the communities and ecosystems I hold dear.

I am serving at Sustainable Conservation – a nonprofit focused on advancing the stewardship of California’s ecosystems and natural resources. I work on the Accelerating Restoration team – supporting their mission to increase the pace and scale of environmental restoration in California. The central focus of my fellowship is on researching and producing a paper on funding mechanisms for restoration in California to inform the team’s strategic plan. I am also supporting the team on a White Paper about Restoration in the San Joaquin-Sacramento Bay Delta. Both research papers have given me ample time to dive deep into restoration within California, and specifically the Bay Area.

Top left: Pat Maloney, from Turlock Irrigation District, speaking about their restoration work

Top right: The dogs of Christine Gemperle atop a pile of recently mulched almond trees

Bottom left: Attendees admiring the piece titled Ghosts of Sturgeons Past: Skin of Our Ancestors by Christina Bertea

Bottom right: Fog Beast Dance Company Performance 

On my second day as a Fellow, I joined Sustainable Conservation for their Climate Resilience Tour through the Central Valley. We stopped by three sites that Sustainable Conservation works with – Fairmead Community and Friends, Gemperle Orchards, and the Tuolumne River Channel Restoration site. Our first stop was Fairmead Community and Friends – where we met with community members and activists who are working to support their community as they face intense water scarcity. From there, we visited Christine Gemperle at her farm, Gemperle Orchards. We learned about groundwater recharge and her investment in innovative farming techniques like installing hedgerows and planting cover crops on her almond orchard. We finished off our tour with stops at two Tuolumne River restoration sites. Multiple project proponents – Turlock Irrigation District, Yosemite Rivers Alliance, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as other stakeholders – worked on different sections of the river to improve floodplain management and spawning habitat for salmon. We were able to even see a Fall-run Chinook from the bridge over the river! This journey across the Central Valley was eye-opening and exciting. Learning from these very different but equally passionate, adaptable, and dedicated groups was inspiring and a great way to start my fellowship with Sustainable Conservation.

Later that month, I was lucky enough to attend the San Francisco Estuary Conference. The conference brought together artists, story tellers, activists, community members, scientists, and project proponents who are all doing vital work in the Delta and the San Francisco Estuary. The conference dedicated significant time to art, storytelling, and performance. The first keynote speaker was Diandra Marizet Esparza from Intersectional Environmentalist – a group I admire and have long followed. After her talk on storytelling, attendees enjoyed an amazing and emotional dance performance from Fog Beast Dance. Downstairs in the main ballroom, there was stamp making and spotlights for local artists across several mediums. I was happily surprised by the clear commitment and investment in art and the inclusion of these diverse storytellers. It reminded me that there are so many ways to engage in the climate crisis outside of more “traditional” environmental work.

Over these first few months as a fellow, I’ve been thinking about what it means to be a student, and more importantly a friend, to the planet. As I work to complete my fellowship, my experience at both events has furthered my commitment to bring creativity, curiosity, and collaboration to my work. It is so special to get to learn from experts and community members – and I am thankful for the opportunity to hear their perspectives firsthand. I don’t take it for granted – and I am excited to keep learning and keep engaging in restoration work – especially in the Bay Area!