California Society for Ecological Restoration February 2024 |
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In this newsletter, you will find: Join SERCAL Monthly Spotlight SERCAL's New President-Elect
Renew Yourself! Salton Sea Restoration Call for Abstracts and Registration
Thank you, Sponsoring Members! Apply for a Stipend Salmon and Steelhead Restoration Here's Some Good News! WFH Poll Results Our Partner Organizations are the Best! Check Out These Job Opportunities |
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We interviewed Jeannine Ross, a member of the SERCAL leadership team and conference committee.
What is the biggest benefit of working on the SERCAL diversity committee/leadership team?
"The biggest benefit of working on the SERCAL diversity committee/leadership team is getting to spend time coordinating activities with colleagues on the team for whom I have deep respect and admiration. I enjoy working with these awesome folks towards the common goal of increasing diversity in our SERCAL membership. In particular, I think that creating activities and events geared towards young students of all backgrounds and interacting with these students at conferences have been the most satisfying parts of the work on SERCAL diversity committee. The earlier in a young person’s career that we can interest them in ecological restoration, make them feel welcomed by SERCAL, help them to see themselves finding joy in the work that we do, the more likely that they will go on to find volunteer and employment opportunities in our field. I think that this work is the truly the path to strengthening and expanding the breadth and experience of the field of ecological restoration and improving environmental justice: restoration for all!"Read the full interview here!
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Meet SERCAL's 2024 President-Elect, Lindsay Teunis! |
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Meet Lindsay Teunis, SERCAL’s new President-Elect (2024) and President (2025-2026). Lindsay is Principal Restoration Ecologist with SWCA Environmental Consultants in San Diego, CA & Fort Collins, CO. CERP #0105.
SERCAL is a wonderful organization and one that I am proud to be supporting. My goals for the next few years are to continue to elevate our organization and advance the overall goals of our members while also bringing in new faces and perspectives, in particular youth. We are at a critical crossroads for the environment, and restoration is one of the primary action-oriented solutions that we can pursue as a community. Whether it be pure restoration, mitigation, or conservation, we as an organization and community must demonstrate the highest level of quality in our work — from design, to on-the-ground technical implementation, to community engagement and public education. I hope to work with the board, our members, and the restoration industry to continue to elevate expectations and overall restoration outcomes to reverse past damage and halt future losses.
In addition to directly restoring ecosystems, we have an opportunity to reconnect people to nature and inspire future generations to not just restore but to protect our natural resources. This will require tough conversations, self-reflection, and meaningful social change. I am confident that the SERCAL board can commit to being an example by continuing our commitment to supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion with a strong focus on youth and tribal outreach and engagement. In order to affect meaningful change, we need to change ourselves as well, and I am here for that.
Some interesting trivia about you outside of restoration? I love movies, movie quotes, Marvel over DC for sure. Black Widow is the most impressive since she is just badass and keeps up with people with superpowers. And I love baseball (and my daughter’s softball). Go Padres…
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$70 Million in Federal Funding Allocated to Salton Sea Restoration |
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California has received $70 million in federal funding for restoration of the Salton Sea. The Salton Sea is one of California's most beautiful yet challenged natural environments. "The Sea is California’s largest inland water body. It’s a unique lake with very salty water, no natural outlet, and high levels of evaporation."
"The Salton Sea sits in a low-lying basin where water collected during various periods over millennia. It is a place of great importance to Native American tribes, who have inhabited these lands for thousands of years. In 1905, nearby irrigation canals burst after spring floods and water flowed into the basin for two years before the canals could be repaired. For decades, Salton Sea water levels stayed high from water running into the Sea from Imperial Valley farms. The Sea supported active communities and a bustling economy."
"This $70M is important and timely. It will be utilized to expand the Species Conservation Habitat Project, the largest ever project at Sea that inundates over 4,000 acres to limit dust emission and restore healthy habitat. The federal funding announced this week would enable the initial expansion of that project at the southern edge of the sea, to increase dust suppression and environmental habitat."
Read more here!
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Thank you, 2024 Sponsoring Members!
We greatly appreciate the support and camaraderie of the following organizations who have supported our work in 2024:
Valley Oak Sponsors
Arroyo Willow Sponsors
Sustaining Business Members Sustaining Individual Members Scott Dreher | Lisa Paterson | Emily Zefferman Our Cadre of Torchbearers for the Next Generation with the continued and generous support of Victor Schaff |
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$14 Million Allocated for Salmon and Steelhead Habitat Restoration Projects |
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The California Department of Fish and Wildlife has announced the approval of 26 projects that will receive a collective $14 million to restore and improve the conditions of freshwater habitats for salmon and steelhead fish in northern California.
"Trout Unlimited, Inc. was awarded more than $2 million for the Duffy Gulch Fish Passage Improvement Project in Mendocino County. This project will remove a railroad stream crossing along the Mendocino Railway and restore fish access to nearly three miles of high-quality spawning and rearing habitat in Duffy Gulch, a tributary to the Noyo River. The new crossing will be a 45-foot diameter steel arch that will allow fish passage and is capable of handling a 100-year flood event."
“California’s salmon continue to face the challenges of both past and present, through countless legacy impacts to fish passage and growing climate-driven threats to their seasonal cycles,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “In the face of these grim challenges, we find optimism and hope through projects like these, which will restore access to miles of river habitat and acres of floodplain, greatly improving the productivity and sustainably of fish populations.”
Read more here!
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Beavers Reintroduced for Restoration Effort In California for the First Time in 75 Years California has reintroduced beavers into the wild for the first time in nearly 75 years in order to revitalize the local ecosystem and to act as a protectant during wildfire season. The CDFW is working with the Mountain Maidu tribe of Plumas County to accomplish this.
"The state Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) said Wednesday (December 6th) it released a family of seven beavers last month at a location in the northwest part of the county known to the tribal community as Tásmam Koyóm, formerly called Humbug Valley by Euromerican settlers."
"PG&E transferred the 2,325 acres of land back to the Maidu in 2019. Two years later, the Dixie Fire ravaged much of the area."
"The beavers will join a resident beaver in the valley in the hopes of breeding a population that will re-establish the habitat and provide for many other species. Beaver restoration is seen as part of a larger effort to combat the impacts of wildfires, climate change, and drought, according to CDFW."
Read more here! |
The difference between where you’re working now and where you’d prefer to work seems pretty close, but... if you compare the totals of workplace and in the field work (how it used to be) and compare it to the totals from home and "wherever my laptop is" (how we had to negotiate work through Covid), there seems to be more weight on moving back to a more traditional work/field setting. What do you think?
If you haven’t taken the survey yet, it’s still up here! This link will show you how the conversation continues.
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Our Partner Organizations are the Best CNGA leads the popular Grasslands session at our conferences. Our organizations also offer a joint membership discount as well as discounted registrations to each other's events. Visit the California Native Grassland Association website for the latest updates!
Cal-IPC (the California Invasive Plant Council) is another important partner in restoring our native California landscapes. We offer discounts to each other's annual gatherings.
Cal-ERBA (the California Ecological Restoration Business Association) is a 501c6 organization that represents a growing sector of state businesses that specialize in delivery of high impact environmental outcomes.
California Association of Resource Conservation Districts is a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to serving as a strong advocate, technical resource, and partner to the state's 96 RCDs so that they can be Relevant, Excellent, and Visible “go-to” hubs for conservation in their communities.
The Ecological Workforce Initiative is working to meet the workforce needs of the growing ecological restoration industry by training workers for living-wage careers that support both the economic vitality of our communities and the health of our environment.The UC Davis Graduate Program on Environmental Policy and Management provides advanced training in applying environmental science to real-world environmental policy and management issues focusing on building quantitative skills for practice-oriented careers in environmental policy and management.
Members of the Society for Ecological Restoration (SER) are able to earn CERP credits towards certification through SERCAL's annual conference.
The University of Wisconsin Press offers SERCAL members discounted subscriptions to Ecological Restoration and Native Plants Journal.
Are we missing a potential partner? Let us know! |
Post a Job | Find a Job
It's easy and it's free! Find a great job or an amazing new member of your team. Here are some of the most recent jobs posted to our website:
- Conservation Project Manager - Half Moon Bay, CA. San Mateo Resource Conservation District. Application Filing Deadline: 02/12/2024.
- Tahoe-Central Sierra Initiative Coordinator - South Lake Tahoe, California. State of California. Application Filing Deadline: Open until filled but applications will be reviewed for interviews by mid-February.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate in Vegetation Ecology (m/f/d) - Oldenburg, Germany. Carl von Ossietzky, University of Oldenburg. Application Filing Deadline: 02/15/2024.
- Biological Field Technician (1381) - Blythe, CA. Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc. Application Filing Deadline: 02/15/2024.
- Forest Ecology/Botany Seasonal Crew - Southern Sierra Nevada Range. UC Davis (in collaboration with US Forest Service). Application Filing Deadline: 02/18/2024.
- Associate Biologist (1434) - Corvallis, OR; Pacific Northwest Region, US. Western EcoSystems Technology, ULC. Application Filing Deadline: 02/18/2024.
- Botany Program Manager - Weaverville, California. Trinity County Resource Conservation District. Application Filing Deadline: 02/19/2024.
- Program Coordinator - Salinas, California. Resource Conservation District of Monterey County. Application Filing Deadline: 02/23/2024.
- GeoScience Internships - National. USDA Forest Service. Application Filing Deadline: 02/28/2024.
- Native Seed Production Assistant Farm Manager - Colusa, California. River Partners. Application Filing Deadline: 02/29/2024.
- Environmental Manager (Junior/Journeyman) - El Segundo, California. Constellation Software Engineering, LLC. Application Filing Deadline: 02/29/2024.
- As-Needed Biological Field Technician - Sacramento, CA. HELIX Environmental Planning, Inc. Application Filing Deadline: 02/29/2024.
- Applied Conservation Ecologist - Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Application Filing Deadline: 02/29/2024.
- Rare Plant Technician 1 - Santa Barbara, California. Santa Barbara Botanic Garden. Application Filing Deadline: 02/29/2024.
There's even more! Find or post a job, a volunteer opportunity, or a Request for Proposals! |
Copyright © 2024, California Society for Ecological Restoration. All rights reserved.
Our email address is: info@sercal.org 515 N Desert Stra
Tucson, 85711
USA
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