Earth Systems Science, Inc.

Fall 2004 Habitat Steward™ Volunteer Training

Nov 28, 2004

The second Habitat Steward?™ Volunteer Training in Los Angeles was conducted through the sponsorship of the Baldwin Hills Conservancy (BHC). A total of 32 trainees were enrolled with 27 completed certifications.

Wendy Talaro (BHC) served as the host for the workshops. Wendy was certified as an NWF Habitat Steward in the Spring 2004 training workshops conducted by Earth Systems Science, Inc. She invited ESSI to work with BHC to sponsor the Fall training. (ESSI) coordinated and conducted the NWF workshop. The ESSI team consisted of Alex Arboleda, Garry George, Cynthia Guthrie Gregory & Saifon Lee, Patrick McCulluogh, Erika Rodriguez, and Stephany Payne.

The curriculum was adapted to the special needs of the BHC and resulted in 179 service hours in the Baldwin Hills through the course of the workshop practicum sessions. The workshops involved a survey of the Native Plant Walk project site in Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area (KHSRA) and a partial trail survey as well as planting about 30 native plants along the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook Trail.

The training consisted of 4 workshops on consecutive Saturdays, 6 hours each. The workshops are conducted in morning classroom sessions and afternoon hands-on field practice. The training locations were: EcoAcademy, Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook, Kenneth Hahn SRA, and the Jim Gillian Recreation Center.

The trainees consisted of students from Pasadena City College (Justin Stratton Braun, Gina Brown, Kimberly Casillas, Elizabeth Chan, Robert Cong, Cathelean Coreas, Hermine Galstyan, Kristine Gloria, Teri Lai, Jonathan Lee, Chris Markos, Mauricio Melara, Cai Nghiem, Brian O?’Reilly, Wayne Pao, Jaklin M Romine, Hui Feng Su, Dominic Varona, Lili Wei, Winter Williams, Yancy Yap, Huihui Yuan), the Los Angeles Conservation Corps?’ Ecoacademy (Irma Aburto, Mimi Hong, Shallette Jamerson, Meshel Mariscal), and a few community individuals (Arcelia Gutierrez, Clifford Neuman, Melissa (Missy)Reyes).

Winter Williams applied for and received a paid internship position on the Native Plant Walk Project on Kenneth Hahn SRA led by Garry George.

For many of the trainees, this was their first visit to the Baldwin Hills area. ?“I live in LA and I never heard of this park before!?” Many could not believe such a green spot existed in the city of Los Angeles. They were surprised by the park, and many vowed to return.

[Note: PCC Geography students Brian O?’Reilly, Lili Wei, and Huihui Yuan organized other classmates to continue the Scenic Overlook trail survey resulting in more than 60 additional service hours in the Baldwin Hills. On Dec 5 (see the ESSI calendar on this website), more PCC Geography student volunteers will join a combined BHC-ESSI effort to plant more native plants along the Scenic Overlook Trail and to weed around the plants put into the ground during the Habitat Steward Volunteer training workshops.]