13 Jan Rodeo Gully Grindset

Hello wonderful consumers of this blog – I hope you enjoy this collection of photos and words that embody my experience so far as an aquatic ecology intern and human being living and working at Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Photos taken on traditional unceded lands of the Miwok, Ohlone, and Traditionally Associated Tribes of Yosemite.

Work highlights | This month, much of my time was spent working on a wetland restoration project in the Rodeo Beach area of the park – hence the title of this blog post. At this point in time, restoring the land to its original wetland status primarily involved raking mulch, shoveling dirt, hammering stakes into anti-erosion fabric, and a variety of other physically engaging activities. We collaborated with the NPS roads crew for heavy equipment operation and received help from other folks in the natural resources department like the habitat restoration team and my fellow water-focused intern, Maya. A fun related project I’ve been involved with is helping rear native plants at the native plant nursery that will be planted throughout the restoration site. Moving on to wetter activities, Maya, Darren (my supervisor), and I have been spending time out at Redwood Creek collecting stream and weather data from sensors, tracking reintroduced western pond turtles, and measuring streambed characteristics like sediment size that are proxies for understanding erosion and habitat quality. The final set of photos are from intertidal biodiversity surveys conducted on Alcatraz Island – I particularly enjoy these photos because they emphasize the urban nature of Golden Gate. This project is also a cool collaboration between the park service, local universities, volunteers, and environmental consultants.

Field finds | Here are some cool organisms found by myself and coworkers.

Work-life balance | Here are some photos of myself and others having fun because work-life balance matters!!

That’s it for now, folks. See you next month!