By Paula White The United States has a long and rich tradition of volunteerism. It undergirds many quintessentially American institutions such as Little League, the PTA, the Red Cross, and the Peace Corps. Churches, synagogues, mosques and other faith-based institutions involve millions of people in volunteer service to the community such as visiting the sick, feeding the hungry, and helping the elderly with chores. Volunteers are the lifeblood of the non-profit sector and their work is interwoven into the fabric of our society. Why do people volunteer? According to the Corporation for …
Ebb & Flow
The Newsletter of The Watershed Project
What’s in Your Watershed: Striped Bass
By Adam Weaver, TWP Intern Experienced San Francisco Bay area fishermen will almost certainly be familiar with the striped bass (Morone saxatilis). The fish is caught year round, but summer and fall are the best times to reel in one of these Bay residents. Striped bass were introduced to the Bay from the East Coast beginning in 1879. That year, 132 small bass were released in Martinez after arriving by rail from New Jersey. A second introduction of around 300 bass took place in 1882. Within a couple of decades, the commercial net catch was over a million pounds a year! Today, the striped …
Resilient by Design: Nature Based Solutions for Our Home
By Juliana Gonzalez As we imagine a day on the Richmond Shoreline in the year 2100, we see a livable and wonderful place. Our 2100 Richmond Shoreline has been able to adapt to the rising tides. We have created a multicultural and accepting framework allowing us to build a just, equitable and connected array of neighborhoods, that have interwoven nature into their fabric. Our community and ecosystems are healthy and resilient. Over the past year, I was fortunate to take part on the Resilient by Design competition as the community liaison for the Mithun Home Team in North Richmond. We were …
School’s Out for the Summer! Wrapping Up Our School Year
By Phaela Peck, Nikki Muench, and Anne Bremer The 2017-2018 year has been “the best year yet” for The Watershed Project’s education programming according to more than one of our teacher partners. We are thrilled to be wrapping up another great school year and heading into a busy summer of taking youth outdoors! We served over 1600 students, led 25 field trips and taught lessons on topics such as climate change, sea level rise, shoreline ecosystems and green infrastructure. Our Wild Oysters program, supported through BWET funding from the National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration …
Join Our Team as an Environmental Educator!
The Watershed Project (TWP) is seeking an Environmental Educator to support our successful watershed education programs. This is a unique opportunity to gain experience teaching K-12 students both in the classroom and in the field in parks around the East Bay! Learn more about TWP’s education programs on our website here. The Environmental Educator fellow will advance our mission through teaching and inspiring the next generation of watershed stewards. Under the direction of the program staff at TWP, the fellow will provide support for our watershed education efforts, such as classroom and …
East Bay Water Supply: The Journey from the Mokelumne River to our Sinks
By Lauren Woodfill Every morning, one of the first things I do is turn on the tap and fill a glass. Clean, clear drinking water comes bubbling out in a seemingly endless supply into my glass. It is easy to turn off the tap and walk away, sipping water but not thinking about the long journey the water took to reach my home. Where does our East Bay water come from? The story begins a nearly 100 years ago and crosses nearly the full width of the state to provide water to East Bay cities in Alameda and Contra Costa Counties. Those little drops that fill our kitchen sinks begin their …
What’s in Your Watershed: Osprey
By Lauren Woodfill On trips out to Point Pinole, one of the most exciting sights can be the swoop of an osprey over the water. They have been known to nest the old pier pilings sticking out into the San Pablo Bay, and with a sharp eye and some patience, you can sometimes spot one perch on the top of the pilings. How can a bird often called a “seahawk” or a “fish hawk” not be incredible? Found on all continents except Antarctica, ospreys, Pandion haliaetus, are the second most widely distributed raptor species, after the peregrine falcon. Raptors are birds of prey, hunting small animals …
TWP’s Watershed Science Programs: Inspiring the Next Generation of Watershed Stewards
By Phaela Peck At The Watershed Project, we strive to offer high quality watershed education to K-12 students at Title 1 schools in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. One way that we do this is through emphasizing science in our programs. Science is the study of the natural world and we connect students to their local environment through the lens of observing and investigating natural phenomena. The Watershed Project programs focus on learning about locally relevant phenomena, such as: Why was there a huge die-off of Olympia oysters at our Point Pinole oyster reef between Fall 2016 and …