Hello! I’m MK, an Environmental Science major going into my junior year at UP. This summer I’ve had the opportunity to intern for Contra Costa Resource Conservation District, an organization whose goal is to facilitate conservation and stewardship of the natural resources in the Bay Area, where I’m from.
CCRCD focuses on watershed conservation and management, urban agriculture, and sustainability practices. This summer I’ve spent time focusing on each of these aspects in different ways to learn more about them and contribute to Contra Costa County in different ways. I’ve gotten the chance to attend various watershed conservation meetings, and it’s been great to meet the people who keep these different watersheds clean and healthy. Most of these people are volunteers who are involved because they’re passionate about conserving the nature around them, and many of them have been doing this for decades. I’ve learned so much from them and their experience, and they’ve given me hope by showing me how much people can care about taking care of the environment at the same time that I’ve given them hope by showing that the younger generations can and will continue the hard work that they’ve done.
I’ve also attended many work days that CCRCD hosts at local community gardens. I’ve gotten to see how each garden operates differently in order to best serve the community around it, as well as meet all of the amazing people who help keep them running. This part especially has shown me the importance of connection, as I always leave these work days full of joy and inspiration from connecting with other people. Hearing from the people who run community gardens about how much even just a few hours of work can mean so much to them and help the community makes me feel accomplished in the hard work that we do, and I always leave with new gardening advice up my sleeve and can never seem to make it out without someone insisting I take some fresh fruits or vegetables that they harvested!
The last way that I’ve helped CCRCD this summer is by researching and putting together a resource guide about how to make bird and bat boxes in the Bay Area. When going into my internship, two of my goals were to learn more about the ecology of the Bay Area as well as have something tangible at the end of my experience to look at and be able to say “I did this!”, and through this I’ve been able to accomplish both of those goals. I’ve learned so much about this place that I lived in through high school and feel good knowing that even though I’m not making the bird or bat boxes myself, there are groups that CCRCD works with who are ready to use that information that I’ve compiled to help the environment.
Overall, I feel so accomplished and have learned so much through my internship this summer through CCRCD. I’ve loved making connections and being able to make an impact, and I’ve learned that even small impacts can make important changes.