Restoration Induction

Greetings fellow environmentalists!
My name is Larisa and I'm going to be using this blog to detail my foray into the effort to restore Strawberry Creek at UC Berkeley to its original, undisturbed form- one free from any invasive species that choke off biodiversity and reduce the native plants' ability to thrive. Although a thick mat of ivy often gives the illusion of prosperity, last week taught me that not only does it choke off the native flora but also diminishes the local fauna since numerous species live in an mutually interdependent way that is extremely threatened by the disappearance of one of its constituents.
The several hour long restoration project was a battle against invasive species and the onset of physical exhaustion if you pulled the invasives out incorrectly (there is a reason that squatting low to the ground and pulling with our entire bodies was the way to go, a fact that I quickly discovered). The beginning of our session sported safety demonstrations and a bit of the history of the area as presented by Time Pine (the staff adviser for the Strawberry Creek Restoration Program) but also incorporated lighthearted jokes as we listened in on the wise advice to aim any sharp tools we would be using away from ourselves as well as any offending digits. It was a privilege to hear the advice and trials of those who had worked on the project before us, and I managed to widen my knowledge of the myriad of forms that knowledge takes as our facilitator rocketed off the Latin names of all of the species that we were out to protect (including Heteromeles arbutifolia and Umbellularia california). We also were personally assured of the presence of life in the Creek itself since we saw several pointer crayfish scrambling amongst the rocks at the bottom of the creek. I had realized that restricting oneself to interaction with the stereotypically "intellectual/difficult" majors had limited my views and I was glad to have gained the knowledge that nomenclature, among many other details associated with protecting the environment, were not easy systems to commit to memory or understand. With this newfound knowledge I trekked onwards, my clothes a little dirtier, my shoes a little scruffier but my mind a little sharper.
But why limit myself to just restoration events? Mayhaps the nursery awaits me this week as well? Only time will tell. Until next week!