Students and staff honor Earth Day.
Every April 22 is cause for celebration and a reminder to protect the environment, restore damaged ecosystems, and live a more sustainable life. To fight for these values, Los Medanos College celebrated Earth Day by cleaning up the nature reserve that has been neglected since the start of the pandemic. With the help of the Women in STEM club and other club groups, the nature reserve is getting back into shape.
Ricardo Black, a former teaching assistant for LMC, led the charge and gave advice to the volunteers. He gave an overview of the plants here at the nature reserve and used his knowledge to educate the volunteers on what to do. At the start of the pandemic, Black quit his post and took a position at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden.
“I was laid off because of the pandemic, so for two years nobody worked here,” Black said. “All the hard work the students put in before that was wasted.”
Black returned to LMC on Monday April 18 and began working on the nature reserve on his own. He started by picking up the rubbish that had accumulated during the first four days and managed to fill five bin bags. Earth Day marked the first volunteer event and Black is happy to see the turnout.
LMC students Anna Capperauld and Sadie Aceipuno are among the volunteers who helped with the cleanup. They were tasked with pulling out invasive plant species that hindered the growth of other plants. Aceipuno is delighted to see the garden become beautiful again.
It wasn’t just the student volunteers who helped with the cleanup, but also the dean of math and science Ryan Pedersen and even the vice president of the school board Fernando Sandoval. Sandoval enjoyed working the grounds with which he calls “the future of LMC”. Sandoval said being able to work on the nature reserve meant a lot to him, as he calls it “sacred land”.
Prior to the establishment of LMC, the land housed a U.S. Army installation by the name of Camp Stoneman. It was an important troop staging area and was exploited during World War II and the Korean War. It was developed in 1942, closed in 1954 and now houses LMC and the nature reserve.
“My dad came from Fort Ord where he did basic training,” Sandoval said. “My dad was a guitarist and played with mariachi bands to listen to the music of their youth before he was sent off to war. Many of his friends he spent time with would not return.
The transformation from a place of war preparation to a place where young people learn is a transformation that Sandoval is happy to see.
“My father would be proud to see so many people working for their future. That’s what he fought for. »
If you wanted to volunteer but are worried that you missed your only opportunity, you may still have your chance. Black wants to make every Friday a volunteer day where any club or anyone can come to the nature preserve and help out within the hours of 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. The nature reserve is a great place to connect with nature and get some fresh air and if you want to give back to mother earth you can always start there.
