8-hour days: 90%
10-hour days: 5%
>10-hour days: 5%
In the field: 70%
In the office: 30%
Native Planting: 15%
Post-Restoration Monitoring/Maintenance: 15%
Invasive Plant Removal: 15%
H2O Monitoring: 15%
Habitat Surveys: 5%
CRAM or RipRAM: 5%
Education & Outreach: 9%
Data Entry: 5%
Volunteer Management: 10%
Commuting To/From Field Sites: 10%
Seining: 5%
CCWG’s mission is “To coordinate the advancement of wetland science and management on the Central Coast.” CCWG has programs focused on climate change planning, habitat restoration, water quality monitoring/management, wetland assessment and regional water planning. The CMs’ service with CCWG will focus on wetland habitat and water quality monitoring, as well as data entry/analysis to support their wetland monitoring efforts. The monitoring data collection and assessment will include a mixture of watershed monitoring supporting the installation of treatment wetlands in agricultural landscapes to enhance water quality in local streams and estuary habitat monitoring for the Marine Protected Area Monitoring Program across 5 to 7 estuaries on the central coast. These monitoring efforts will aid local organizations in understanding where estuarine and watershed riparian habitat needs restoration, where regulatory action may be needed to restore it to health, and where it is most important to protect. CMs will participate in multiple field trainings during their time with CCWG (CRAM, Riparian RAM).
CCWG has a growing list of restoration sites in collaboration with its partner organization, Coastal Conservation and Research (CC&R). The sites benefit from ongoing planting, weeding, assessment, and outreach activities with the community. CMs will significantly increase CCWG’s reach in the Lower Salinas Watershed and expand the capacity of the organizations to conduct watershed monitoring, wetland restoration, and related community outreach, education, and engagement.
The mentorship will be split between the staff of CCWG in Moss Landing. In general, Mentors at this site start the term with a “prescribing style” where instructions are offered on how to handle problems, which then morphs into an “advisory style” where suggestions and alternatives are given but lets the CMs make the decision. As the year progresses, this transitions into more of an “active listening style” where space is given to the mentees to develop their own path. All along, Mentors try to be as cooperative as possible, striving for a joint vision of what their time with CCWG can be, involving them in selecting preferred projects, problem-solving, and giving space for their opinion.
This site is an academically stimulating environment, a beautiful location, and provides the opportunity to work with people who are passionate about protecting, restoring, and assessing the wetlands around us. The projects provide a balance of educational opportunities (including field skills, database use, and GIS applications), habitat restoration, and community outreach. Moss Landing Marine Laboratories (MLML) administers the Master of Science in marine science for California State Universities in central and northern California. The institution is perched on the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Moss Landing, California, and houses a diverse array of researchers, faculty and students studying the marine, estuarine and wetland environments of Central and Northern Coast. CCWG is an affiliate research group at MLML, established in 2006, focused on the study, preservation, and restoration of Central Coast wetlands. CCWG works closely with regional partners who have active programs spread throughout the Central Coast, including the local RCD, California Marine Sanctuary Foundation, Elkhorn Slough Foundation, and CC&R.
GIS and database experience
Native plant identificaiton
Well organized and independent
Interest in monitoring wetlands using a diverse toolset
Interest in broad and varied experiences in watershed restoration within both urban and agricultural watersheds