Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains

Placement Site Physical Address: 4505 Las Virgenes Rd. Suite 215, Calabasas, CA 91302

Calabasas, CA - City Data Information Link

Site Supervisor: Marilyn Brody French, Director of Education Mentors: Jelly Kahler, Community Engagement Manager; Alyssa Morgan, Conservation Biologist, Project Manager; Field Leaders: Isaac Yelchin, Conservation Biologist Technician, Aquatics Project Manager (yet to be hired)

Number of Corpsmembers at Site: 1

Number of Years Site has Hosted WSP Corpsmembers: 12

Service Hours:

8-hour days: 75%

10-hour days: 15%

>10-hour days: 10%

Housing Offered: No

Work Vehicle Provided: Yes

CORPSMEMBER Time Spent in Field/Office:

In the field: 75%

In the office: 25%

Corpsmember Activities:

Education & Outreach: 12%

Commuting To/From Field Sites: 12%

Data Entry: 10%

Native Planting: 10%

H2O Monitoring: 10%

Volunteer Management: 10%

Habitat Surveys: 6%

Biological Sample Analysis Lab Work: 5%

Sediment Surveys: 5%

Snorkel Surveys: 5%

Seining: 5%

Invasive Plant Removal: 1%

Hatchery Work: 1%

Post-Restoration Monitoring/Maintenance: 1%

Spawner/Redd Surveys: 1%

Water Conservation Projects: 1%

Storm Water Mitigation: 1%

E-Fishing: 1%

GIS Mapping: 1%

CRAM or RIP RAM: 0.5%

Weir Operation/Maintenance: 0.5%

DIDSON Installation/Monitoring: 0.5%

Field PIT Tagging: 0.5%

Placement Site Objectives and Organizational Needs:

The RCDSMM has been conducting research and restoration projects focused on recovering endangered Southern California Steelhead Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) since 2001. The RCDSMM is currently leading development plans to restore Topanga Lagoon (especially in the wake of recent fires) and RCDs Executive Officer is one of the leading designers behind the Wildlife Liberty (Wallis Annenberg) Crossing over the 101 Freeway. The Corpsmember placed with the RCDSMM participates in a wide variety of projects, such as on-going restoration of riparian, oak woodland, and wetland habitat, monthly snorkel, and spawner surveys, as well as assisting in a variety of studies to help understand the complexity of coastal salmonid life cycles. The Corpsmember will work with neighboring WSP Placement Site (CDFW) in Santa Barbara to learn about mark-recapture, DIDSON and instream antenna monitoring, and weir trapping. Because the RCDSMM takes a watershed approach to research, Corpsmember will also participate in annual stream surveys focused on amphibian population abundance and distribution and assist with on-going monitoring of western pond turtles. The Corpsmember will play a key role in riparian tree monitoring effort and oak riparian forest restoration. They will also lead events involving invasive species removal and community-based Stream Team events, continue upper watershed tree and turtle monitoring, perform drought and storm event monitoring, and coordinate community science projects. The combination of research, monitoring and restoration experience not only will benefit the Corpsmember but provide essential personnel to support these efforts.

For education, the WSP Corpsmember can help create and lead environmental education lessons focused on various topics including watersheds, climate change, community science as well as flora and fauna of the Santa Monica Mountains. Lessons are available to K-12 students with most lessons being taught to 3^rd to 6^th graders. They will also participate in and lead outdoor field education programs at our 3 field sites where students engage in science-based hands-on learning in nature.

Mentorship Style:

The RCD of the Santa Monica Mountains has three Mentors. Marilyn Brody French is the RCDs Director of Education and will ensure the Corpsmember is well equipped to lead the RCDs various environmental education and outdoor science-based education programs and will help foster and grow the Corpsmembers leadership and educational instructor skills. As the Conservation Biologist & Project Manager for the RCDSMM, Alyssa Morgan will be mentoring the CORPSMEMBER in all biological projects along with a connection to an extensive network of watershed professionals throughout Southern California. Jelly Kahler is the Community Engagement Manager at the RCD and will provide a holistic perspective on all RCD operations. As a past Corpsmember herself, she also brings and will emphasize a deep connection to WSP.

Marilyn asks questions and listens with intention to those she mentors and supervises. She is a fierce advocate for the Corpsmember 's serving at the RCDSMM ensuring the site is adhering to WSP protocol and working to improve site culture to ensure the safety and support of our Corpsmembers and her team of 35 educators she oversees.

Alyssa brings a supportive, hands-on, encouraging and independent attitude. She is most available to the Corpsmember and is a constant steady guide in their day to day as the majority of the CORPSMEMBER's work will be under her direction. Alyssa takes great pride in upholding a safe environment both physically and psychologically for early career biologists. This site provides quality mentorship under a wide variety of projects and exposure to many facets of resource monitoring and management, and community engagement.

Jellys mentor style will be peer-based and steeped in her diverse experience while working for the RCDSMM. As someone who has been a WSP Team Leader and Corpsmember, she is able to relate to the WSP experience and specific inner-workings of WSP as well as the associated obligations attached to representing AmeriCorps, the CCC and WSP simultaneously. She will encourage the Corpsmember to form meaningful connections with fellow WSP Corpsmembers and take advantage of the community this incredible organization is capable of building. Jelly plans to support the individual goals of each Corpsmember. She has the privilege of mentoring and will support them in a way that informs and advances their career and personal growth.

Unique Characteristics of Placement Site:

RCDSMM is a unique Placement Site because the Corpsmember does not have a site partner. However, this is not necessarily a problem, as they are involved in numerous projects very quickly alongside a multitude of young career scientists and can therefore grow within our community as well as independently as an individual. With multiple grants occurring simultaneously, the Corpsmember will gain experience in a breadth of topics including direct fisheries work, tree surveys, stream surveys, and riparian habitat mapping. There are opportunities to publish peer-reviewed papers because of the work the Corpsmember will be involved in, which offers a great steppingstone to apply to graduate school. The jurisdiction of the Santa Monica Mountains is quite large, and there are many opportunities to attend interesting management meetings. The combination of urban and wildland areas in such proximity helps develop an understanding of land use planning and avoid anthropogenic impacts on wildlife.

The southern region also has a unique situation when it comes to climate, where several local creeks will dry in sections or entirely by the end of the summer. Lagoons are connected to the ocean for short periods of time, and there are few anadromous fish coming into the system. This means that it is very busy during the short rainy season, and the Corpsmember will get to experience the monitoring of several lagoons at the RCDSMM. This site also has a several-decades-old education department that reaches several thousand schools throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties, making this a unique opportunity for Corpsmember 's to engage with the community and build a strong skill set in science communication and community engagement.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities Desired in CORPSMEMBER:

Desire to engage with community members including students

Ability/desire to work 1-2 weekend days a month