Conservation in Catalina
Environmental science student educates Catalina Island visitors on island ecology
12:54 p.m., Oct. 16, 2015--Close to one million people visit Santa Catalina Island off the coast of California every year, according to Catalina Island’s Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau. Some of these backpackers, hikers and tourists come for a vacation; others come to learn about Catalina’s environment and natural features.
University of Delaware senior Trevor Hall, an environmental science major in the Department of Geography in the College of Earth, Ocean, and Environment (CEOE) minoring in environmental humanities and wildlife conservation, spent the summer educating these visitors as a summer naturalist with Catalina Island Conservancy in California.
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The Catalina Island Conservancy (CIC) is a leading conservation organization that protects 88 percent of Catalina Island. The CIC’s programs “protect and restore endangered species and threatened habitats.” The conservancy balances educational outreach, conservation and recreation to better serve the land of Southern California.
Hall was one of four CIC interns from across the country. As a naturalist, he worked in pairs to man the Mobile Nature Station information booth, a moveable outpost that features displays and information on Catalina’s endemic plants and animals in addition to its conservation programs.
He also gave tours and led hikes across Catalina’s diverse, natural landscape introducing patrons to Catalina’s ecology and sharing with them various features found in the information booth, like the native animal bones exhibit.
Hall also spent time in the information booth at the Wrigley Memorial and Botanical Garden, which hosts an exhibit of exotic and native florae, including 300-400 different species of exotic cacti and succulents.
“Environmental knowledge is becoming scarce; I want to use environmental and ecological education to help change that,” Hall explained. “Spreading knowledge [about the environment] is a big step toward preserving it.”
Hall discovered the CIC internship program through a job board, and after hearing positive reviews about it from a friend, he decided to apply. Now back in school, he said it’s an experience he wouldn’t trade for the world.
“This experience expanded my environmental knowledge, gave me a better understanding of Catalina’s unique island ecology and taught me new ways to educate others about environmental topics,” Hall said.
As a hike leader, Hall’s favorite hikes to lead were on a trail called “Garden to Sky.” This 2.5-mile hike traverses approximately 1,100 feet up a mountain to reveal a spectacular view of the island.
The trail exhibited a massive showcase of the beautiful native plants that grow on Catalina Island and offered Hall a chance to point out several damaging invasive species, as well. He conversed with tourists about conservation and wildlife issues in addition to sharing breathtaking views of Catalina on these tours.
Now a senior, Hall is looking ahead to graduation this spring. He aims to apply his education and experiences in graduate school for wildlife research. Ultimately, he hopes to work in environmental education, or maybe even become an interpretive ranger, someone who, through interpretation, helps visitors understand and appreciate natural parks they visit.
Hall claims he will be happy with any job title as long as he is helping in the spread of environmental awareness and enthusiasm.
About the Mobile Nature Station and Summer Naturalists
Launched in 2012, the Catalina Island Conservancy’s Mobile Nature Station contains “displays that are designed to educate, entertain and answer questions visitors may have about environmental conservation and the future of the island and the planet.”
The Catalina Island Conservancy has Summer Naturalists, who are “recent college graduates or undergraduates with a background in environmental sciences, on hand at the Mobile Nature Station to answer questions and educate visitors about the island.”
Article by Cody Harrington
Photos courtesy of Trevor Hall