We’re in the countdown! Just this week we completed our second major shift with EcoLogic, which means we’ve finished clearing the entire meadow, removing as much dead wood and invasive species as possible, and planting more pollinator-friendly flowering plants with the assistance of another business. The weather wasn’t very good, but we were favored because it didn’t start raining until the end of our shift (2pm). We were lucky to get all our work done before then!

For winding down, I think we need to start by reviewing everything we’ve done so far. Prior to the EcoLogic workday, we had been doing plant surveys in the meadows of Blue Heron, trying to find some invasive species and plants that are beneficial to pollinators. We have a long list of plants, including their names, species, characteristics, and the pollinators they are particularly attractive to. Then, on our first big workday with EcoLogic, we worked our way along the meadow area removing a number of invasive species including honeysuckle, bittersweet, English ivy and many more. We also mowed some blackberries to keep them under control and not get thorns everywhere. After that, we gave an oral presentation of our progress at GSURC, showing the audience the concept of regeneration and how to take it from a nature preserve into their own backyards. We also cleared a small lawn, used it to measure carbon fixation in the meadow, and planted many new flowers there. On the second EcoLogic workday, we took the plunge and removed invasive species and dead plants from the meadow.

What I find most surprising about this unforgettable work experience is how much I have changed myself. As a student studying microbiology in the lab, I knew very little about botany in the field. When I first arrived in the meadow, all I could think was that everything around me was green, and I was completely unable to distinguish which species they were. But Kevin and Chelsea at Blue Heron and the experts at Ecologic did a lot of training, teaching me techniques for distinguishing between native and invasive species. Now, I can easily pinpoint an invasive species from a large patch of weeds and pull it out. I was really surprised at how much I had changed in such a short period of time. I feel that I look at a lawn with a completely different perspective now than I did before: with everyone’s teaching, I see things I couldn’t see before. I really learned a lot from service learning.

Most of the work we’ve done at Blue Heron has been related to the concept of regeneration and the various plants, so we plan to follow through with that in the final project as well. We intend to continue to enrich our oral presentation at GSURC, add to what we’ve done since, and posterize our plant list into a garden guide for everyone. I know some of my classmates who are also at Honors College who are interested in nature, and I think I would recommend this class to them, or have them check out Blue Heron for themselves. I also have some classmates who love birds, and I think I would introduce Wild Nest Bird Rehab to them as well, even though I’ve never been! Lastly, I think if I had the chance, I’d definitely go back to Blue Heron from time to time to see how the lawn is doing. And, an urban garden has to be tended by someone on a regular basis. I think I’d be happy to help out again in the future if I have another big work day!

Hey everyone! As Vic and I approach the final phases of this project, it’s been great seeing the ideas that we started with really starting to get fleshed out, especially as we’ve been meeting with Concrete Jungle and aligning our products with their vision. Whether it be our farmer portfolio or Instagram, things have been going well, and I love the direction that we’re heading in.

In my last post, I talked a lot about the social media side of things and how we were figuring out how we wanted to target things towards our intended audience. Between Vic and I’s personal meetings, as well as a recent meeting we had with our supervisors at C.J discussing the progress we’ve made with our projects, we have a clearer vision in terms of where we want to go and how we want to set up these first few posts. A big help was getting an idea of what style of posts they want to see posted, in addition to getting some positive reinforcement with the ideas and calendar plan we talked through with them.

In Vic’s last post, she touched on our scripts and the prep we were doing for cold-calling farmers, and I’m proud to say that we’re starting to lean into that. Not only have our contacts been clarified, but we have all the necessary information we need to start pushing forward with interviews, as well as our actual portfolio database.

Reflecting on the whole experience so far, I’d say the only point of contention was perhaps waiting for details to be confirmed, which is to be expected. There’s a process for everything, but an initial worry was definitely getting access to the company Canva and fine-tuning the existing farmer database. It is really great that the ball is really rolling now, though. As things are wrapping up, it’ll be great to get our final projects wrapped up with C.J and start prepping for our final presentation.

The biggest highlight of this experience has honestly been the creative liberty we’ve been given with these projects. To be able to create something existing that will help Concrete Jungle with its initiatives has honestly been challenging, but has also opened the door to so many possibilities we never expected going into this project. It’s been an honor, and hoping to finish things out strong!

Since my last post, I’ve continued working on the Oral History Project at WAWA and have now scanned and cataloged hundreds of photographs, with each image offering a unique perspective and a deeper understanding of the West Atlanta community. This project has become a grounding experience for me. As I spend more time on-site, I’ve come to see how much history surrounds the space and the center; and how past projects remain physically intact, while new volunteers join in to continue their legacy. The experience of this project, along with working with a range of volunteers from new members to organizational veterans, has helped me see how essential this work is for community building and stewardship in the area.

Beyond the archival work, my partner and I have also begun the canvassing portion of our project. WAWA hosts events every week or so to bring kids, youths, and community members together at the center, creating opportunities for people to connect, spend time in nature, and take part in hands-on work to care for the grounds. During these events, we are canvassing to bring attention to statewide policies that are critical to environmental justice in Georgia. One of our priorities is GA House Bill 644, which would prevent corporations with records of environmental violations from receiving permits in the state. Alongside that, we’re also raising awareness about the elections for the Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates energy, water, and the accessibility, affordability, and cleanliness of our utilities. These policies and elections directly affect vulnerable communities such as Southwest and West Atlanta, hence bringing attention to these allows communities to advocate for environmental justice in their everyday lives.

We’ve created outreach materials that both educate and call to action, with flyers, informational one-pagers, and actionable items that explain the issues and provide clear next steps for those who want to get involved. Whether that means learning more about the PSC elections or contacting a representative to support HB 644, our goal is to equip people with the knowledge and tools to take action. It’s been significant for us to work on these one-pagers and designs for flyers, as my partner and I are both interested in policy work, and this feels like working on a lobbying campaign or advocacy effort. Additionally, being able to present them directly to community members at WAWA events has been exciting, as the feedback has been extremely encouraging. We’ve begun canvassing at the Outdoor Activity Center, during WAWA events, and within our own personal and academic circles. Through these efforts, we’ve been having meaningful conversations, meeting people in the community, and informing them about the issues that affect our daily lives. These real, personal interactions have significantly increased my interest in and appreciation for grassroots outreach, as WAWA also began as a grassroots organization. Lastly, working on this project has empowered us and made us hopeful to see how connecting with others on-site and in our communities can hopefully lead to tangible change. Our work with WAWA and the project for the course has allowed us to connect on a deeper level with others who care about the same issues and are willing to advocate for their community and their state.

I’d like to save this time of checking-in for an event last week – the GSURC! At this academic feast, we talked about our work and progress so far at Blue Heron Nature Preserve and shared the idea of regeneration with the audience.

We started by introducing the audience to the idea of regeneration – why not rewilding, why not simply restoration? To explain this novel concept, I told the audience two short stories. First, while we were working in the ground, I saw a couple goldenrod seedlings. Thinking to myself that they were a non-native (maybe even invasive) species, I tried to pull them out, but was immediately stopped by a fellow ecologist. He said that as long as these goldenrods stay in harmony with other species here, then we don’t need to remove them. Another example of the opposite is the wild rose. Their pretty little white flowers look good for pollinators, but ecologists cut a lot of them off. This made me become more puzzled, but they explained that while wild roses can help pollinators, they grow so fast that they can easily become dominant and crowd out other plants. At the same time, we don’t want to leave our nature preserve trails with thorns everywhere, so we had to trim some of it to get it under control. These two stories highlight the difference between regeneration and other approaches to conservation: we don’t make it wild, we don’t return it to its original natural form, but we reshape it with our knowledge and force. We are restoring an ecosystem to a healthy or functional state through human intervention, since Blue Heron Nature Preserve is embedded in the city of Atlanta and there are always people to take care of it. We treat it as a nature preserve, but we also care for it in the same way we would a city garden. Retaining goldenrods and removing wild roses are just good examples: whether it’s a native or non-native species, if it works, we use it.

After this, we briefed the audience on what we’ve done guided by the regeneration approach. We began by identifying and removing species that were either clearly defined as invasive, or could not be naturally controlled in our meadows. As an example, there is a honeysuckle that is very threatening. It is a vine with red stems that can grow quickly. And if it’s not removed at an early stage, it can wrap itself around a tree, become incredibly thick, and then strangle the tree. There is also a kind of English Ivy that can be set in a tree and grow, sucking up nutrients from its host. So we’d better remove these species before things become irreversible. We have also measured the carbon fixation of our meadow and introduced some pollinator-friendly flowering plants such as Ironweeds, Black-eyed susans and butterweeds. Some of them even support some endangered species of bumblebees. Finally, we encouraged our audience to try this regeneration approach for themselves – after all, these work just as well in your backyard!

While not getting the award was a huge blow to us, our work is far from done. This week, we continue on our grass regeneration journey. Some of the grass that died last winter has come back with new shoots, so we cut off the dead to make room for the new sprouts. The dead branches we cut filled three wheelbarrows! After that, Deja and I checked back in on where we worked on our last EcoLogic workday. We found that most of the invasive species were already hard to find! This may indicate that our work is paying off. The downside is that English Ivy is still everywhere, so maybe next workday we’ll focus on removing them.

And – this butterfly was a chance sighting for us. It’s really pretty!

During my time in the Wild Nest Bird Rehab center, I feel more of an appreciation for the songbirds that currently coexist within the human population in urbanized areas. I would also feel a little bit of guilt when it comes to the wild songbirds attempting to accommodate to scavenge for food in more urbanized places. Additionally, I would notice more when I would walk to class, the amount of birds that would peck and eat food left by people on the roads or sidewalks instead of the bugs in and on the soil. Moreover, I began to pick up more of a habit the type of species of songbirds that tend to stay on the Georgia State University Atlanta Campus, which usually consisted of American Robins, Brown Thrashers, and Rock Pigeons. In addition, I would notice more of the number of birds that would have fatal window strikes within the Georgia State University around the campus. I would notice this more so at the Science petite building and Library North. This has been a concern for me before but volunteering with the Wild Nest Bird Rehab has made me more aware of the impacts of urbanization and a lot of buildings and businesses having the need to have more windows for the “modern” look. With this in mind, I would see how many of the birds that get turned in to the Wild Nest Birds Rehab center, that make it once while being transported to the center; However, there’s a very small chance that the bird is able to heal to get released with very little or no complications that would jeopardize their chances for survival. This would also give me a bit of emotional turmoil because the birds are simply trying to survive and usually die at higher rates from window collisions as compared to wild house cat attacks. These concerns eventually motivated me to discuss about these things with my Biology professor. In turn, he was able to provide me with connections to bring up an idea to Georgia State University’s board to discuss how to have more preventative measures of the amount of birds who would hit the glass windows of various on campus buildings to prevent the steady increasing rates of birds dying from the fatal window collisions. As of right now, my main idea is to collaborate with some Georgia State University art students to paint on the windows with certain patterns, such as circles, silhouettes of birds or insects, or other designs that could represent Georgia State, like Pounce, GSU slogans, or GSU’s logo. Overall, this would help reduce the amount of birds who would die from fatal window collisions on campus. Moreover, I like how my time at the Wild Nest Bird Rehab makes me more aware of how much of human impact has on bird species, especially in urbanized areas.

Hi everyone!

This past week was interesting, as after a long meeting with Dr. Finck and consulting with some of the members of the sustainability club and people who are involved at the Decatur campus, with their native garden, Liauna and I are planning on pivoting our project, as our original idea, while ambitious and beneficial to the university, would need much more coordination between departments, clubs, and different GSU campuses, and thus we are most likely going to pivot to a project that will directly impact the Atlanta campus, after some thoughtful feedback. Our new idea for the project will be a plan for specific buildings to transition to having all native plants, as many of the buildings, especially the admirative buildings, have many non-native plants, as the administration wants to make these buildings “look more attractive”. Our idea is to target either the greenspace, Centennial Hall, or the Petit buildings, as most of these areas are much newer than the rest of campus and boast many plants that are non-native to Georgia.

The Greenspace and Centennial Hall are our two favorite options for our new project idea, as the both have large amounts of space with non-native species and would benefit from a change from non-natives to native species. Our project would include native plant replacements for the non-native species that would have similar looks but be better for the environment.

I am excited for the rest of our service as well, as we are having a larger group tomorrow at the native garden/trail, and we hopefully will be working on removing some invasive azaleas, that are extremely large. Last week, we worked with Kelley Hanada on propagating many more plants, some of which had just re sprouted after Kelley had assumed them to be dead, and hopefully they will regrow after we replanted them.

Below is some of the plants we had propagated, sitting in planter with other plants.

The other photo is the area in-between the Petit buildings, which is a potential location for our project. This area has some non-native flowers and grasses and could benefit from more ecological variety of plant species that are native to the area, especially being around the main center of the science buildings.

Thank you, and see you next week!