The Environmental Careers Pathways (ECP)
The Environmental Careers Pathways (ECP) is a seven-month paid training program designed to bridge the gap between traditional park youth programs and a permanent job with a park agency. The program includes field study, classroom learning, team building, public speaking, and an overview of our region's natural and cultural resources. The program emphasizes career exploration and the development of foundational skills required of those seeking entry-level positions as Naturalists or Recreation Specialists. The course has several professional certificate programs, including Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)/ First Aid/ Automated External Defibrillator (AED), Leave No Trace, and California Naturalist. The topics covered in this training provide the Outdoor Education Apprentices with the necessary skills to pursue a park career in education and interpretation. At the end of the program, the apprentices are eligible to apply for a Naturalist position with Nature for All as well as other positions with State and Federal Park Agencies.
During this training program, Nature for All has collaborated with partners, including Nature Nexus Institute (NNI), to provide hands-on training in habitat restoration and maintenance in the Baldwin Hills Parklands.
The ECP fellows have met with NNI twice a month since December, and below are winter workdays shared by the apprentices.
2 December 2024 - Celine
Monday, December 2nd, marked the first day of our collaboration with the lovely team at Nature Nexus Institute (NNI). From further east of East LA, I began my commute from the San Gabriel Valley to a thriving, hilly park in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles. Driving up the steep slope of Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area (KHSRA), I watched many morning park-goers power up the hill, including my Supervisor, whom I happily shuttled up to the parking lot.
After parking, we joined with the other 5 members of my cohort to meet Emily Cobar. She welcomed us to the space by sharing a brief history of NNI and KHSRA at their greenhouse, and tasked us with 3 goals: construct 100 gopher cages, install plants at the restoration site, and set up irrigation. We promptly put on work gloves, picked a shady (or sunny) seat on the bench, and slowly, but surely, crafted clipped sheets of chicken wire into sack-shaped enclosures that would guard our plants.
At first, learning how to twist the wire into a stable structure was difficult. A lot of us did not think our cages were the most pleasing to look at. Nonetheless, as the morning passed, we assembled 100 functional gopher cages to our collaborative Spotify playlist, the “Wilderness Explorers.”
Then, another NNI staff member, Angela Mendia, demonstrated the different parts of an irrigation system, including the tubing, connectors, and drippers, before we loaded our plants and gopher cages into wheelbarrows and hiked 15 minutes to our restoration site. At the site, Angela walked us through the steps of planting, and we completed each step as a team. First, we dug holes using either a shovel or a pickaxe at flagged sites in the hillside. Then, we installed our plants, guarding them with the fresh gopher cages, and finally, we molded a small wall of soil around the perimeter of each plant to facilitate water collection.
It was very therapeutic working with the soil. Each of us planted along the hill independently, but we worked as a collective to restore the site with native vegetation. There was a gentle rhythm to our work, like the inner tickings of a clock, and we filled the hillside with care, completing our plantings by the afternoon. A few of us found wriggling worms in the pot soil, some of which were invasive (the jumping worm)! So, we removed the jumpers from the soil, stepped back to admire our work, and collected our tools for the trek back to the greenhouse.
We didn’t have time to complete task number 3, but we learned a lot on our first day with NNI. It was not only our first time meeting NNI, but also our first day performing habitat restoration as a team. So far, I think we make a great team, and I am excited for our future work days!
11 December 2024 - Anthony
Wednesday, December 11th, marked our second time collaborating with NNI. This time, we travelled up to the Baldwin Hills Scenic Overlook! Despite feeling tired in the morning, I drove to the Baldwin Hills, which is now pretty local ever since I moved to West Adams this past year. Driving up the steep slope, I passed by several runners and other people, including my supervisor, before reaching the parking lot and meeting up with Emily, who welcomed me with a parking pass.
While waiting for everyone to arrive, I took in the sights of the Baldwin Hills. Besides the beautiful city view, there is also a view of the Inglewood Oil field, an ever-consuming landscape of dinosaur-like oil pumpjacks in what’s basically the middle of Los Angeles. After cracking some jokes about the contaminating giants that existed just beyond the park’s borders, I joined the NNI staff, consisting of Emily Cobar, Arely Mendia Perez, and the rest of my cohort, in gathering among the Toyon, a reminder of the resilience of our native flora and fauna. Here we would get our task of the day: seed collecting.
In the cool, cloudy morning, we listened as Emily explained what to look for in collecting the Toyon berries for their seeds. While Toyon seeds are dispersed by birds, by collecting non-mouldy berries ourselves, we can assist the process by germinating some seedlings from the seeds. With our brown paper bags, we promptly began collecting Toyon berries before we eventually had to move on to collect more seeds.
Clambering down the slopes of the Baldwin Hills, we expanded our knowledge of the native flora of our city. Emily pointed out various native plants that have been returned to the hills: white sage, bladderpod, sticky monkey-flower, goldenbush, and more. We also passed by a site in the park that was actively being restored with more native vegetation, learning from Emily about the seeding of mycorrhizal fungi that would form mutualistic relationships with the native plants and exclude invasive species.
While I was being quizzed on the scientific names of various native plants, we soon arrived at some Coyote Brush. Coyote Brush is wind-dispersed, which is why the seeds are attached to balloons of fluff. Nevertheless, we also bagged many seeds before continuing our journey to grab more seeds.
Arriving at yet another patch of Toyon, we began collecting even more berries. However, this time, we encountered a group of Hemipterans, or true bugs, that were living on the plants. After grabbing some photos and posting them to iNaturalist, I confirmed my suspicion that all of the Hemipterans on the Toyon were different life stages of the same stink bug species, with both adults and nymphs, the term for baby non-complete metamorphosing insects, being found on the same branch. The insects were all Pellaea stictica, a species from Mexico that has only recently been introduced to southern California and seems to be using Toyon as a host plant.
After observing the bugs, we then walked up to the Greenhouse, a site of true beauty and many seedlings that were growing to later be planted in the park. Arely explained to us not only the work done to germinate the seedlings, but also the care needed to ensure they would not immediately be chewed up by rats. We also learned how to repot Black Walnut seedlings, making sure to add mutualistic mycorrhizal fungi as well as perlite, a white, gravely material added to the soil mix to prevent root rot. While we repotted the seedlings, Arely told us about her story, starting out working at the Greenhouse as a high schooler and eventually becoming its manager. However, not all can last forever, and we had to finish up with our day since both Arely and Emily had other events to tend to.
Today was such a fascinating day, and even writing after the fact, I think so fondly of all that had happened. I will never forget the heart-shaped interior of Black Walnut seeds, the stink bugs on the Toyon, or all of the lessons we learned today. While there is, of course, more to do, I am really liking my cohort and the people at Nature Nexus Institute!
18 December 2025 - Christian
The best way to learn… Is to teach!
Me and my team, a group of friends really, had already been coming to help with efforts at Nature Nexus Institute (NNI) for a couple of weeks, but we were delighted to be joined by new members on this day. At least they were new to me and it was a pleasure to meet them. Unfortunately for my social anxiety, I was asked to give a short lesson on what we had set out to do that day: repotting plants. Transferring small sprouts from tiny pots into one-gallon pots, full of new soil and other nutrients to help the plants survive.
We arrived like any other day, set our supplies down, and after a few jokes, got right to work. We were already familiar with the process, and as Emily was beginning to explain it to the pair that had joined us, she paused suddenly and turned to us, deciding one of us should display our fortitude of knowledge. I’m not exactly sure how I happened to be the one chosen, or maybe since I was still waking up and in a dream state, I volunteered. It was very early morning, 10 am maybe, but it was time to put what I knew to the test.
First, we grab a clean one-gallon pot, the pot must be clean to avoid spreading any diseases among the plants, devastating our efforts. Then, we grab a handful or two of potting mix. A mix of fertilizer, garden soil, and potting soil, I believe. We firmly pack it into the bottom of the pot to make sure any water draining does not completely strip the soil of its nutrients. Once the soil is packed about an inch, we fill the rest of the pot with our mixture until we have enough room to fit the sprouting plants where the top of the soil is slightly under the rim of the new, bigger pot.
This next step is always the one that makes me the most nervous, but I've been told it's because I overthink too much. To get the small plants out of their old pots and into the new ones, it's important to massage the sides of the pot, sometimes squishing the pot from side to side so that the soil can loosen from the walls and we can have the plant come out with its roots still intact. You hold the plant gently with one hand, flip it over, and if you're lucky, it will simply come out as soon as it's upside down. I'm often not as lucky, and if you share my luck, then there's really nothing to worry about; we just try and try again, massaging the sides until the plant decides it wants to come out. Usually by the second or third try, I have the plant gently in my hands and already moving into the new pot we had prepared earlier.
From here, we continue to support the plant with one hand while filling in the gaps with new soil until the plant has enough support, and you can let go. To make sure it has enough support needed to make it on its own, we pack the surrounding soil gently, making sure not to push so hard that we damage the roots now concealed beneath the surface. This is done to make sure that when we water the plant for the first time in its new home, the topsoil does not compress on its own, exposing the roots we worked so hard to protect. If needed, we can add some more soil until it's flat and sitting just below the edge, remembering to compress gently.
Finally, to finish the process, we add a pinch of fungus. Perhaps not what one would normally have in mind. This is a special fungus that creates a symbiotic relationship with the plant's root system and protects it from being susceptible to plant diseases. To be more accurate, we sprinkle the spores of this fungus on top of the soil. Since the spores are so microscopic, they usually come mixed with other substances resembling cat litter, so that they can quickly absorb moisture and begin growing alongside our plant.
We had also decided to add gopher cages over the pots to protect the plant. Though these cages are normally put underneath the plant when it's put in the ground to protect the roots from gophers, we were asked to put them over our plants. A funny sight to see our sprouts put behind bars. The intention of this is to protect our growing plants from being eaten or nibbled on by the local wildlife, rats, or perhaps a gopher or bird searching for a snack.
And so, I finished giving this detailed explanation, and our eventful day at the Nature Nexus Institute continued. I hadn't felt as confident in my abilities before I started as much as I did when I finished talking, so I suppose what they say is true: the best way to learn is to teach.
City Nature Challenge 2025
Meet the apprentices this Monday, April 28th, at Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area for the 10th year of the City Nature Challenge.
They will be leading a BioBlitz (biological inventory of a space) from 10 am to 12 pm.
RSVP Below!
BioBlitz for the City Nature Challenge — Nature Nexus Institute
Read more about the ECP apprentices here: Meet Nature for All’s Second Outdoor Education Apprentices – Nature for All