Forestry Challenge Championship 2024
I finished my final Forestry Challenge as a student with my second team! We had so much fun! we may not have won (tied for 14th), but we learned a lot about building and maintaining fuel breaks. These breaks are absolutely necessary for the health of our cities and frorests, so learning about them is crucial.
2023 Benicia Herald Article
The Benicia Herald featured us again!
The article reads as Follows:
Students from Benicia High School participate in 2023 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge
LOMA MAR -- 10 students from Benicia High School participated recently in the 2023 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge, one group of a total of 112 high school students from 16 schools from the Bay Area and central California. The event was October 11 to 14 at Redwood Glen, near Loma Mar, California. One of the highlights for the students this year was to learn about hardwoods forest restoration. Students measured the volume of Douglas-fir trees that will be removed to allow hardwood species to thrive and reccomended options for the use of the harvested trees. During the Challenge, teams also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills. "I love seeing kids who normally don't work together being able to interact with each other. Outside of a school setting, it's nice to see them bond at Forestry Challenge," said Benicia High School teacher Emily Hudson. Jack Beatson a junior at Benicia, summed it up as follows: "Working in the forest has been more fun than I expected, and although I didn't know the people in my group initially, I was glad to able to bond with them through Forestry Challenge."
Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge 2023
I came back to the Forestry Challenge again for my senior year, this time with a different team! We studied maintaining important habitat features whilst clearing out an overcrowded forest. In the end we won 5th place, but the fun we had and what we learned was far more important.
Vallejo Times Herald Article
Solano County Students Learn About Biomonitoring
My AP Environmental Science class was featured in the Vallejo Times Herald for out stream biomonitoring feild trip. It was such a priviledge to learn about stream ecosystems in person on this trip.
Forestry Challenge Championship 2024
My team made it to the Forestry Challenge Championships! We were unprepared, but we had fun and even placed at 9th. We discussed clearing a forest for protection from fire and disease while still protecting the habitat it creates.
2022 Benicia Herald Article
We were featured in the Benicia Herald!
The article reads as Follows:
Students from Benicia and Liberty High Schools participate in 2022 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge
LOMA MAR -- 10 students from Benicia High School and five students from Liberty participated recently in the 2022 Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge, one group of a total of 112 high school students from 18 schools from the costal and central regions of Calif. The event was Oct. 12 to 15 at Redwood Glen Camp, in Loma Mar. One of the highlights for the students this year was to opportunity to conduct a forest inventory and post-treatment evaluation on the Camp Butano Forest Health Project, a 44-acre project designed to enhance and restore a forest system challenged by lack of fire and changing climates with many homes in close proximity to camp borders. "I love seeing my students working together outside on a real life project," said Benicia teacher Emily Hudson. Lucy Albecht, a senior at Benicia, summed it up as follows: "Forestry helped me determine that I would like to go into Natural Resources." Students use dthe data they collected to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment and predict stand conditions into the future. "We sent a team of students and two teachers to the Forestry Challenge located in the Santa Cruz mountains. It was an amazing experience,"said Liberty High School Principal Kiberly Lewis. During the Challenge, teams of students also completed a field test to assess their technical forestry knowledgge and data collecting skills. "I found our students gained a great deal of knowledge about forestry and about themselves. It was a great experience," said Liberty teacher Chad Pound. Z Chavez, a senior at Liberty, summed it up as follows: "I felt it was beneficial to those who are interested but there were some complications."
Santa Cruz Forestry Challenge 2023
My first ever Forestry Challenge was such a treat. I truly found a place I felt at home working outdoors with a wonderfully kind and smart team. There was so much to be learned, but we focused on assessing how a forest was recuperating from buring down and then being cleared a few years prior.
Phenology Internship
During the Spring and Summer of 2021 I worked at the John Muirn National Historic Site as a volunteer collecting Phenology data for scientists to analyze. Phenology is the study of how the changing season affects the organisms in a certain area. My job was to work with a partner to take notes on native and non-native plants, as well as woodpeckers, to see what they did at different times of year.