Growing with Grassroots Ecology: Akira’s Story
Akira is a rising environmental professional whose journey with Grassroots Ecology began in his early teens. If we handed out badges for each of our programs, his sleeves would be full!
We first met Akira when he joined our Youth Stewards Program at McClellan Ranch Preserve during his freshman year of high school. Encouraged by his parents to volunteer, he quickly found a passion for ecological restoration. He would remain a dedicated Youth Steward throughout high school, even during the challenging years of COVID-related lockdowns.
Akira (on the left) with his Youth Stewards cohort at McClellan Ranch Preserve in 2019.
In his sophomore year, Akira took a deep dive into the tiny but fascinating world of benthic macroinvertebrates by joining our Bug Club at McClellan. Between afternoons restoring habitat and evenings identifying aquatic insects, Akira stayed busy!
What kept him coming back? “Definitely the work. It was always fun to do and to see progress,” Akira shares. He also enjoyed being outdoors and learning about plants—whether through nature walks in search of native species or weeding milk thistle and other invasive weeds.
Now a college student in Environmental Studies at San Jose State University, Akira is expanding his knowledge of the environmental field in new directions—including an environmental impact analysis class about how construction affects burrowing owls living in the baylands. He is also planning to complete a minor degree in Biology to better understand the organisms and relationships that make up our diverse ecosystems.
Last summer, Akira found himself back outside with Grassroots Ecology—this time as a Summer Naturalist Intern. Eager to gain more field experience and deepen his plant identification skills, Akira soon discovered that the internship offered much more. It exposed him to diverse habitats and restoration sites beyond McClellan Ranch, expanding his connection to new habitats and spaces.
Snapshots from Akira’s time as a summer Naturalist Intern. Left: weeding yellow starthistle at Hawthorns Preserve with fellow intern Nicholas (on the left); right: sheet mulching at Cooley Landing.
“Visiting a lot of sites in just a few weeks made the experience very dense and vivid,” he reflects. “We saw lots of different landscapes, and we got to properly understand the difference between grasslands, chaparral, oak woodland, and other ecosystems.”
By the end of the summer, Akira had walked, worked, and/or weed whipped at a dozen different sites, earning his California Naturalist certification in the process. He also honed new field research techniques, such as using quadrats for vegetation monitoring, and participated in his first BioBlitz at the Alviso Bufferlands. His blossoming plant identification skills were proving invaluable!
Another highlight of his summer internship was the human connection. Akira enjoyed getting to know other students with similar interests, and working closely with Grassroots Ecology staff members in a way that was more hands-on and personal than his experiences with most teachers and college instructors.
Monitoring water quality and aquatic macroinvertebrates—as a Youth Steward (left) and a Naturalist Intern (right).
But Akira’s journey with Grassroots Ecology was far from finished. The next feather in his Grassroots Ecology cap? Last fall, he joined our current cohort of paid Habitat Restoration Interns. Our interns and AmeriCorps placements come to us through many different pathways, and Akira’s inroad was the California Youth Leadership Corps (CYLC)—a program designed to empower individuals from diverse and nontraditional backgrounds.
“When Hannah [who runs Grassroots Ecology’s Summer Naturalist program] introduced the Habitat Restoration Internship, I was excited to get more restoration experience—especially because I already had a close relationship with McClellan. It was the perfect place for me,” Akira shared.
So, Akira found himself back at the site where his journey began—but this time with years of experience, expanded skills, and a fresh perspective. Our volunteers have benefited greatly from Akira’s wealth of stories and knowledge from his time at McClellan, which has helped them connect more deeply with the site and our work there.
Akira leading volunteers at McClellan.
What’s next for Akira in his environmental career? In the near future, he is excited to continue exploring Bay Area ecosystems beyond McClellan—and is already planning “site share” experiences helping out at other Grassroots Ecology locations. After completing his internship this summer, he is planning to spend his last year at SJSU getting more hands-on experience and knowledge in biology and environmental studies. He is especially interested in learning more about future career directions in the public and non-profit sectors.
While his journey in environmental stewardship is just taking off, we’re proud to know that it started here at McClellan Ranch Preserve with Grassroots Ecology. Thank you Akira, for all you've contributed to our community!
Akira and I exploring the Stevens Creek watershed on a team hike.
College and university students and recent graduates: you too can take a step towards a career in environmental conservation as a Summer Naturalist Intern with Grassroots Ecology. Learn more and apply today.
By Maya Nagaraj, Restoration Specialist
