A Year of Volunteering
John Carter’s story from intrigue to passion with the Amigos de Bolsa Chica
Following the loss of my younger brother to cancer in April 2022, I was compelled to take a hard look at my own life plans and goals. I truly enjoyed my work, had been fully immersed in my career to that point and expected to work a few more years. However, my wife Minh had always planned to retire in June 2022 and we were fortunate to be in a position where I could afford to retire if that was a consideration. My new plan was to prioritize my time with those I cared most about. I also decided that I wanted to volunteer, in order to give some of my time back.
As I was retiring prior to my previous plans, I hadn’t yet thought about a specific organization where I would volunteer. One of my dearest colleagues had recently lost her husband and one of the suggested recipients for any donations was the Amigos de Bolsa Chica. This must have planted a seed, because this was the first website I searched for after retiring. Within a week, Minh and I had signed up to volunteer for the FLOW (Follow to Learn about the Ocean and Wetlands) program. This appealed to me as a way to get some hands-on science time each week. My background was in Engineering, but I always enjoyed watching nature and science-related shows. The fact that this program required no experience in a science-related field, only an interest in preserving and restoring our wetlands and oceans, made it very intriguing.
Our first day, we immediately felt welcomed by the other volunteer Citizen Scientists and the FLOW Program Manager. We learned so many interesting facts about the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve (BCER), plankton, and the Amigos de Bolsa Chica that first day as we joined in collecting the water sample that we would all soon analyze. We knew little, bordering on nothing, so to have been guided and learned to use a microscope and identify one plankton species felt like a major accomplishment. Sure, it took us a few more weeks to properly pronounce “Lingulodinium”, but we now were able to recognize the microscopic phytoplankton that was primarily responsible for red tides and nighttime bioluminescence in our local ocean water! Over the next six months, we learned to identify more than 20 phytoplankton that are located in our region, including the BCER. I love volunteering for FLOW and will continue to do so. I eagerly plan my Fridays around the tide-based collection schedule.
As 2023 approached, I wanted to increase my knowledge further and give back just a little more of my time to the nonprofit and wetlands that made my transition to retirement so satisfying. The Amigos de Bolsa Chica offer a Naturalist training program in January , so I signed up and blocked out some Thursday nights (group review and discussion of bi-weekly topics on BCER History, Ecology, Plants, Birds, Fish, Endangered Species, Restoration and the potential effects of Climate Change) and some Saturday mornings for on-site tours through mid-March. I thoroughly enjoyed this course, learned so much and now get to share this information as a Naturalist with visitors to the BCER during public tours, nature hikes, and group tours for schools, Scouts, and others. You can also meet some of my great classmates, Wendy Green, Kathy Blackmarr and Tanis Gomez, who also lead Bird Walks, FLOW Field Trips and/or Public Tours, along with the many Naturalists that preceded us.
Becoming a Naturalist also opened the door to volunteer opportunities at many special events throughout the year. I had the honor to attend Earth Day events, Science Showtime, Girl Scouts Love State Parks Day, STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) events, State Park Events, where students and their families were encouraged to learn about the conservation and restoration work of the Amigos de Bolsa Chica, the BCER and view for themselves through microscopes, the unseen world of phytoplankton that are the base of wetland and oceanic food webs as well as producers of 50% of Earth’s oxygen via photosynthesis. I was also able to volunteer at Running is for the Birds, Cal Coast Snapshot, which looks to capture flora and fauna along our beautiful coast, and I joined the Bolsa Chica Reserve Watch.
Recently, off-season nest site restoration has started and continues through mid-February. This is a way for anyone who wants to volunteer to help clear vegetation and restore critical nesting areas for threatened Western Snowy Plovers and endangered California Least Terns. I encourage anyone interested to look into the many volunteer opportunities available through the Amigos de Bolsa Chica and at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. I can tell you from experience that you will gain much more than you give, learn a lot about yourself and the BCER and make a positive impact along the way.