By Fernando Beltran and Chase Crawford
You Otter Know (YOK):
Hey, we’re here with You Otter Know and we just want to learn more about you and what you are doing here.
Melyssa:
Yea, before I get into who I am I would like to give land acknowledgement to Esselen, Ohlone and Salinan tribes. Those were the individuals that lived here before us and they were the first environmentalists taken out from this area. My name is Melyssa Spandri, I am a senior at CSUMB, I am a Human Communications major and I am majoring in (Enstu). So for today we are hosting an invasive species cleanup day, where we are taking out a bunch of ice plants, California French Broom and Eschua. The reason why we want to remove these species is because they are not sustainable to the native insects and native animals that are living in the area. We are trying to bring back oak woodlands to this area, so behind the library we will get, hopefully, around 2,030 trees planted by the year 2030. So far there have been over 500 planted and 5 of those I helped plant. For my project along with the invasive species removal, I am also creating a documentary addressing the issue of environmentalists going to jail, going missing or even killed due to environmental protection. I think it’s important as college students to have these conversations because they often do not get talked about in public. I'm excited to be here and I'm excited that you all were able to come out and help remove some invasive plants.
YOK:
Thank you for acknowledging the tribes that had previously lived on these lands. This is important as we try to
YOK: Can you tell us about the historical context that brought these invasive species to California?
Melyssa: Yeah! So mainly for the ice plant and the french broom, they were brought here by our military. Csumb was previously a military base and the military had brought it here in hopes that it would help with stabilizing the sand erosion surrounding the military base. Unfortunately after they started planting these plants, they realized that native deer were getting poisoned, insects and birds began migrating to other places. Overall, the military was trying to do what they thought was best but that ended up resulting in thousands of acres of ice plant and french broom. As far as the Escua, that one actually sprouted this year, we actually don’t know where it came from. We know that it is not native to the area and it is mostly being migrated by birds.
YOK:
Going forward, how can we further prevent the spread of invasive plants?
Melyssa: Definitely, I think it's a matter of “if you see it, then pull it” going forward because there’s just so much. Knowing what your invasive species are on your campus, just being more mindful of that and pulling them when you see them.
YOK:
That’s so true! Now that we know more about the invasive species on campus it is important to also share that knowledge with people who do not have access to those resources and knowledge.
Melyssa: I couldn’t agree more! Not everyone is an environmental science major, we have business, communication and so many other majors that don’t focus on these issues. So, it's definitely important to share this knowledge with your friends and peers. I think students would benefit from this knowledge and would
YOK: What’s Enstu?
Melyssa: Oh that environmental studies. We aren’t doing all the sciency stuff, we are more learning about who was here before us and telling people about it.
YOK: What led you to choose “invasive plant removal” for your capstone project?
Melyssa:
Yea, actually i wrote an easy my sophomore year for environmental communications course and we were tasked with an assignment where we could write anything we were passionate about. So, I ended up noticing a lot of environmentalists go missing and that really put a reality check on what i'm doing in school. It did turn me away from environmental studies for a little bit because like , why am I doing this just to potentially be jailed or killed. So that was definitely a sort of an awakening. Since then I’ve just been really passionate about bringing awareness to more people and removing the invasive plants makes me feel like I'm honoring the tribes who were removed from this area. I also think a lot of the people who are affected by climate change don't even do most of the pollution, it's mostly companies. I think having more events like this, especially where iceplant and other invasive species are so prevalent, helps spread awareness and helps minimize invasive species spread.
YOK:
One of the things you had mentioned to us during the invasive species removal was a smothering technique that kills ice plants, can you further explain this technique?
Melyssa: Yeah! I learned that from a student named Cole, who was doing his schooling in agriculture and soil . For this project I was going around asking classmates and professors about all the information they knew about invasive species in the area. They explained that when you smother an ice plant, it deprives them of oxygen and they end up dying because of that and the combination of the weight of the ice plant on top.
YOK: Overall what have taken away from this project
Melyssa: Oh, so much! I think the biggest thing is just humbling myself in any way I can. During the pandemic I was so distraught, feeling like I just couldn't do enough. I definitely think this event is helping with my ecological depression. It’s definitely eco-therapy for me doing stuff like this and I just want other students to see that it can be fun if you want it to!
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