Hands On The Land

UPDATE: We were able to raise our original goal of $2,500! We have announced our stretch goal of $5,000 and hope to secure that goal during the month of February.

Hands on the Land, a student-run organization with graduate and undergraduate students from interdisciplinary backgrounds, focuses on cultivating a mindset of place-based renewal through hands-on learning. We believe working hands and minds are essential to nurturing and repairing ecosystems, and seek to cultivate this mindset through monthly trips to work with UC Davis’ McLaughlin Natural Reserve’s innovative and sustainable restoration approaches. This work will foster land literacy amongst people from all disciplinary backgrounds and build a strong community of citizens working together to thoughtfully engage in taking care of natural lands. We expect members to give what and where they can, whether it be physical labor, intellect, or a novel perspective on our surroundings. Trips to McLaughlin will actively engage members in place-based renewal and serve as a foundation for the development of creative solutions to facilitate respectful reconnection with the land. Funds will be used to enable participation and accessibility, covering logistical costs as well as providing safety equipment, tools, and opportunities for networking and community building (e.g. invited speakers, workshops, outreach to local schools in Lake County). 

By working on landscape renewal through repairing and restoring native ecosystems, preparing the land to be resilient to fire, and engaging in group activities that promote a sense of place, our work addresses large scale issues such as climate change through reimagining ecosystem functioning with small, local solutions. Utilizing community engagement and creative land management, we hope to restore functional landscapes and sustainable mindsets together.