Submitted by Cassie Rogers
Beginning in Fall of 2018, the Surfrider Foundation Club of Cal State Channel Islands has been revamped by a group of like-minded individuals with a common goal: communicate the importance of sustainability using science and community engagement. Led by club president Cassie Rogers, vice presidents Alissa Goldberg and Joshua Alessi, and treasurer Chase Baker, the club’s ultimate goal is to establish a new legacy of sustainability on campus. Thanks to collaboration from CI Audubon club president Kaitlyn Odea, 4Ocean Club president Bri Occhino, and Green Generation Club officer Monica James, we have increased our event attendance dramatically compared to doing separate club events. This spring, the club has five main objectives:
- Continuing on the campus-wide plastic straw ban, propose a new petition to pursued on-campus dining facilities to offer incentives for students bringing their own reusable foodware
- Integrate a beach survey workshop based off the NOAA Marine Debris protocol into monthly beach clean ups to educate and engage volunteers on the science behind quantifying and measuring marine debris
- Establish monthly, collaborative events with other CSUCI clubs focused on clean ups, habitat restoration, fundraisers, donation collections, and more
- Establish the first Committee of Environmental Sustainability composed of any and all clubs on campus who share the same mission of enhancing the CI campus sustainability legacy
- Propose placement of “Hold On To Your Butt” containers in areas with high concentrations of cigarette butt pollution
Thus far, CI Surfrider has already put a number of these objectives into play. The club has brought volunteers to the Ocean Friendly Garden planting with Ventura Land Trust, two “C” street cleanups with Surfrider, and hosted a Marine Debris Workshop prior to the February cleanup with CI Audubon Club, Ventura Audubon Society, and Surfrider.
The club collaboration with the NOAA Marine Debris mainland surveys was made possible with help from Michaela Miller, the Marine Debris grant coordinator for the Northern Channel Island/Ventura County surveys on Santa Cruz Island, Santa Rosa Island, Ormond Beach, and Oxnard Shores. This program removes and quantifies marine debris while also implementing a K-12 educational component to engage the next generation of coastal stewards. We have plans to collaborate on beach cleanups with other clubs on campus such as the CI Audubon Club, CI 4Ocean Club, and Green Generation. Our largest collaborative club event will involve over 15 different clubs and organizations for “Sustainability Week” in April.
This month, the club will be attending and offering a number of events that are open to anyone both inside and outside of the university community. Below is a list of the scheduled March Events posted to the CI Surfrider Calendar. The club specific activities are in bold:
3/5/19 Ventura County Chapter General Meeting and Volunteer Social: Patagonia Building 6:30pm-8:00pm
3/7/19 CSUCI Surfrider Club General Meeting: Pizza Pi 5:30pm-6:00pm
3/9/19 NOAA Marine Debris Survey Protocol Workshop: Surfers Knoll 8:30am-9:00am (arrive at 8:15am, begins promptly at 8:30am)
3/9/19 CSUCI Surfrider Foundation Club/4Ocean Club Beach Cleanup at Surfers Knoll, Ventura 9:00am-12:00pm
3/10/19 Ventura County Chapter Surfers’ Point Stewardship Day: North End of Surfers Knoll 9:00am-12:00pm
3/10-4/1 Mascara Brush Donation Drive for Wands for Wildlife (donation box locations TBD)
3/16/18 Ventura County Chapter: Ocean Friendly Gardens Workshop 10:00am-3:00pm
3/23/19 Ventura County Chapter’s “C” Street/Surfers Point Monthly Beach Cleanup 9:00am-11:00am
Our club is always looking for new opportunities to engage with the Ventura County community. If anyone is interested on collaborating on events or education opportunities could use some more volunteer participation, please reach out to Cassie Rogers by phone or email:
Cell: (636)-484-3723
Email: cassandra.rogers324@myci.csuci.edu
For more information on the CSUCI Surfrider Foundation Club, listed below are the links to the campus club website and/or the Instagram page to stay updated on club events:
https://csuci.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/surfrider-foundation-csu-channel-islands-club
https://www.instagram.com/csuci_surfriderfoundation/ (@csuci_surfriderfoundation)
For more information on the NOAA Marine Debris Program, check out the websites below:
https://channelislandsmarinedebris.wordpress.com/
https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/removal/cultivating-santa-barbara-channel-stewards