Earth Team’s mission is to empower urban youth to become lifelong environmental stewards through experiential education, skills development, and the building of community connections. Based in Richmond, CA, Earth Team is committed to delivering high-quality service-learning projects to regional high schools by partnering with education and environmental organizations and local government agencies.

For Earth Team interns, addressing the environmental challenges of the 21st century starts right at home. Each fall, on our ten partner campuses, we assemble teams of 12–24 students for a year-long internship focused on critical issues like climate change, watershed health, air and water quality, and biodiversity loss. The journey begins in the classroom, where students work closely with their internship coordinators to understand these environmental issues and develop curriculum priorities and community service projects tailored to their local areas. With these student-driven plans in hand, we partner with community organizations for weekend field events, including cleanups, data collection activities, community outreach, and more. Students gain valuable insights from these experiences, which they then bring back to campus to share their findings and educate their peers.

This year, as part of the eeBLUE 21st CCLC Watershed STEM Education Partnership Grant Program, Earth Team interns from four campuses will dedicate the year to exploring and engaging with their local watersheds. In the classroom, they’ll address issues like marine plastic pollution, overfishing, ocean acidification, algae blooms, riparian corridor destruction, and the effects of climate change on these fragile ecosystems. Along the way, they will gain hands-on STEM skills such as water quality testing, identifying macroinvertebrates and invasive species, and conducting litter assessments, along with insights from presentations by local experts.

With this knowledge, students will collaborate with community stakeholders to design projects that restore habitats, promote native plant survival, monitor litter trends, and raise public awareness about the importance of watershed preservation.

In Oakland, Earth Team Skyline is working with Friends of Sausal Creek to remove invasive plants, plant native species, and test water quality for contaminants like pesticides, detergents, and pet waste. Students will also conduct a research project to assess public awareness of these contaminants, creating outreach materials to emphasize the harm they cause.

In Richmond, students will work alongside the Contra Costa Resource Conservation District and the City of San Pablo on a yearlong initiative involving data collection, restoration, and cleanup activities across various city sites. Through GIS-powered litter mapping, students will track trash generation over time, providing insights to inform city policymakers about how litter migrates to creek areas.

In Pittsburg and Antioch, Earth Team interns are partnering with Friends of Marsh Creek on riparian corridor restoration projects and litter cleanups. California has lost 95% of its original riparian habitat due to development, channelization, and land conversion, so these projects engage students as frontline advocates for biodiversity in these sensitive areas.