To cap off our Eco-Apprentice story series, we wanted to feature one more member of the LEJ family. Please read on to learn a little bit about Maycee Pogue, who started at LEJ in September 2018 and finished in March 2019.
Maycee answers the five questions we like to ask.
1. What initially drew you to LEJ?
Prior to my work with LEJ, many of the positions that I held were in environmental education with a strong focus in the theoretical aspects of environmentalism. I was seeking out experiences that would develop the more practical and technical skills needed to address environmental destruction and remediation when I discovered the work that LEJ does. I really just wanted to get my hands dirty and get to know plants and the land more intimately, with the intention of unifying both facets of my interests in education and conservation.
2. What did you get out of the experience that you weren’t expecting?
I fell in love with California Native Plants! I’ve always loved plants but was drawn more to tropical plants with exotic flowers and edible plants that had medicinal value. Initially, I was a bit disappointed to discover that I would be tending to the native plants at the nursery. When I started my apprenticeship, many of the plants were in the dormant stage of their life cycle, to my uninformed eye they seemed drab and dead. When I arrived at LEJ, I mistakenly thought that I would be working in the community garden beds and I knew nothing about the local ecology. LEJ introduced me to a wealth of fascinating and magical plants and changed me into a botanical fanatic.
3. What was the most valuable thing you gained during your time here?
As a woman of color passionate about and dedicated to environmental stewardship, I’ve often felt like an outlier in this sector of work. Many of the other organizations that I’ve worked with have fallen short of representing minority communities, while LEJ makes a genuine effort to diversify the green collar workforce. LEJ expressed a dedication not only to serve historically underrepresented communities, but also to include them in informed decision-making. This empowers communities of color to feel valued and in a position to make educated and autonomous choices for their communities. LEJ made me feel a sense of belonging, pride, and competency as a brown environmentalist.
4. What are you up to now?
I’m currently working for a local landscaping company as a gardener. The company focuses on utilizing sustainable practices and replacing water intensive and ecologically invasive plants with native and organic ones.
5. Where did you go immediately following your Eco-Apprenticeship?
After completing the apprenticeship with LEJ, I attended an Ecological Horticulture apprenticeship with the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at UC Santa Cruz.
