Every Wednesday and Thursday after school, senior Oliver Silver does not mind getting his hands dirty while working outdoors, as he feels his work is for a good cause. As a member of the JDS Ecosystem Restoration Club, Silver helps remove invasive species from the woods on school property and plants native species that make the ecosystem healthier. Silver is one of the club’s 12 members.
The Ecosystem Restoration Club was started by Silver and a few of his friends during their freshman year. The idea of the club was first introduced in an engineering club meeting with Upper School STEM teacher Rustom Meyer, who is the club’s adviser. Silver recalls Meyer mentioning that there were mulberry trees in the back of the school, but they were covered by invasive vines and were dying.
“[We said] ‘Let’s save the Mulberry trees,’” Silver said. “And then from there, we were like, ‘Let’s save some more trees, let’s plant our own plants,’ and it kind of went from there.”
The club doesn’t just deal with invasive species. On any given day, they could be planting native species or fruit trees for future generations to enjoy, or building erosion control structures to help slow the flow of rainwater down the hills outside school. All meetings start with members putting on gloves and goggles and watering the species they have planted, such as a pomegranate tree.
Following that, the agenda can vary. During the hour that they have, the club mainly focuses on removing the invasive vines and shrubs from the area around the school. Using a variety of saws, clips and axes, they can clear about a football field of area throughout the school year, creating a haven for native species to thrive.
Meyer defines an invasive species as “a non-native and aggressive species that takes over an ecosystem.” He says that they are important to address because invasive species can have a very large and negative impact on an ecosystem and can ruin the ability of native plants and animals to thrive.
Now, the issue has gotten so bad that the ecosystem requires human intervention. According to the National Wildlife Federation, 42% of threatened or endangered species are put at risk due to invasive species.
“We’ve passed a tipping point,” Meyer said. “A lot of people say the best thing you can do for nature is just leave it alone. We are past the point in our ecosystem where, if we left it alone, things would get better. If we leave it alone now, things will continue to get worse. So we’re actively intervening to try to make things better.”
At times, an invasive species, such as English ivy, is so aggressive that the best the club can do is “knock it back,” as Meyer puts it, or cut it down to its roots. Many years for the club have begun with this, as the work that they put in during the school year can become undone by the lack of meetings during the summer. Despite this, the club has seen significant progress since it began.
“If you’re able to spend a good 15 minutes just tearing all the vines off that tree, all these invasive species, then the next week you come back, you can see this tree is full of lively leaves, and it’s much more vibrant, and it’s just very satisfying to see how it’s improved,” club member and freshman Jack Spiegel said.
Ecosystem restoration doesn’t just happen as an after school club. Every year, the ninth grade has a Lehman Day of Service, and this year students could choose to cut down small trees in Rock Creek Park that were hosting invasive lantern flies. Members can also receive Student Service Learning hours or athletic credits by participating in the club.
According to Meyer, ecosystem restoration is one of the most effective ways to help the environment and make an impact on society.
“It’s something that I think [makes you feel] good, to have that feeling that we can make an active intervention,” he said. “We don’t need to get all the world governments to cooperate, or something else incredibly difficult like that…we could just pick up our saws after school, go out and save some trees.”
