About the Redwoods Rising Apprenticeship Program
Note: The 2026 application window has now closed.
Redwoods Rising apprentice Toni Maggi-Brown surveys the forest. Photo by Eco-Ascension Research and Consulting.
Each summer, the Redwoods Rising Apprenticeship Program employs undergraduate students from College of the Redwoods and Cal Poly Humboldt to work alongside Redwood National and State Parks field staff on many different components of Redwoods Rising, including forestry, roads, watershed restoration, aquatics, botany, and ecological monitoring.
The primary goal of the Redwoods Rising Apprenticeship is twofold: to boost capacity for Redwoods Rising restoration activities, and to provide field-based career development opportunities for the next generation of natural resource professionals currently studying in Humboldt County.
This year, 14 Apprentices were hired in forestry, roads, aquatics, and ecological monitoring disciplines.
Meet the Program Leads
Dr. Lucy Kerhoulas is an Associate Professor in the Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management at Cal Poly Humboldt. She has a B.S. in Botany and an M.S. in Biology from Cal Poly Humboldt (thesis on coast redwood physiology), as well as a Ph.D. from Northern Arizona University. Her Forest Physiology Lab investigates all-things-forest-related – she enjoys exploring the natural world! Lucy is also a Councilor for Save the Redwoods League, serving on their Science and Restoration Committee. She has been involved with Redwoods Rising since its establishment in 2018 and is honored to help simultaneously facilitate professional development opportunities for students and restoration activities in Redwood National and State Parks through this Apprenticeship program.
Dr. Erin Kelly is a Professor in the Department of Forestry, Fire, and Rangeland Management at Cal Poly Humboldt, where she teaches forest policy and economics courses. Her research is centered on the human dimensions of forests, and alongside her students she has explored many topics, including the impacts of timber industry decline on rural communities, the challenges and benefits of cross-boundary collaboration in fire-prone landscapes, and the development and implementation of forest carbon markets in California. She is a Councilor for the Save the Redwoods League on the Land Protection Committee, and serves on many other boards and committees dedicated to forest and working lands conservation. She loves working with Redwoods Rising apprentices because they have the opportunity to apply their academic skills out in the field and they return from their apprenticeships full of knowledge of and love for the ecosystems they will one day steward.
About Redwoods Rising
Redwoods Rising is a collaboration among Save the Redwoods League, the National Park Service, and California State Parks that will greatly accelerate redwood forest recovery within Redwood National and State Parks and help protect their remaining old-growth groves.
Approximately 70,000 of the parks’ 120,000 acres of redwood forests (that’s two-thirds) bear the scars of decades of industrial-scale commercial logging — some of which took place as recently as the 1990s. The mission is to protect old-growth stands, restore redwood forest ecosystems, and ensure the long-term health of these lands.
