Sustainability Pathways 2023

Field Technician, WA Department of Fish & Wildlife – Methow Wildlife Area

Environmental Studies: Emphasis in Geography, GIS certificate, ESCI minor.

While working with the WDFW, I’m testing out and providing feedback on a GIS app created for generating a trails inventory for wildlife areas across Washington. I spend most of my time tracking my GPS paths while finding and walking user-built trails to record their locations and determine their potential for sustainable use. I was drawn to sustainability work through growing up in Oregon and recognizing how recreational use on public lands has changed over time. I’m passionate about ensuring our lands can be enjoyed for generations to come while striving for minimal impact.

Sustainable Town Planning Fellow, Town of Twisp

Urban Planning and Sustainable Development

I work with the town hall of Twisp in daily activities and in improving its planning system. By working through and analyzing the existing code and comprehensive plan I can develop ways to improve its use by the public and advise how it can better fit the new environmental regulation. Sustainability work is necessary for the creation of healthy living for more people. It also has a direct effect on people's lives, which gives the work more personal meaning.

Research Assistant, Mtn.Annex

Environmental Studies: Emphasis in

Policy, Politics, and Governance, WWU

I have the honor of serving as a research assistant for Mtn.Annex, a co-working facility and co-living venture. I am primarily working on procuring grants and researching sustainability features for the new construction. I am drawn to this work in sustainability by the fascinating intersection of economics, equity, and the environment. I am excited and honored to have the opportunity to make meaningful impacts on this incredible community.

Sustainable Town Planning Fellow, Town of Winthrop

Urban Sustainability

I have the exciting opportunity to work with Winthrop’s Town Planner to revise the Town’s Comprehensive Plan to reflect the goals of the Methow Valley Climate Action Plan. Another project I am working on is suggesting alterations to the town layout in order to accommodate ADA accessibility regulations. I was drawn to sustainability work because of its impending importance and my desire to protect the incredible landscapes that I was fortunate to grow up with in western Washington. I am very grateful for the opportunity to both gain professional experience and expand my understanding of sustainability in a field of study that I love!

City Planning & Salmon Recovery Fellow, Methow Salmon Recovery Foundation and the City of Okanogan Environmental Science w/ focus in GIS & Sustainable Food Production, WWU

This summer, I'm moving forward a collaboration between MSRF and WWU SPF to create a joint field site for SPF program housing and stewardship education. I'm also creating a tree inventory and maintenance plan for Okanogan that will be used to reinvigorate community engagement with the city's street tre0e program. I'm drawn to sustainability work because I feel a responsibility towards my local and global communities to help make a more just and resilient world.

Climate Leadership Fellow, Resilient Methow

Economics and Environmental Studies

At Resilient Methow, I have been assisting with the implementation of the Methow Valley’s Community Climate Action Plan. My work has included researching effective ways to communicate progress that has been made on the plan to the public as well as investigating the viability of growing crops that are less water-intensive than alfalfa. I love the way that sustainability has the potential to bring together communities as they work to solve shared problems with the input of many perspectives.

Wildlife Field Technician, Home Range Wildlife Research

Environmental Science (Freshwater &Terrestrial Ecology Emphasis), WWU

This summer, I’m working with HRWR to study lynx-wildfire dynamics in the Okanogan mountains. I hike and bushwack out into the field a couple of days a week to mount wildlife cameras and collect data on lynx habitat. I am drawn to sustainability work because of its creative problem-solving and interdisciplinary aspects. I’m also inspired by how it’s driven by community work and grassroots organizations, especially in the Methow

Garden Assistant, Classroom in Bloom

Environmental Studies: Emphasis in Education & Eco-Social Justice

This summer I have the opportunity of working with Classroom in Bloom in both the garden and summer camps. I feel very lucky to be experiencing the magic that is the curiosity and creativity of kids in the garden. I’m drawn to sustainability work because of its intersectional nature. Thinking about sustainability in terms of equity, accessibility,

and human health really intrigues me because these are qualities that make up thriving communities.

Farming Assistant, Doubletree Farm

Linguistics

This summer, I am incredibly excited to be working at Doubletree Farm in Twisp, a micro-dairy farm focused on regenerative agriculture. I am learning how to milk the herd, move them to and from pasture, and how to process both raw and pasteurized milk. Creating intimate relationships with the land and animals which provide us with food is part of what draws me to sustainability work. I hope to imagine and implement sustainable food systems that not only feed people good food but heal and protect the land and its inhabitants.

Methow Beaver Project Fellow, Methow Beaver Project

Environmental Science & GIS

While working for the Methow Beaver Project, I am building synthetic dams in hopes of inspiring beavers to return to the area, slowing the streamflow, and many other positive ecological benefits. I will also be working on a Salmon Habitat Monitoring project, which involves a survey of the local Chewuch River. I grew up in Alaska with the wilderness at my fingertips. Within my lifetime I have watched that wilderness change for the worse, and ever since I was young, it has been my mission to do what I can to sustainably protect it.

Waste Reduction Fellow, Methow Recycles Environmental Studies: Emphasis in Policy, Politics, and Governance

As Methow Recycles Recycling and Waste Coordinator, it is my job to manage and develop both the ReMake Center and our Tool Library, while also creating a database that accurately measures the community benefits of both programs. Having grown up in a vast range of environments, from untouched forests to large cities, I developed a deep appreciation for the natural world and fostered a deep desire to protect it. Working within sustainability was the best way for me to do that.

Community Sustainability Youth Corps Leader, Methow Valley School District

Recreation Management & Leadership

I am honored to help develop and lead a youth corps program centered around careers in sustainability. We will be partnering with many different organizations around the Methow that focus on protecting our beloved environments. I am drawn to this type of work because outdoor education has given me a more optimistic outlook on the world, I want to help give that to others.

Reporter, Methow Valley News

Environmental Studies/Journalism

As an intern reporter for Methow Valley News, I act as a community sounding board. This position allows me to explore the many interconnections of the valley as I interview community members and provide accounts of local happenings. Coming from the realm of communications, I find accessible information imperative to any successful sustainability initiative. As the word “sustainability” becomes more colloquial I consider it my journalistic duty to find ways this concept shows up in everyday life, bridging the gap between esoteric environmentalism and tangible community.

Healthy Foods Program Fellow, FYRE

Majors: Sociology, Interdisciplinary Studies with a concentration in Social and Environmental Perspectives in Public Health Minor: International Studies

I am working with the Foundation for Youth Resiliency and Engagement (FYRE) to support their integrative services for youth and to explore pathways to address food insecurity. I am invested in FYRE’s work and sustainability at large because I believe deeply in centering social justice to engage with the complex ways social, environmental, and historical realities are intertwined. I value the opportunity a sustainability framework offers to engage with place-based and systems approaches, recognizing the inherent interdisciplinary and intertwined nature of everything in our world.