Environment & Community

I coordinate an AmeriCorps career development internship program for military veterans transitioning into the field of natural resources across regions 8, 9, and 10 of the Forest Service. I also coordinate and notetake for the two forest collaborative groups on the East Zone of the Mt. Hood National Forest. The collaboratives work with Forest Service interdisciplinary team members on projects that restore ecological processes, reduce wildfire risk, and support job creation and rural economic development. 

My education in the Environment & Community program taught me to appreciate the multiple perspectives involved in natural resource management. I came into the program interested in wolf-human conflict and the E&C faculty supported me in designing a thesis project focused on how cattle ranchers in western Montana are adapting to the increased threat that wolves represent to their livestock. It was a pretty hot topic to wade into. I felt the program taught me to equally value human and wild lifeways, and become fascinated with the spaces where they collide and conflict. The faculty helped me figure out how to ask good questions, think critically, and always challenge my own assumptions and biases. It was that sensibility that allowed me to enter the homes of cattle ranchers and have them trust me enough to talk about wolves. I’ve carried that ethic with me ever since, and it has helped me build trust and credibility with students, military veterans, agency partners, and the other stakeholders that I work with.