Thank You AmeriCorps Members!

This past year, NSEA connected with over 3,000 community members in our Students for Salmon and Stream Stewards Programs. This directly led to approximately 4,000 trees being planted and over 18,000lbs of invasive vegetation being removed. These collective actions will lead to sustainable ecosystems with healthy watersheds that support sustainable salmon populations. This work would not have been possible without NSEA’s dedicated AmeriCorps Team, who facilitate these programs. Members serve with NSEA for 10.5 months beginning in September of each year and ending in July. This year’s team recently wrapped up their term and left a lasting mark on NSEA and in their community.

This year’s Program Team was comprised of Environmental Stewardship Coordinators Gabby Boyson and Megan Adams, along with Environmental Education Coordinators Chloe Brush and Grace Pierstorff. Gabby came to us from Vermont, and said “Throughout my time at NSEA, I was reminded about how impactful community is. The community I had with my fellow AmeriCorps members, staff, volunteers, and students made this term incredibly meaningful. I will miss all the beautiful places and amazing connections I made over the past 10 months!” Megan was a former Nooksack River Steward and Community Program Intern and said “I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to serve at NSEA. I had so much fun engaging with the community and grew in my confidence and leadership abilities, but my favorite part of my term was the connections and friendships I made along the way. From early mornings and muddy work parties to bonding with my team on long truck rides around the county, I loved every moment of my time here.” Chloe is local to the Pacific Northwest and a graduate of Western Washington University, who said “I have absolutely loved my time here at NSEA and am so sad to go! I will remember the connections I made with students, the community, and my team forever. This position solidified my love for the environment and community outreach, and it felt so refreshing to do work that I was passionate about. Thank you so much, NSEA!” Finally, Grace came to us from Wisconsin and said “Serving with NSEA has been a highlight of my professional career. I am incredibly grateful for the time spent as an environmental educator - working with students in place-based education, collaborating with my fellow AmeriCorps members on community events, and striving to steward others towards caring for healthy salmon habitat.”

We are deeply grateful to this year’s AmeriCorps Team for their service to NSEA, to the community, and in support of salmon recovery efforts. We know they left a legacy with NSEA and we wish them the best of luck as they move forward in their professional careers.

Students for Salmon Celebrates Another Year

By Nathan Zabel
NSEA Education Program Manager

Each school year, NSEA’s Students for Salmon Program serves over 1,000 fourth graders throughout Whatcom County. This school year was particularly rewarding because it was our first time educating students in-person through this program in a over a year. The students are now on their summer break, but we look back on a school year that brought students back outside along salmon-bearing creeks just minutes away from their schools.

This year, NSEA’s AmeriCorps Environmental Education Coordinators Grace and Chloe went into 81 classrooms at 32 schools to introduce students to salmon, their lifecycle, and threats they face in our region. They then met those students outdoors on a field trip where students became “salmon scientists” and studied a local creek to determine how healthy it is for salmon. Students took action to help salmon on their field trips by participating in a stewardship project, and those collective actions resulted in 158 trees being planted and 5,660 pounds of invasive vegetation being removed. Because of these collective actions, 14 local waterways are left with habitat that will better support salmon.

NSEA values the importance of hope and the role it plays in educating the future generation to understand and care about salmon, salmon habitat, and stewardship. Students left with a better understanding of how salmon are important in our region, and how actions they take in their everyday lives can help ensure they continue to see salmon in the creeks they studied and restored for years to come. As one teacher said, “I have been working with NSEA for 19 years and to see the health of our local watersheds improving gives hope to the entire community and to the students that will make up this community's future citizens.” We are grateful to the teachers who continue to choose to enroll in Students for Salmon and appreciate their commitment to ensure their students continue to have lasting connections to their watershed.

For more information about NSEA’s Education programs, please contact Nathan Zabel at nzabel@n-sea.org or call 360-312-3094.