Blogger’s note: Amber Left-Hand-Bull is a Bureau of Indian Affairs WaterCorps Program Member serving with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Puget Sound Olympic Peninsula Fish and Aquatic Conservation Complex. Our hardworking AmeriCorps Members have some pretty cool experiences during their time with the Service and are often inspired to write about them. This is her Story of Service and you can read more Stories of Service and Intern Adventures here.  

Stories of Service- May 15, 2019

I knew I was in the right place when our biologist, wearing his Ghost Buster looking electro-shocking backpack, gave confused onlookers a confident nod as we were on our way to sample some urban streams.  I sang to myself “When there’s something fishy, in the neighborhood.  Who are you gunna call? A biologist”!  Just another day at the “office”!

Hókahé (welcome)!  My name is Amber Left-Hand-Bull and I am a Bureau of Indian Affairs AmeriCorps serving with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Lacey, WA. I am mostly Lakota Sioux but I grew up native to the Pacific Northwest.  My life’s journey started when I was young as I always had my ear to the ground, feet in the river, or hands on a branch.  Being outside isn’t just an option for me, but a need.  Every trip I had outside camping, hiking, whatever it was, I just wanted to know more. This connection with nature lead to my involvement in many environmental programs growing up that expanded my experience in getting out in various terrestrial and aquatic settings.  That time getting out taught me that it is not just one species that matters the most but also a balanced ecosystem.

Photo:  A Nisqually River Chinook salmon! 

My passion for environmental sciences coincided with me throughout my life, but my educational stride didn’t take place until I had settled down in WA and finished my Bachelor of Science of Environmental Sciences at Evergreen State College.  I wanted to show my children the importance of restoring and preserving what we can in this world by making it a full time career.  My husband and my two boys (5 and 8 years old) all take part in giving back to our planet in any way they can from all the things I have taught them.  I started off being a steward at a young age which helped create a strong initiative to turn my everyday home life to a greener one.  Starting with recycling correctly, using eco-friendly cleaning products, and conserving energy in the house as much as possible.

Photo: Salmon spawning and carcass sampling on the Nisqually River.

Over the course of my education and internships I have performed a variety of field investigations involving ecological and biological assessments. At Evergreen State College I applied hydrology, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in ArcMaps, and ecological economics, all in watershed management. Learning these values together provided me better understanding in how economics needs to work with environmental resources as well as cultural values in management and policies. The majority of my work focused on salmon and trout species, including Endangered Species Act listed species, in the Nisqually Watershed while working with the Nisqually Indian Tribe’s Department of Natural Resources. I supported studies, fish supplementation, and habitat restoration through the tribe’s Salmon Harvest Fishery Program, Salmon Enhancement Program, and Salmon Recovery Program.  I also conducted crustacean surveys in the Shellfish Management Program and water quality testing with the Nisqually River Foundation.  Solutions are found by having our biggest hands at work, but prevention from further decay can only done be by co-existing our urban life style with a greener existence.  

Photo: Off to set traps for sampling Olympic Mudminnow!

I am going on my fourth week with the USFWS and the experience has been incredible.  I have assisted with monitoring Olympic Mudminnow populations, which are a species of fish only found in Western Washington!  I have supported our Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife partners with their Western Pond Turtle monitoring efforts, including personally trapping and collecting biological information on over 200 turtles! I assisted with migratory shorebird surveys out in Grays Harbor, one of the largest migratory bird habitats in the Pacific Northwest.  I conducted habitat surveys and sampled juvenile Chinook salmon and other fresh water fish from urban creeks in the Lake Washington drainage of Seattle.  

Photo: This Western Pond Turtle is about to be measured!

This journey with USFWS not only includes field science operations, but also increases public awareness and stewardship.  At the Billy Frank Jr. Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge I lead groups of 4^th-6^th grade school students on ethnobotany walks focusing on how native plants were used by the Coastal Salish Tribes for medicine, food, shelter, clothing, and tools.  I also integrated invasive species awareness and prevention content.

At a Nisqually River cleanup event, I ran demonstrations on a watershed model for Cub Scouts troops to show examples of pollution, how they impact fish and wildlife, and what we can do to be preventative.  At the “Celebrate Kokanee Day’ in Issaquah, I lead a salmon roll-playing activity where participants had to smell their way back (blind folded) to their home creek. This activity taught children about why salmon’s sense of smell is so important, how pollutants can affect it, and what they can do to help.

The atmosphere in the office and in the field fills my heart with the greater good that our developing world will strive for a greener and cleaner tomorrow.  Those who work in this field are heroes that are not only making every effort  for a healthier planet but teach the children and communities how to as well.  Knowing how to systematically analyze these different biological environments makes a strong base for both ecological and economical benefits.  An expanding human population impacts most if not all living habitats, and if we do not make stronger efforts in monitoring these conditions the kind of conservation work that needs to be done will be too late. I look forward to the rest of my term here in participating in many of the field surveys and lab practices to further my experiences and education.