Woman Scientist of Color Blazes Path for Others

Today, we will be hearing by Christina Uh, a graduate student at McCall Outdoor Science School through the University of Idaho and former Pathways intern for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This story is the fourth in the Native American Blog Series in observance of  National Native American Heritage Month. This content was originally written by Christina Uh and edited by Patrick Cooney in the The Fisheries Blog.

Adaptation; what does this word mean to you? To me it means overcoming obstacles that obstruct your mission, your goal, your purpose. It is your ability to succeed in the face of adversity; it is your power to be adaptable, strong, and tough.

I am of Mayan and Navajo descent and the first in my family to pursue higher education. Being a first-generation student is a great honor and privilege, and it has not come easy. I realize that to achieve my goals, I must be adaptable.

When reflecting on my journey, I am reminded of our elder: the Pacific Lamprey. Pacific Lamprey are migratory anadromous fish with an ancient lineage to the past. Their numbers are dwindling, and the obstacles they face on their upstream journey are not easily surmountable. Having worked with Pacific Lamprey while I pursued my undergraduate degree, I realized that today’s Pacific lamprey are a product of millions of years of persistent ancestors who lived before, during, and after the demise of so many others, including the dinosaurs. No matter the struggle, Pacific Lamprey have pressed on.

If adaptability is the ability to persist and continue towards your goals and purpose in the face of obstacles, then I too must be like the Pacific Lamprey and be persistent even in the most difficult of conditions. I too have come to think of myself as resilient.

Pursuing an undergraduate degree is one of the most difficult things I have decided to accomplish. There were times in which I felt myself become unmotivated, unsatisfied, and incapable of continuing. I have struggled with severe depression, anxiety, and insomnia, to the point of what felt like madness. My ability to push on was buoyed by the love, support, and encouragement of my mentors, family, and closest friends, without whom I would not have been able to overcome even some of the smallest of obstacles. Many of the select few researchers who focus on ensuring the future of Pacific Lamprey are also the ones who helped lift me up in my times of greatest need. After my first year of school it became abundantly clear that to ultimately succeed, I needed experience in the field of science, but I also needed to maintain a job to support myself financially.

I was fortunate to receive a PATHWAYS internship with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at the Columbia River Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in Vancouver, Washington as an office clerk. Although my dream job did not consist of shredding paper and booking travel arrangements, I took the opportunity with outstretched arms. While performing office duties, I would ask questions to those around me about their research while making them aware of my ultimate goals. This was my foot in the door into a biologist’s world, and alas, the opportunity paid off.

Over the 5 years working with USFWS, researchers gave me the opportunity to research the feeding requirements of Pacific Lamprey, to capture them in streams and rivers with electrofishing equipment (a common method of catch and release field sampling), and research their upper thermal tolerances. The researchers at USFWS supported me and gave me the opportunity to present our research at professional conferences, publish in a peer-reviewed journal, and meet wonderfully brilliant scientists who became my biggest advocates and mentors.

 

To this day, when I look back on some of my gloomy dark and rainy Pacific Northwest days spent at the library cramming for calculus and chemistry, I am not sure how I pulled through…but I did, and it was because of my ability to adapt combined with the support of others. In the Spring of 2017, after 6.5 years long years, I graduated from Portland State University (Portland, Oregon) with a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science.

Fast forwarding to the present, I write this from a cozy coffee shop in Lewiston, Idaho after my second day teaching middle school and high school students on the Nez Perce Reservation. As part of my master’s program at the University of Idaho, I am teaching students on the Reservation how to fly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), AKA drones, to help them gain a sense of place and purpose.

Much like how lamprey lay down a scent trail to guide the way for other lamprey to find optimal upstream habitats, I have discovered how I can help the next generation of scientists succeed and adapt! I am currently one of two graduate students participating in a National Science Foundation funded project to build Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) identity in Native American Students as I pursue a M.S. in Natural Resources with a graduate certificate in Environmental Education and Science Communication at the McCall Outdoor Science School through the University of Idaho.

I know that there are obstacles ahead that I must overcome, but I have learned how to be adaptable and continue in the pursuit of my goals and purpose. I live in a yurt full time, on campus, with all of Idaho’s stunning backcountry as my playground. My cohort consists of incredible students from across the country and my advisor and professors are all top-notch. Leaving the comforts of my friends, family, and supporters in Portland, Oregon was challenging, but my journey continues, my resilience persists, and life is good.

As I wrap this up, I remind you, that my journey sounds great when it is all laid out like this in words. However, it was the ability to accept support and adapt in response to some of the most negative moments of my life that I was able to achieve what I have. I share this with you because I want you to know that I believe in you. I want you to know that there are others like you -individuals who identify with underrepresented, minority groups, who struggle with mental health, who are first-generation students, who are children of divorced parents, those who come from poverty, and those who have felt like giving up over and over again. We stand with you. I stand with you, and I can’t wait to see what you accomplish.

Traditional Knowledge of Penobscot Indian Nation Influence on Wildlife Projects

This blog is the third in a series written by Jr. Native American Liaison Zintkala Eiring to highlight our Tribal partners and the work they are doing to manage wildlife populations – in honor of National Native American Heritage Month.  

For centuries, Tribal members from the Penobscot Indian Nation trapped, hunted, fished, and collected their food throughout their Tribal lands in what is current-day Maine. They passed along their knowledge to their children about when the salmon returned to the Penobscot River, where otter lived and nested along the islands, and how to collect fiddlehead fern at the right time. This traditional ecological knowledge was passed down from generation to generation – and is now used as important information to bolster scientific research about native wildlife and plants.

So, when Tribal members began experiencing changes in wildlife populations, they knew something was wrong.  Kristin Peet, wildlife biologist for the Penobscot Indian Nation, began researching the fur-bearing mammals in the Penobscot River, including otters, muskrats, and mink. In the past decades, Penobscot Indian Nation Tribal members of Maine experienced declines in the local otter population. Oral histories passed down through the Penobscot people describe ancient sites of otters that aren’t in existence anymore. The decline of known otter sites meant fewer opportunities for Tribal people to practice traditional trapping on the Penobscot River for subsistence. When Peet began her research on the otter population, she predicted the otter would be a prime environmental indicator of the health of the Penobscot River and its inhabitants. Combining the traditional ecological knowledge of the local Penobscot people, their account of the decline of otters, and Peet’s studies, they found that there are new otter sites which suggests a change in habitat preferences by the otter population.

However, the otter is not the only traditional food of the Penobscot Indian Nation and there was more to be known about other native wildlife impacts on the Penobscot River. Peet listened to the traditional knowledge of tribal members who relayed changes in their harvesting practices on traditional plants and fishing habitats, as well. Tribal members believed there were contaminants in Penobscot homelands from the Lincoln Pulp and Paper Mill, which used to lie upstream of Indian Island, one of the two-hundred Islands of Penobscot Indian Nation territory. Many Tribal members were worried that all harvestable items were contaminated downstream of the papermill. Thus, tribal members began to travel further north to harvest fiddleheads ferns and flagroot, a traditional medicine to the Penobscot people.

To determine whether contaminants were present in the Penobscot River, Peet and the Water Quality Program of Penobscot Indian Nation, University of Connecticut, and Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife began testing muskrat, mink, and otter for contaminants like PCB’s. These three species were collected from traditional Tribal and non-Tribal trappers and provided the team opportunities to sample for contaminants. The muskrat, a herbivore, had relatively low-concentrations of contaminants, but had high traces in the liver. The mink, a predator, had high contaminants of PCB in their muscles. The otters’ contamination levels varied from little to no presence.

Muskrat, a sustenance food to the Penobscot people. In tradition, Penobscot elders eat the brain of the animal. The muskrat pictured here is from Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge. Photo Credit: Tom Koerner/USFWS.

Using these findings, Peet and her team produced a culturally relevant brochure for Tribal members and schools. It is entitled “Wild Food Safety Series” and explains the traditional diet of fish, plants, and wildlife. It includes “do, don’t, and why” for traditional diets, how to culturally and sustainably harvest, and the recommended consumption rate for animals that have contaminant levels. For example, the brochure states individuals can “eat up to 10-ounces of brook trout and landlocked salmon from Penobscot nation waters per week” to help inform Tribal members in how they can practice their traditional subsistence practices safely.

In the future, a “wild foods safety” brochure series be will available and will include other fish, wildlife and plants.

Once the wild food safety series is provided for plants and wildlife, Tribal members will know the healthy sustenance rate for muskrat, otter, mink, fiddlehead, and flagroot. In fact, Tribal community members will no longer have to travel North of the old papermill for fiddlerroot because the study showed it is healthy anywhere in Penobscot Tribal Trust lands, even downstream of the old papermill.

Fiddlehead captured by USFWS

The wild food safety brochures increase Tribal members’ accessibility to traditional foods and furthers the practices of trapping and harvesting that are passed down from generation to generation in Penobscot culture. And it is all thanks to the traditional ecological knowledge passed down from Penobscot people.

The Furbearers Contaminant Study was made possible by the dedication and efforts of the Penobscot Indian Nation and the Tribal Wildlife Grant program of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Grants are funded through an annual appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund. For more information about tribal wildlife grants please visit https://www.fws.gov/northeast/nativeamerican/index.html

Archery in Philadelphia: BYO Action Star

Have you ever seen an archer in an action movie and thought, “I bet I would look really cool doing that”? Turns out you’re not alone. Although archery is one of the world’s oldest forms of hunting, it’s still one of the most dreamed about pastimes, especially in the greater Philadelphia area. That’s why we stepped up at America’s first urban refuge, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, and started an open-to-the-public archery program, with an overwhelmingly positive response.

Back in April, the refuge staff took an all-day training course to become USA Archery level 1 certified. This training included archery safety, form, and an overall “how-to” for teaching methods. We figured that by becoming certified we could offer a fun way for students to learn a new skill that fits in with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s mission.

The rest of that school year was a blast. We taught archery to over 200 Philadelphia students, most of whom had never done it before. Just so you can picture a student’s face while trying archery for the first time, imagine seeing your favorite action star in real life, and then realizing you ARE that action star.

Don’t be fooled by my face, this was an INTENSE story.

Me (in the middle) clearly a little too excited for archery at a community meeting. Good thing I have Kelly Q and Kelly K, from the John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum’s Environmental Education team to keep me grounded.

First shots at a community meeting

Public programming for refuge visitors came that summer, with two pilot classes titled “Youth Archery” and “Adult Archery”. These two classes were each an hour long, and were a basic introduction to the sport. We also scheduled a couple events called “Pop-Up Archery” where our full range was set up for the public to receive personalized coaching from refuge staff on a walk-up basis. This way, visitors could spend as much or little time as they wanted on the range.

Posing with their targets; Rangers with one of our school groups after an archery lesson

The morning after I came into work from these events being posted on social media, I had received over 170 emails inquiring about registration. When I checked the Facebook event, over 1.9 thousand people were interested. Although there were only 19 spots in each class, I was THRILLED that I could tell so many people to come back for Pop-Up Archery. And boy, did they ever. The next Pop-Up event we had almost 200 people line up to try archery, most of them for the very first time.

I’ve been living in Philadelphia for the past eight years; I know from experience that there aren’t too many places to try out archery. Most clubs in or around the city exist for serious archers and there’s usually some sort of fee for classes. I always believed trying archery for the first time — especially when you feel like you have no idea what you’re doing— was incredibly intimidating.

When spring rolls around, John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum will offer free archery programming to anyone over the age of 10 that wants to try it. There will be a ranger right next to each person for their very first shot, so it’s always a personalized, safe, and engaging experience.

To me, the most powerful part of the archery program, isn’t the archery itself, but it’s connecting people to a green space often times they didn’t know existed. “Wow, I didn’t know all of this was out here” is a phrase I hear quite often. Now, I get to see those same faces over and over again. There are dozens of kids and adults I see at every archery event, that I see now on the refuge hiking, bird watching or riding their bikes. Most of the rangers know them by name. It’s rewarding to know that our community has the opportunity to experience the outdoors through being their own archery action star at John Heinz NWR.