SEEDS: Newsletter > Volume 4, Issue 3 - April 2006

SEEDS Highlights: Amber Finley, Student Highlight

Hello, my name is Amber Finley. I am a senior Fisheries and Wildlife Biology major at the University of North Dakota (UND). I am an enrolled member of the Three Affiliated Tribes (Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation) and Spirit Lake Dakota (Sioux). I am the current Vice President of the University of North Dakota Indian Association (UNDIA) and the Public Relations Officer for the American Indian Science and Engineering Society (AISES). I have been a member of AISES since 2000, and it is actually through AISES that I became involved with the SEEDS program.

I attend the AISES National Conference every year in November, and I had requested for two years in a row to have more representation for environmental studies at the career fair. My requests were answered when in November of 2003 I met a student intern at the SEEDS booth at the AISES Career Fair. The intern was pursuing an ecology degree and told me how she had been involved with SEEDS. She signed me up for the SEEDS listserv and I was on my way. A few months later I received an email from Melissa Armstrong, SEEDS Coordinator, inviting me to apply for a summer SEEDS field trip.

As a single parent, it has often been the case that I am passed up for considerably beneficial positions whether in the laboratory or the field. I have often felt alone in my own department because I will not sacrifice being a parent for being a scientist. So when I saw the opportunity to go on an ecology field trip to an ecological field station, I jumped on it. I immediately began my application and felt very uneasy about what the outcome would be. Then, in April I received a letter from the ESA SEEDS Program saying that I was selected to attend the field trip. I was ecstatic to say the least, and I immediately called my mom and told her the wonderful news.

In June 2004, I attended the Calgary, Canada field trip, what an adventure that was. I met several talented students and many extraordinary ecologists. While I was on the trip, some of the students asked if I was going to the 2004 ESA Annual Meeting. That was the first time I had heard about it, so as soon as I got home I decided that the next year I would apply for both the field trip and the annual meeting. I ended up applying for the SEEDS summer field trip and the fellowship instead. I was selected for the field trip, but not the fellowship; however, I was invited to attend the 2005 ESA Annual Meeting in Montreal, Canada. Last year I participated in the University of Michigan Biological Station Field Trip in Pellston, Michigan. Again, I was able to meet so many young and talented students and was quite impressed with my SEEDS experiences with the field trip and ESA Annual Meeting. Recently, I attended the International Conference in Merida, Mexico. That was quite an adventure, this time almost all of the students in attendance I had met at a previous SEEDS event. I am really starting to feel like part of the SEEDS family.

SEEDS has given me more opportunities to actually interact with real ecologists and get hands-on experience in the field, more than I could have ever imagined. My experience with SEEDS has exposed me to several parts of the country in a perspective that most people would take for granted. In addition, I have met some of the most intelligent young scientists and wonderful mentors through SEEDS. SEEDS has really given me a direction to follow, a place on this planet, and a heart for a career in ecology.

As I get ready to graduate this May, I look back at my undergraduate career and am really happy with all of my experiences. I have held an officer position for the last five years with UND AISES Chapter. I have managed to hold a regional position with National AISES for two years. I am currently planning the 37th Annual Time-Out Wacipi (powwow). I have worked on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation, as lead researcher for a Juneberry restoration project. Through several SEEDS experiences and others throughout my undergraduate career, I have become a well-rounded student and active environmentalist.