SEEDS: Newsletter > Volume 4, Issue 10 - December 2006 / January 2007

SEEDS Highlights: 2007-08 Fellows

In last month's issue we introduced the new fellows. This month we've asked each of them to share more with all of you.

My name is Jarrod Blue and I am a junior at Davidson College in Davidson, North Carolina. I'm a Biology major with a focused interest in ecology. I have always had an interest in environmental issues, but the ecology class that I took first semester sophomore year changed everything for me. I entered the class with pre-med floating in my mind as a possible career choice, but as a result of the labs and papers that we read, I quickly veered off the pre-med track and turned full speed ahead into ecology. Currently I have an interest in community ecology, and specifically with the concepts of competition, dispersal patterns, and metacommunities. Since January 2006, I have been researching the colonization and dispersal patterns of invertebrates, specifically mosquitoes, within a metacommunity framework. I am very grateful to ESA for receiving the SEEDS fellowship and I look forward to working and meeting all of you during this fellowship period and beyond!

Hi! My name is Annette Cardona. I was born and raised in Austin, Texas. I am currently attending Texas A&M University at Corpus Christi. I am in my fourth year and majoring in ecology. I was first drawn to marine biology when my sister made me go with her and her kids to SeaWorld. I saw the famous Shamu show and became hooked. The next year I attended the SeaWorld summer camp and took an aquatic science class. When I got to college all I wanted was to work at SeaWorld or an aquarium with the animals, but I started volunteering in a fisheries ecology lab on campus and took a general ecology class and my interest began to change. Understanding how the systems, marine life, and human impact work together was very intriguing. For about the past two years, I have been becoming increasingly interested in outreach and education, and conservation; not just of the marine mammals, but of the whole ocean, down to our estuaries. I would love to be a part of creating curricula or programs for aquaria, federal programs, college outreach programs, and other related places. With outreach I can help save and preserve the ocean systems and also inspire future scientists and educators.

Hello. My name is Colleen Cooley and I am currently attending Northern Arizona University (NAU) as a junior studying environmental sciences with an emphasis in management. I was born and raised on the Navajo Nation, specifically from a small rural community called Shonto, Arizona. My family and I grew up with no running water and electricity and we continue to live the same lifestyle ever since my parents moved to this beautiful place I call home. Therefore, my lifestyle revolved around animals and the environment and being creative with what we had around my home. From the time I began to understand the issues within the environment surrounding the Navajo tribe, I knew I wanted to return to the Reservation and help them in any way I can, which led me into the environmental sciences field. As I grew older, I learned more and more about the many issues surrounding our environment. I believe my older sister was another reason I chose to go into the environmental field because she knew a lot about the environment and the importance of recycling. I would love to learn more about the policy aspect of managing the environment, especially with the issues the Native American tribes are facing with their lands. In addition, I’m interested in learning more about conservation with water on Native lands because I come from a reservation where water is sacred and precious to my people and strip mining has taken most of our water just to provide electricity for people in Southern California and Las Vegas, Nevada. I would like to share my knowledge about policy and management on Native lands with the Native American tribes who don’t understand why these environmental issues on their lands are continuing to affect them and why not much is being done about it.

My name is Micki Lindeman. I am studying tribal environmental science at United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck, North Dakota. My late father was a full-blooded Native American of the Oglala Lakota Nation from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in southern South Dakota. I am deeply interested in Native American land issues and I have an interest in environmental law and Native American law. I strongly believe that preserving our reservation lands is important in preserving our native cultures which are so deeply imbedded in our relationship with our environment. I believe my interest in ecology came from my grandparents. I spent most of my childhood with my maternal grandparents who were avid outdoorsmen. I grew up hunting, fishing and camping on the beautiful Missouri River and on Lake Oahe. My paternal grandfather was a game warden on the Rosebud Indian Reservation and while I never was priviledged to meet him, I believe I inherited some of his love for the reservation lands. I hope to someday teach at a tribal college and pass on my passion for the land and help to encourage future Native ecologists. I am grateful to SEEDS for all the opportunities they have given me and I hope to someday give to others the encouragement everyone in the SEEDS program has given me.

My name is Sheena Hillstrom. Originally from Shelton, Washington, I am an environmental science and regional planning major at Washington State University. Having grown up with the forests of the Pacific Northwest as my playground, I have a passionate interest in forest ecology as well as in the human impact on forests from our urban environments. My interest in ecology came about last spring in my Environment and Human Life class in which we studied the relationship between humans and the environment. This summer I had the opportunity to have some "hands-on" experience working in restoration plots in Costa Rica with the Organization for Tropical Studies' Native American and Pacific Islander Research Experience where I researched the role of decaying log microsites in a natural restoration situation. In the broader context, I found that there are ways that humans can aid in the restoration process of our natural resources. Working with other indigenous students and meeting the indigenous people of Costa Rica I had the opportunity to hear their concerns about their lands, opening my eyes to issues that need to be addressed. I look forward to meeting and working with you all!