View our latest posts: From the Field

A Cycle of Learn, Teach, Repeat! by Education Intern Abbie Niskanen

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It has been about a month since I started working with Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group as an Education Intern. Throughout the start of my internship, I’ve been able to learn about the ins and outs of teaching kids about the life cycle of salmon.

As a child, I was never given the opportunity to learn about salmon while in school. I was vaguely aware of the restoration efforts going on in Washington State, but that was about it. Because of this, it’s been a surreal experience to be someone who is now a part of educating this generation of students. Over the past month, I’ve been in and out of classrooms teaching kids about the life cycle of salmon. We talk about the importance of habitat health and how the salmon travel in and out of freshwater and saltwater throughout their lifespan.

I have also been able to help lead several field trips with classes in which they were able to observe the surrounding environment of Hansen Creek in Sedro-Woolley. I have had so much fun watching the kids learn through observation and science experiments while on their field trips. My favorite part has been the science station, where the kids get to test the quality of the creek water through its temperature, turbidity, pH, and dissolved oxygen content. The students always get so excited when the test tubes of water change color during the pH testing portion of the station. While it does seem like simple concepts, testing the water quality and practicing observation skills are important, and the kids really enjoy being a part of it all.

As we start heading into winter, I am excited to continue working with Skagit Fisheries. It has been enriching to not only learn about salmon and riparian habitats, but to then turn around and teach kids about everything I have learned. It has opened my eyes to another avenue of environmental education and has helped me find more passion for the degree that I am pursuing. I have enjoyed being a part of the education program and look forward to getting back into the classrooms after the winter break to deliver salmon eggs to each school. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abbie (far left) attending a Salmon Sightings event in October with Connor, Clare, and Adam

Tales from Field Trips by Education Intern Michaela Provancha

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My time with Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group as an educational intern so far has pushed me to grow my skill set and interests. I have had the opportunity to work with SFEG on both classroom lessons and field trips in order to teach students about salmon and their life cycle. Living in the Pacific Northwest, many students will hear about salmon throughout their childhoods yet may not understand their importance or uniqueness. It has been so rewarding to engage with students about a topic that is often new to them and to see new interests arise surrounding salmon and marine life.

Michaela leading a test of the dissolved oxygen in Hansen Creek

In the classroom lessons I start by introducing the SFEG program Salmon in Schools. This program connects with hundreds of students across many schools to teach about salmon and their life cycles through teaching and hands-on experience. Students not only learn about salmon, they also raise 200 salmon eggs in their classes and release them into a stream months later.

After students are familiar with the Salmon in Schools program, I give them an introduction into the five local Pacific salmon, then lead them through a bracelet activity representing the salmon life cycle. I have enjoyed how excited kids get for crafts and their ability to link that fun to an educational experience. Shortly after students learn about salmon in the classroom, they get to take a field trip out to a river where their salmon will be released later on in the school year. Many of them will show up with their salmon life cycle bracelets and it has been so rewarding to see how many remember the information we taught them and their excitement.

When I started this internship, I already had a lot of interest and background information on Pacific salmon. I often bother my friends and family with fun salmon facts and love to tell other people why I love salmon so much. Once the internship started, I realized that teaching a classroom of young kids is terrifying. This was my first experience teaching students and it was difficult to stand in front of the class and teach at first. Through these experiences, I am confident in teaching students now and I even lead volunteers through teaching as well.

In a few more months, it will be time for the salmon eggs to be delivered to the schools and students will be able to start watching their eggs grow into little fish. I am beyond excited to continue in this internship and see interest grow in marine life for many young students.

Rolling Out the “Redd” Carpet by WCC Crewmember PJ Heusted

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Did you miss your chance to attend the Wild and Scenic Film Festival? Don’t worry, PJ’s got you covered on the ins and outs of what you missed!

 

‘On October 12, Skagit Fisheries hosted the Wild and Scenic Film Festival for one night only at the Lincoln Theater showing a selection of environmental short films. The films ranged from making the audience laugh at one-star reviews of the National Parks to making them cry when confronted with the realities of habitat degradation and climate change’s effects on local salmon populations.

The festival opened with Finding Salmon which featured the Salmon Watch program in Oregon which looks to get school-aged youth out and into streams to see salmon and connect with their local watersheds. After the opener ended, the energy in the theater changed when One Star Reviews started; despite being short, this film got the most laughter as it shared low reviews of some of the nations most beautiful National Parks complaining about the number of rocks and lack of wildlife on display.

 

The Last Last Hike introduced the audience to Nimblewill Nomad on his attempt to become the oldest person to thru hike the Appalachian Trail and shared the story of his life spent walking, long distance hiking, and time spent at Flagg Mountain.

 

The film festival’s next film, Black Like Plastic, continued to explore outdoor recreation, but through a different lens. The film features Chris Ragland and his non-profit, The Sea League, in a conversation about environmental justice and recreation as a method for advocacy. 

 

Land of the Yakamas continued to build on the ideas of advocacy and providing a platform to diverse voices as the film demonstrated the importance of indigenous voices in environmentalism and shared accounts of the environmental stressors present along the Columbia River that continue to affect the surrounding indigenous communities.

 

The next film took us from the Pacific Northwest into the deserts of the Southwest and into the depths of Glen Canyon. In Tad’s Emerging World – Glen Canyon Exposed filmmaker and photographer Dawn Kish retraces the steps of many explorers before her through the viewfinder of a historic camera. Kish blends history, memoir, and environmentalism in her exploration of the canyon as water levels dip to new historic lows.

 

Rounding out the short films of the first act is I Am Salmon featuring a poem of the same name in which the author takes on the perspective of the salmon to share the narrative of their hard journey to and from the ocean. This film highlights the Japanese printmaking art of gyotaku, using the body of a salmon to create a print while the poem is read.

 

The final film of the night was Shane Anderson’s The Lost Salmon shared breakthrough research showing distinct genetic differences between spring and fall run Chinook salmon that could work to provide further legal protections for the remaining native stocks. Anderson’s film showed stories of salmon from various rivers across the Pacific coast and highlighted voices from the people that are working to save their native salmon runs. The film took the audience on a journey through the current highs and lows of salmon conservation taking on a hopeful tone for the future of these fish, but stayed rooted in the current difficulties that salmon face in our rivers.

 

From the Whiskey River Mudflats bluegrass performance that kicked off the night through the final moments of the film festival, the theater was alive with a love for restoration, conservation, and a passion for the environment. The 2023 Wild and Scenic Film Festival felt like a love letter to the outdoors signed by everyone in the theater, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s festival.’