Having grown up in the lower 48 I feel like there is a real disconnect between Alaska and here. especially in the things you learn about. When in Alaska I learned a lot about the Aluttiq people, their traditions, and land acknowledgments. In the lower 48, I barely learned anything about Native Americans in school. I remember in the 5th grade I had a project on the Seminole people of Florida.I was happy to share what I had learned with my class, but after Elementary school I felt like we stopped learning about the orginal Stewards of the land, unless we were talking about Thanksgiving (and that is a whole other can of worms). 

The Alaska Regional office is creating an Indigenous Style Writing Guide for the Service. This guide will help establish better wording on what you actually mean when creating posts and talking about the air, water, and land. I sat in on a meeting for the style guide and learned a lot. For example, I used "air, water, and land" rather than just "environment" to help fill in the gap of disconnect we often have with natural areas. An important example is saying that land is "pristine or untouched" signifies that you don't acknowledge that Indigneous communities were and are still there. Native groups know how to take care of natural areas, they were the original "Leave No Trace." This guide is jabout being intentional in what you say. 

I am happy that the other DFP working on the Elevating Arctic Youth voices with me, Sydney Ribera was able to work on this style guide during her time. The guide will truly make an impact on how we as the Service act as public servants. It will also show the impacts that DFPs can have. Even though I did not directly contribute to this style guide I am happy that I am able to learn from it, and I hope everyone who reads it does too, and will teach others. 

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service - DFP

Location: External Affairs, Alaska Region

This is not my first experience working for U.S. Fish & Wildlife, and it will not be my last. My first experience was volunteering at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge in Kodiak, Alaska to complete my internship requirement for my undergraduate degree. I helped facilitate an environmental education and outdoor recreation summer camp for the children in the town of Kodiak but also the children in rural remote villages. My supervisor at the time informed me about the Directorate Fellows Program and it has been my mission since 2019 to get in. It feels so nice that I have been given this opportunity by the Hispanic Access Foundation. I fell in love with Alaska in 2019 and being able to work there, even remotely, has been amazing. 

My DFP project is working with the Arctic Youth Ambassadors (AYA) program that the Alaska External Affairs office, World Wildlife Fund, and the Alaska Conservation Fund help sponsor. This opportunity allows the participants to have a platform where their concerns about the changing Arctic are heard, and I am glad to be helping with this process. 

I have been a fellow for just three weeks now, but there have been multiple opportunities where I have been able to relate my graduate coursework to my project. We are working on sustainable tourism efforts for Alaska post-COVID, and I have taken multiple sustainable tourism courses in undergrad and grad school. The AYA program is in the process of creating a strategic plan, and I have taken coursework in creating these plans. There have been opportunities where ambassadors apply for mini grants and I am there to provide assistance since I have written grants myself. It is great to see that my graduate degree is giving me all of these applicable skills for my career. 

I can't wait to see the opportunities that DFP has to offer. 

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: Directorate Fellow Program

Location: External Affairs, Alaska Region

Taryn is a graduate student at East Carolina University in North Carolina studying Recreation and Park Administration. She will be completing her project requirement by creating an ArcGIS StoryMap focusing on environmental interpretation and conservation for a local park. Taryn earned her bachelor’s degree in Recreation and Park Management in 2019 where she completed her internship requirement at the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge. There she helped operate an environmental education and outdoor recreation summer camp for the children of Kodiak. Taryn has worked as an environmental educator in North Carolina since 2014 in various nature centers and parks. Being in nature and helping others appreciate the outdoors is a passion of Taryn’s and she cannot wait to make a career out of it.