We interviewed Theresa Crain, an environmental educator who is working with World Salmon Council to expand Salmon Watch into Yamhill County in partnership with the Outdoor Education Adventures program.
Recently, WSC and OEA were awarded a grant from Spirit Mountain Community Fund to assist with the expansion. Planning is underway to begin with eight field trips this fall 2018!
How did you first develop your interest in natural science and the outdoors?
As a child, I loved the outdoors. I grew up in a rural community, so I had lots of access to nature. I lived in an oak canyon where every house had about five acres and there was lots of open space in between. So, we did a lot of climbing trees, digging holes, watching the ants and the lizards, those kinds of things. I could just walk out my door and be immersed in nature.
When I got to college, I took some courses in wildlife management and natural resource management, and found my niche there. I found a natural resource interpretation program and took the introductory courses for that program, and that was it. I knew that was what I wanted to do.
How and why did you first get involved with Salmon Watch, and how did you decide to take on a role coordinating the program in Yamhill County?
I was working with the Greater Yamhill Watershed Council, and while I was there we were contacted by Salmon Watch asking for volunteers for a program they were starting in Yamhill County. My co-worker, Neyssa Hays, and I volunteered for two seasons with Salmon Watch and loved it.
Eventually, Neyssa and I left the watershed council to start our own program, called Outdoor Education Adventures. We’re currently going on year three of the program. We’ve been providing outdoor education for our community, taking school groups and other groups out to local parks and teaching them about the local ecology.
We loved the Salmon Watch program, and we were approached by World Salmon Council about taking on a larger role with establishing the program in Yamhill County. We really wanted to be able to do that because we feel Salmon Watch is really valuable and fits well with our goals and the work we’re doing. And we wanted to be sure the program would continue to grow in Yamhill County.
Can you discuss the importance of bringing science education and outdoor education to rural students?
I think there’s a bit of a misconception about rural students. It’s assumed that because they live closer to nature, they must be more tuned into it. And that’s not necessarily true. Not everybody really gets out into the natural environment. The nature they see might be more of a park-like setting. And while there are kids who live out on large properties and have room to roam, they often don’t have the ecology background to understand it.
So, I think it’s really important for all students to have access to this kind of education. Our natural world is a very important part of our existence, and it’s important that our youth are given knowledge so that when they grow into decision-makers, and are our planet’s care-takers, they’ll have some background about what our planet needs to be healthy, to sustain us and all the other organisms that are living on it.
Why is it important to focus on diversity and inclusion in environmental education?
This is knowledge that we want all of our citizens to have access to. It’s not something that is only beneficial for one group of people over another. There has been a lack of diversity and inclusion in the environmental field and we need to change that, so we’ve got all of our citizens working on bettering the environment.
It takes a village to do anything. The more directions we can come at a problem from, the better. It expands the options, brings more ideas to the table, and opens up more conversations. If we’re all coming at a problem from the same place, with the same ideas, we might all come to the same conclusion. But having more people with diverse backgrounds and experiences working on an issue opens up more doors to a variety of solutions.
Do you think Salmon Watch helps inspire students to enter natural science and conservation career fields, and work on these problems?
I think Salmon Watch definitely helps open the door for students, showing them the possibilities and what’s out there. I’m sure that for some students, it’s their first time realizing there’s this whole world of careers that they never knew about or would never have thought of before. I think it definitely plants seeds and shows students a potential path they could choose, and empowers them to consider those types of careers.
Can you discuss the importance of getting kids outside to experience nature, and providing a counter to nature deficit disorder?
Kids are a lot more sheltered these days. Many kids don’t have access to nature the way I did. I had free reign of the whole canyon; I could go wherever I wanted. Not a lot of kids have that. A lot of kids don’t get to play out in their front yards without supervision. School days are spent in classrooms for the majority of the time, and recess time is on a very sterile playground, for the most part. So, kids are not having regular interactions with the natural environment, some kids not at all. So, I think because they’re not getting it through day-to-day life, it’s really important that we have some way of exposing kids to the natural world and the benefits of taking care of it.
Why should others volunteer with Salmon Watch?
When you tell the story of salmon, or any nature story, kids get a lot out of it. When you can personalize it and show connections, kids really feed off of that. And it feels so good to facilitate that kind of experience. Getting kids outside and being able to be outdoors with them in a beautiful environment, near rivers, seeing salmon spawning, and having that experience is truly amazing. You can feel the wonder and excitement in the kids. And its’s just so much fun to be a part of that. To be able to contribute to a child’s education in that way is really special.
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