The United States military has a long and well documented history of environmental degradation, contamination, and environmental injustice. Today, the U.S. military has taken steps to attempt control, regulation, and conservation in a growing environmental sector. Current relations between environmentalists and military personnel are still plagued with contention. This has created a stigma on bases about environmentalists and their contributions to military base lives. By reconciling my knowledge of the military and the environment with the tools of an environmental studies major I hope to show ways in which we can improve the relationship with the military and environment.

In growing need to accommodate graduate students' housing issues from Humboldt State University as well as the need for urban revitalization projects in Old Town Eureka, ENST seniors James Bradas and Rebecca Ron partnered with Greenway Partners: an Arcata-based engineering design, consultancy, and facilitation firm to continue with the lead on this project. Through research within the Old Town quarter of Eureka, research in city, county, and state municipal code, and using the lived experiences of the Humboldt State domestic experience with the current housing market, a conceptual framework grew from a critical understanding about the community, place, and placement of prospective housing.

My service learning experience explores the role of diverse imaginaries in education. At the Arcata After School Program I am exploring educational imaginaries by engaging students of diverse age groups and backgrounds in integrated learning opportunities. In a system where 'objectivity' is largely valued over unique subjectivities, I am interested in deconstructing the value of 'objective' education and creating a space for subjective learning experiences.

As a senior in Environmental Studies I have chosen to complete my service learning capstone project at the Campus Center for Appropriate Technology (CCAT) since I am one of the co-directors managing the non-profit organization. CCAT is a student run sustainable living demonstration site that utilizes appropriate technology. While at CCAT I have analyzed and critiqued how social systems and natural systems overlay one another creating a sustainable relationship. Living lighter and in tune with the local environment is not only doable but rewarding and beneficial. My service learning project has helped to fill part of the gap between where I am now and where I aim to be professionally.

This project is one I have been working on with my internship at the Humboldt Center for Constitutional Rights. The emphasis is on police body cameras and the protocols or standard practices that are required. I have looked into several police departments (including some of our own in Humboldt County) to see what procedures, if any, are taken when recording before and afterwards. The purpose of my research is to educate/inform all on the footage that is captured in public and what is normally done.

The lack of tribally specific foster homes in Humboldt County is representative of the statistic that Indian children are three times likely to be placed in foster care, ninety percent of these placements are within non-native homes (CA Dept. of Social Services, 2002). This literature review will discuss the importance of having tribally specific foster homes, review tribal foster care recruitment strategies, and successful foster placement models for Native youth in agreement with ICWA objectives.

The major problems we face today are socially constructed and institutionally perpetuated. With the right approach Service Learning can play a critical role in affecting social change. Critical Service Learning informed by the Environmental Humanities offers a dynamic and interdisciplinary model for problem solving, and an effective mode of intervention. These ideas are explored using my Service Learning placement at Northcoast Environmental Center and my experience with the Humboldt State Environmental Studies curriculum.

I’ve partnered with the Yurok Social Services (YSS) department to develop the Yurok Social Services Internship Manual. As the largest federally recognized tribe in California with over 6000 enrolled members, interns placed within YSS have an opportunity to learn from and be exposed to a diverse community with varied Indigenous, Yurok worldview(s). The Yurok Tribe continues to suffer from the historical and ongoing impacts of colonialism, and as Indigenous peoples, they have also continued to thrive. The intent of this manual is to better orient and train incoming interns as to their roles and responsibilities as well as to provide an introduction to a Yurok worldview.

From our time at the Jefferson Center we have been exposed to a new form of community. The Jefferson Project located on the Westside of Eureka is an inclusive space that allows for numerous activities, workshops, events, after school child care, and volunteering. This location has transformed from an abandoned elementary school to a “clean, safe neighborhood dedicated to combatting urban blight” and revitalizing the local environment by fostering a sense community. Our experience at the center has allowed us to expand our academic lenses to applicable social justice scenarios.

The presentation of my research will document the process by which EcoNews, the bimonthly environmental publication produced by the Northcoast Environmental Center in Arcata, California, comes to fruition. I have gained experience in this topic through my internship with the Northcoast Environmental Center, where I help to produce EcoNews. Additionally, I will present on the history behind EcoNews, as it has been in operation since 1971 and is one of the longest-running bioregional publications in the nation.