By Grace Hubenthal
Howdy! As a native Skagit Valley girl, I am thrilled to return to my roots and help out with such a noble cause as salmon conservation. I've recently breezed back into town from extensive traveling to be warmly welcomed by the awesome staff, board members and SFEG community.
After leaving the nest as a MV High School graduate, I completed a Bachelors of Science and a Masters of Teaching at The Evergreen State College in Olympia. Between my Bachelors and Masters, I traveled far and wide as an ornithologist working for many nonprofits, state and federal agencies. Of all the great experiences I've had, my favorites were working with North Pacific seabirds on the Hawaiian atolls and peregrine falcons in the red rock deserts of the Colorado Plateau.
Grace inspects the wing feathers of a spotted towhee during a banding project at
Skagit Wildlife Management Area in January 2002.
For the next few months, I'll be working as an education and administrative assistant for SFEG. As a dedicated environmental educator I am excited to be working on the Stormwater Education Program, a partnership with the City of Mount Vernon. I have also learned quite a lot about event organizing, fundraising, and grant research.
As shown in the photo, I have not abandoned my interests in birds. In my spare time, I will be using my bird banding skills to research avian health and populations within the local riparian areas. Salmon are not the only ones to benefit from SFEG's restoration efforts. Por la Vida!
