Environmental career brings many challenges

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Naomi Williams, 28, an assistant environmental technologist from Walpole Island First Nation, credits a federal government program called BEAHR with expanding her career options and providing an opportunity to help her preserve her people's natural resource heritage.

BEAHR (Building Environmental Aboriginal Human Resources) is designed to increase Aboriginal people's employment prospects in the environmental sector. It consists of an internship and wage subsidy program for post-secondary graduates that provides both work and networking experience. It can cover as much as one-third of an intern's salary.

Williams recently completed her internship begun in October 2003 with the Walpole Island Heritage Centre's Natural Resources and Environmental Division.

She said she had been "under-employed" in a three-month contract job at the Heritage Centre when her employer discovered the BEAHR Web site.

"One of the qualifications for interns is that they're either unemployed or under-employed," she added. "After the internship ends, the employer makes a decision whether they want to hire me further. Maybe offer me another contract position, but ideally they want the employer to offer you a permanent position."

Now Williams has her sights set on an "environmental officer or an environmental co-ordinator position" at the Heritage Centre that she said would be posted in mid-October and she planned to apply for it. "I feel very confident about it."

She said her impetus for an environmental career came from fishing and hunting with her grandfather and other family members during childhood in an area rich with abundant natural resources.

"I am from the Potawatomi, Ojibwa and Odawa tribes and a member of the Crane Clan.

"It was in these surroundings where the Elders taught me many lessons and shared their traditional knowledge."

She also pointed out that in her culture it is the women's responsibility to protect and keep pure the water. In fact, Williams said the "Ojibwa female connection to water" is the most satisfying part of her job.

As Williams matured, however, she saw numerous environmental problems such as chemical spills into the rivers and habitat loss threatening their traditional way of life.

"Then I no longer took the resources for granted."

A strong desire to protect the natural resources at home set Williams in pursuit of an environmental career. She graduated from Sarnia's Lambton College in July 2002.

While away, she studied water and waste water quality, air quality, toxicology, waste management, environmental law, soils, chemistry and sustainable development. The program was three years with a 4-month co-operative education option.

She explained the four months' paid work experience before graduation "makes you more competitive in the marketplace."

Williams plans to further her education, and is considering a new degree program in environmental health and safety offered at Lambton College in September 2005. She is considering working while going to school part-time.

"Not many people at Walpole Island are in environmental fields," she said. "I'm one of the few with an environmental backround. I would like to expand my outside knowledge and bring it back to the community."

Williams has worked "on and off" at the Walpole Island Heritage Centre in student and contract jobs since she was a high school senior.

"These positions involved aquatic and species at risk surveys, invasive species maintenance, research and public education," she said.

Over the summer of 2001, she worked as an environmental health and safety assistant with the Peel District School Board in Mississauga. That experience included hazardous waste disposal, indoor air quality monitoring, preparing material safety data sheets and conducting inspections.

Williams is particularly pleased with the growth she has experienced more recently through the BEAHR internship, explaining the wage subsidy proram allowed her "the opportunity to develop my skills in the environmental field."

With full-time employment came opportunities to conduct presentations, write articles and broadcast on a monthly radio program.

Williams' internship at the Heritage Centre involved two main projects, she said. One was a study of pesticide use, which was launched in response to concerns of the First Nation about the effects of farming on wetlands. The other study was conducted to "quantify the level of mercury exposure experienced by the Aboriginal community through the consumption of fish."

As a Native person, Williams said she brings a unique perspective to this kind of study, as she understands that many First Nations are dependent on freshwater fish in their diet.

"Most existing fish consumption advisories do not take into consideration the cultural differences between First Nation and non-First Nation people," she said.

"The Heritage Centre is working on a study that can be used to develop guidelines and obtain data that reflects the eating patterns of Walpole Island."

The significance of these projects becomes apparent when Williams reveals the "world-class" wetlands she has been working in comprise 15,000 acres, while another 14,000 acres are given over to agriculture.

Williams likes it that in the summer she spends 40 per cent of her time in the field. Much of the winter is spent indoors in "community interaction" and following up leads, she said.

Another benefit came to Williams through the BEAHR program.

She was selected from 30 intern applicants to attend the GLOBE 2004 Conference and Trade Show on the Business of the Environment, which was held in Vancouver in March.

That gave her exposure to an international perspective on corporate developments in the areas of urban planning, energy policy, climate change and sustainability. Williams described it as a great networking opportunity.

For information on the BEAHR internship program, visit the Wb site www.beahr.com.