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Home My WebLink AboutErin Halcomb-Conservation Commission City of Ashland 51 Winburn Way Ashland. OR 07520 May 3, 2018 To Whom It May Concern, I am grateful for the opportunity to serve on the Conservation Commission. This opportunity matches my intellectual interests, my ethics and skills; and so, it is with delight that I write to you and introduce myself. Currently, I work as the Associate Director of the Taft-Nicholson Environmental Humanities Education Center. The Center is a fledgling field station that seeks to bridge the arts and sciences, and to deepen personal connections to nature. My enviable role has been to coordinate programs for a wide variety of audiences. The Center hosts student classes, writers' workshops, symposiums, board meetings and artists-in-residence. Over the past six years, I have developed natural history excursions and established a guest lecture series to educate our visitors about the area. And, closest to my heart because of my background in AineriCorps, I have also initiated service-learning projects. Our guests have volunteered on public and private lands to: pull noxious weeds, plant willows, monitor stream flows, modify or remove fencuig to promote wildlife passage, and survey for birds and amphibians. My efforts to integrate the Center within its surrounding community, and to foster stewardslip in its programming, is a reflection of my collaborative spirit and environmental ethics. At the Taft- Nicholson Center, I also worked to make the remote property more sustainable by developing a recycling and composting program, and by instituting low-lighting to protect dark skies and reserve energy use. I educate every user group about the local ecology, and about the Center's wise-Ilse practices. I aiii proud of these accomplishments. I would like to do more for my own community. I moved to Ashland in 2001 when I Joined AmeriCorps. Thus, began my career in natural resource management and outdoor education. My crew was tasked with planting trees, clearing trails, fighting wildfires and grubbing weeds. We also took schoolchildren to catch invertebrates and watch salmon spawn. After two years of service, I was hired by the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest. My primary responsibility for the agency was to staff a fire lookout, but other duties entailed: prescribed burning, fuels reduction, campground maintenance and wildlife surveys. In 2010, I was detailed to assist with the high-profile forest restoration project in the Ashland watershed (AFR). As the agency's Implementation Lead, I traversed areas of significance within the project boundaries and provided feedback to the AIR partnership on riparian and landslide- hazard zones, old growth stands, and the locales of rare flora and fauna. I also collaborated on wildlife research projects on fishers and flying squirrels. I left the Forest Service after a decade in order to attend graduate school. I chose to study the Environmental Humanities because it exists at the nexus of humanities, ecology and art. I'm committed to the conservation of open spaces and native species, and I believe in creative and interdisciplinary approaches. My employment history has granted me extensive time in diverse habitats, a strong understanding of inter-species relationships, and strong sense of purpose from integrating communities with their local ecology. Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to talking with you. Sincerely, Erin Halcomb II Erin M. Halcomb 78 4°i St. Ashland, OR 97520 • 541) 951-4656 • erin_halcomb@yalioo.com Experience CURRENT EMPLOYMENT Associate Director, Taft Nicholson Environmental Humanities Center, University of Utah. The Center seeks to bridge die sciences, the arts and the humanities. As the Associate Director, I coordinate: class schedules, guest speakers, service projects and the Artists-in-Residence program. I introduce visitors to the ecology of the Greater Yellowstone through field activities such as bird- watching, canoeing and hiking. I mentor student interns and supervise four employees. 2011 - NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT Wildlife Biology. ' Small Mammal Live-Trapper, Oregon State University. Crew leader for arboreal mammal surveys. Research attempts to understand if forest management affects the prey base of die Northern spotted owl and the Pacific Fisher. Also led crews (and volunteers) for The Nature Conservancy and PNW Research Station. Spring & fall trapping. 2010 - 2013, 2016 Fisher Trapping and Telemetry, USES. Employee and contractor to live-trap and collar Pacific fishers, and to use telemetry to locate spring denning sites. Dens and rest sites were removed from treatment areas. 2012, 2014 - 2017 Forestry: Implementation Lead, Ashland Forestry Resilience Project, USFS. Agency lead for the implementation of collaborative watershed restoration project. Duties included identification of resource values and forest diseases, and training of workforce. Began working for the USFS as a fire lookout in 2003. Over time I gained proficiency in forest management practices and documentation, biophysical monitoring, and wildlife surveys. 2003-2013 National Service Volunteer, AmeviCorps. Served for two years in southern Oregon. Primary responsibility was leading college students in fieldwork such as: wildfire suppression, trail construction, weed eradication and assorted forest restoration activities. Also led the Corps natural resource education program. 2001- 2002 FREELANCE WRITING Jorrmalism. High CountryNews. Published several essays and 12 articles on natural resource issues. Topics have ranged from: the genetics of Yellowstone's wolves to a profile of author John Nichols, and from an essay on being a fire lookout to a Q/A with the lead author of a controversial study on salvage logging. 2007 - BackpackerMagazine. Web article on harvesting and cooking wild mushrooms. 2009 Literaryj'ourvah. White6sb Review `Diamond Dust," 2015; SaltFrron4 "Phalarope" 2013; MappiggMeaning, "Bombus Love," 2018. Reuuagine Western Landscapes, "On Wilderness," University of Utah Press 2018. SOCIAL RESEARCH & POLICY Interviewer, Alliance ofForest Workers and Harvesters. Collaborated with the University of Oregon to interview forest workers. I compiled data and educated public officials and policy- makers about labor conditions in local, regional and national settings. 2005 INVITATIONS & AWARDS Fellow, Hlgb CountryLnstituteforjournalismandNahualResovrces. Scholarship to attend 9 days of learning on climate change, water rights, wildlife and wilderness in Montana. 2007 Fellow, Sustainable Northwest Scholarship to attend environmental policy sessions in Washington D.C. and to attend labor hearings in Eugene, OR. 2005, 2006 Speaker, 50th AnniversaryofThe Wilderness Act National Conference. Invited by author Terry Tempest Williams to share her keynote address. New Mexico, 2014 Collaborator, The Traveling Feast On the Road and at the Table with My Heroes. Joined author Rick Bass on a book project to interview: Doug Peacock, Peter Matthiessen, John Berger, Barry Lopez and Gary Snyder. 2013, 2014 (Book to be released this June.) Artist-in Residence, Spring Creek Project Ten-d ay residency at the H J. Andrews Experimental Forest. Oregon. January, 2015 Education UNIVERSITY OF UTAH Master ofArtr Environmental Humanities. Full fellowship. Responsibilities included collecting oral histories for The American West Center. Masters thesis is a collection of nonfiction essays that detail my experiences on a fire lookout and in wildlife biology. Salt Lake City, UT. 2013 EMORY UNIVERSITY Bachelor ofAris: Creative Writing major, Environmental Studies co-major. Full tuition scholarship. Thesis work detailed a young man's struggle with Toxic Metal Syndrome and discussed environmental pollutants and their consequences on human health. Atlanta, GA. 2000 ADDITIONAL TRAINING Siskiyou Field Institute: Enrolled in 3-day course on bird taxonomy, a 2-clay course on bumble bees and a 2-day course on licliens. Southern Oregon University: Audited classes in Ornithology, Feature Writing and Literary Nonfiction. Western Forestry & Conservation Association: 7-day course on identifying and managing forest insects and disease. UC Davis, Tomales Bay Writer's Workshop: 5-day course on nonfiction writing. National Wildfire Coordinating Group: 7-day course on intermediate wildland fire behavior. Society for Northwestern Vertebrate Biology: Annual conference attendee to assist with tJSFS presentations on fishers. VOLUNTEER WORK Rogue Valley Audubon: Winter raptor surveys, and annual bird-a-tlion fundraiser. Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge: Mountain bluebird and Arctic Grayling surveys; Lesser Scaup banding (lrive. Centennial Valley Association: Advisory Board Member. Southern Oregon Jobs with Justice: Homeless shelter volunteer. References Mary Tull: Director of the Taft-Nicholson Center for 5 years. 801) 864- 9622 mherdtull@ginail.com Bill West Manager of the Red Rock Lakes Wildlife Refuge. 406) 579- 0633 bill _west@Iws.gov Shelley McCarl: Artist in Residence, Taft-Nicholson Center. 208) 283- 4158 slicllcy.mc(-arl@Qnlail.com Todd Wilson: PNW Research Station, Wildlife Biologist. 541) 609- 8783 twilson@fs.fed.us SylviaTorti: Dean of the Honors College, university of Utali. 801) 718- 7276 sylvia.torti@utali.edu CITY OF -ASH LAN D APPLICATION FOR APPOINTMENT TO CITY COMMISSION/COMMITTEE Please type or print answers to the following questions and submit to the City Recorder at City Hall, 20 E Main Street, or email melissa.huhtala(i ,ashland.or.us. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact the City Recorder at 488-5307. Attach additional sheets if necessary. Name Requesting to serve on: (Commission/Committee) Address Occupation Phone: Home Work Email Fax 1. Education Background What schools have you attended? What degrees do you hold? BA in Creative Writinq and Environmental Sta What additional training or education have you had that would apply to this position? I have advanced traininq in wildland fire, and forest insects & disease. I also hams 2. Related Experience What prior work experience have you had that would help you if you were appointed to this position? I worked for the Roque River Siskivou National Forest, which included helpinq o0 AmeriCorps and my crew focused on natural resource management (trails, wildfja valley. I have worked in educating college students and adults about ecology arld Do you feel it would be advantageous for you to have further training in this field, such as attending conferences or seminars? Why? ~1, 3. Interests Why are you applying for this position? 4. Availability Are you available to attend special meetings, in addition to the regularly scheduled meetings? Do you prefer day or evening meetings? 5. Additional Information How long have you lived in this community? Please use the space below to summarize any additional qualifications you have for this position I worked on AFR from 2010 - 2011. Through this collaborative partnership, I work have worked with our students to be make the facility, more sustainable. Please Date Signature ~r,