Cameron Wallenbrock Education Coordinator and River Scientist
Anna Shampain River Scientist
Cameron and Anna served their first day as AmeriCorps members at Sierra Streams Institute on October 28th! They are excited to get to know our amazing network of supporters and volunteers so, they figured they would start with a brief introduction:
Cameron grew up in Napa, California where his parents started him in the wine industry, stomping grapes at the age of five. Then, when his mom joined an organic and biodynamically farmed winery, early ideas of responsible land stewardship began to swirl in his young mind. His career in the environmental world officially began while interning for the local resource conservation district. Here, he worked as a field technician on a project in a sustainable vineyard that attempted to optimize water conservation in the irrigation system. After high school, Cameron moved to Tacoma, Washington and began a degree in geology with the University of Puget Sound. During his four years, he worked with a new resource conservation district restoring a small piece of riparian land with the help of volunteers he recruited and organized. After graduating, he spent the summer in the vineyards before joining AmeriCorps to work with Sierra Streams Institute as the new Education Coordinator and River Scientist. He is now excited to study the living organisms that fill the space around us – as opposed to the rocks he loves – and to share his existing and new knowledge with our community.
Anna has had the privilege of learning and practicing freshwater ecology through work and research experiences with the Forest Service, Park Service and during her own thesis research in college. She has also been able to study shorebird migration in the Puget Sound and even traveled abroad to Australia for a field studies program exploring the rainforests and reefs of Australia. Anna loves to be outside whenever possible and worked as an outdoor trip leader and coordinator for her university, which allowed her to explore the Pacific Northwest throughout her undergraduate experience. After graduating this past spring, from the University of Puget Sound, Anna returned to her home state of California where she worked and lived in the Eastern Sierra restoring aquatic habitat for the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. She is excited to remain in close proximity to the Sierra this year and looking forward to all the cross-country skiing and backpacking opportunities nearby. For now, Anna is enjoying settling into Nevada City and attempting to make some very tasty sauerkraut.
Fun Fact
If you were a vegetable, which would you be?
Cam: Easy. A sweet potato. Why? Maybe because it’s my favorite food. Maybe because it’s not much to look at, then you sink into that scrumptious inside and learn what this bad boy is all about.
Anna: I think I would be a beet, they are pretty hardy, they are versatile, and are such a lovely color.