Boots on the ground: WCC as a stepping-stone to disaster management career

A decade ago, Nina Rubenstein was swinging a pick-mattock on a Washington Conservation Corps restoration crew. Today she serves as the emergency manager for Providence St. Joseph Health’s Oregon region. It all started with saying “yes” to some exciting – and challenging – opportunities as an AmeriCorps member.

Nina grew up in the world of land conservation. Her father’s experience in the legal arena exposed her to the environmental field, and Nina joined our WCC in 2009 to gain hands-on experience. But she was further enticed by a new angle: the prospect of disaster response deployments.

Nina served on a restoration crew during her
WCC AmeriCorps member days. Photo
contributed by Nina Rubenstein.

During her first year as a WCC AmeriCorps member, Nina deployed to Mississippi to assist communities after devastating tornadoes. The deployment call arrived just before a major stand-up comedy show she was set to open, in front of an audience that included Bill Gates. “I had five minutes to decide whether to deploy, and I weighed what I would have to miss back home,” she said. “I decided to pass up the show, and disaster response turned out to be a calling. That’s pretty cool.”

A formative first - and second - deployment

She removed debris from land where homes had once stood, and led weekly safety meetings. Survivors who owned a crawfish business hosted a full crawfish boil for members at the camp where members were staying during deployment.

“I remember it being my first immersive experience in the South,” she said. Its lasting impact made her want to continue serving on disaster responses. “I decided I would not only do a second year in the WCC, but I would deploy again at any opportunity,” she said.

That opportunity arose when 360 confirmed tornadoes tore across the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern regions of the United States in just three days. Nina and WCC’s disaster response teams arrived in northern Alabama a month later, charged with managing a volunteer resource center.

The disaster response teams also needed a logistics coordinator. Already serving as an assistant supervisor and ready for more responsibility, Nina jumped at the chance. Leading the administrative and logistical side of the deployment meant making many phone calls to match field projects with the skill level of the volunteers.

“It was really gratifying to spend time on the phone with people who felt like they had been forgotten,” she said.

Disaster response in a new setting: a classroom

The second deployment to Alabama helped solidify her calling to disaster response. “I saw that the logistical side of things could be a much broader path, and I realized ‘I want to know what path that is,’” she said.

After returning from Alabama, Nina researched options for finishing her undergraduate degree and landed on the Homeland Security Studies program at Tulane University in New Orleans. A few months later, she finished her second service term in the WCC and headed off to Tulane University.

Nina poses at Department of Homeland Security's Center
for Domestic Preparedness in Anniston, Ala. She has visited
the training facility for healthcare emergency management
twice for different courses. Photo contributed by Nina Rubenstein.

After a deep dive into emergency management curriculum—including an in-depth study of the effects of Hurricane Katrina—Nina moved back to the West Coast and secured an emergency management coordinator position with PeaceHealth, a hospital system based in Vancouver, Wash.

She put her experience and new degree to use, building an emergency management program for the two hospitals in southwest Washington. A year and a half later, a colleague from the hospital emergency management field contacted her about a management position at Providence Health & Services in Portland. She hopped on the phone to learn more, and a month later, started her emergency manager position.

Expanding her skills, with a nod to AmeriCorps service

Nina’s team at Providence St. Joseph Health is in charge of emergency management plans for six hospitals and more than 100 clinics and acute care centers. Typical projects include developing full-scale exercises to demonstrate preparedness, including staff training, and building a disaster equipment cache for the region she serves.

She also develops protocols regarding how hospitals manage medical and trauma surge capacity—when patients occupy all beds and services might need to be scaled up to meet the demand. To prepare for mass casualty incidents, Nina designs and leads exercises like “15 ‘till 50,” where the hospital has 15 minutes to prepare to receive 50 incoming patients.

Looking back, the days of waking up at 6 a.m. to meet her WCC restoration crew in Renton provided pivotal experience along her vocational journey.

“In school, and more so now, I found that I knew what I was talking about because I had done it. Applying for jobs and school, I could say I had two years’ work experience in this field, in a supervisory role,” she said. “That was absolutely a leg up in the job market.”

Fast forward to 2019: WCC deploys to Iowa

On July 8, 2019, 10 WCC AmeriCorps members and three crew supervisors deployed to Fremont and Mills Counties in Iowa, to support communities after devastating flooding in spring 2019. Members are spending the month assisting homeowners and operating a disaster response center. Keeping safety a top priority in summer heat, teams are taking turns hydrating and resting, and donning protective Tyvek suits to conduct mold suppression and remove water-damaged material from affected homes.

 Five of our WCC crews are designated disaster response crews, though any crew has the potential to deploy. Our Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) provides disaster services in Washington and beyond, assisting communities after fires, floods, hurricanes, tornados, oil spills, and more.

WCC AmeriCorps members remove invasive species at Camp Murray.
Photo by Taylor Belisle.

Apply to WCC today

Do you want to gain hands-on environmental experience, build your résumé, and make a difference in your community? WCC is currently recruiting for the 2019-2020 AmeriCorps service year! Learn more and apply online: www.ecology.wa.gov/wcc.

Boots on the ground: Empowering leaders through environmental service

Climate in Washington matters. Ahead of Earth Day, our Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) is sharing how our AmeriCorps members are helping prepare for the future with solutions rooted in empowerment and environmental service.

Developing educational curriculum

What might “Sammy the Salmon” write to their friend “Reggie the Bald Eagle” on a postcard? AmeriCorps Individual Placement (IP) member Kelsey Chun developed a new Eagle Watcher’s program this winter to teach fourth-grade students about the life cycles of these important creatures. She serves as a Youth and Community Engagement Coordinator with Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Kelsey uses the pen-pal storyline between the salmon and eagle to illustrate their migration journeys, and mutual dependence on the Skagit River - ancestral land of the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe. Climate change affects eagles’ survival in many ways, including the bodies of water upon which they rely for fish and other food.

Kelsey serves as a Youth and Community Engagement
Coordinator for Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest
through WCC's IP program. Photos from Kelsey Chun.

Many of our IP members educate adults and children about wildlife, our local landscape, and climate change. Making content accessible is a priority.

“Based on feedback from the teachers and their ideas for new content, I included information related to landforms and presented many of the key vocabulary terms in both Spanish and English,” Kelsey said. “Madison Elementary is a dual language school, and the students were excited about sharing their knowledge of words for animals and the land: la águila, el salmón, las migraciones, las montañas, los ríos.”

Collaboration in restoration projects

As a keystone species and a cornerstone of the cultural identity of Pacific Northwest Indian tribes, salmon are a big deal! From local non-profits to government entities, so many people are working to make sure salmon survive and thrive. As climate change increases water temperatures across Washington, collaborating to restore and preserve salmon habitat is even more important.

A prime example comes out of Port Hadlock, where North Olympic Salmon Coalition (NOSC) sponsors one of our restoration field crews. In December 2018, the crew added native trees and shrubs to Snow Creek-Salmon Creek Unit, a site where the two summer chum and coho-bearing streams converge to enter Discovery Bay in Jefferson County. The project is a 15-year effort to restore the riparian and nearshore habitat. Partnerships between NOSC, WCC, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Jefferson Land Trust, Jefferson County Conservation District, and others, is a huge part of the project’s success. 

“This [site] was originally planted by a WCC crew I led in 2003,” said WCC Restoration Specialist and Crew Supervisor Owen French. “Since then, projects have extended out to the estuary and bay, and miles upstream on both public and private lands.” Habitats at the site include scrub-shrub, marsh, and forested wetland, wet upland meadows, and estuary.

AmeriCorps members serving on our NOSC restoration crew
plant native trees and shrubs at Snow Creek-Salmon Creek unit.
Photo contributed by Owen French.

Members serving with our NOSC restoration crew contribute to restoration projects by planting thousands of native trees and shrubs. Through these experiences, our members gain an understanding of the importance of collaborative relationships in long-term restoration efforts.

"The relationships I have developed let me view ecological restoration as a holistic process…serving with NOSC lets me see the evolution of watershed recovery through multiple stages and seasons, talking with employees who bring their own specialties and perspectives to the table," said WCC member Jose Garrido.

Since October, the crew has planted nearly 15,000 trees for NOSC and partner organizations at sites across Clallam and Jefferson Counties!

Empowering leaders of all types

We believe successful solutions come from diverse perspectives, talents, and backgrounds. In the WCC, this means welcoming everyone to the table, or rather, welcoming everyone to the power tool, to the opportunity to try on a leadership role for size, and to spend a year of their lives improving our environment.

One leadership opportunity we offer members is the assistant supervisor role on field crews. Selected by the crew supervisor, the assistant leads their crew on select trail or restoration projects, and attends a dedicated leadership training with other assistants from crews across the state. 

Assistant Supervisor Olivia Sohn uses a metal cutter to break up large metal debris found along the
Pickering Barn Trail in Issaquah. Photo by AmeriCorps member Ryan Grate. 

Olivia Sohn, a first-year member from Renton, is the assistant supervisor on an Issaquah- based crew completing trail and restoration projects across King County. “This year I've had the opportunity to build my confidence working with power tools and leading the crew. It feels great to improve these skills while restoring stream habitat in Washington,” said Olivia.

Mentoring the next generation of environmental leaders and providing a foundation of hands-on experience is the core of WCC’s mission. We are grateful for our many alum supporting and leading solutions-oriented projects within environmental organizations across the state. We look forward to seeing the creative solutions our members will go on to implement!

Join WCC

We are currently accepting applications for 3-month member positions! Learn more and apply on our website. Ecology's Washington Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps program, provides hands-on experience, field skills, and training opportunities to young adults between 18 and 25 and military veterans. WCC consists of three subprograms: the original WCC, Veteran Conservation Corps and Puget SoundCorps. 

Wetlands around the world protect communities while helping fight climate change



When the Triple Creek wetland restoration effort began (left, 2016), vertical cut banks of up to 10 feet kept Myers Creek disconnected from its floodplain. After building structures that mimic beavers, the cutbanks are dramatically reduced and the water much closer to the floodplain (right, 2018). Photo courtesy Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlights Alliance.

As the world grapples with climate change, those commemorating World Wetlands Day Feb. 2 are highlighting the importance of restoring, conserving, and wisely using wetlands because they can help reduce floods, relieve droughts, and buffer coastlines from extreme weather.

In the state of Washington, we work every day to protect and manage wetlands. The environmental and economic benefits they provide nature, our communities, and way of life are immeasurable.

More likely than not, there’s a wetland near where you live, work, or play. Our state mandate is to ensure Washington does not lose any more acres of wetland and the functions they provide—as well as restore, enhance, and preserve these important resources.

Wetlands: a natural solution
Wetlands provide important habitat for salmon that Washington’s endangered resident orca whales need to survive. We fund riparian restoration work in agricultural areas to benefit salmon.

Wetlands also help filter and clean our drinking water. They control flooding and erosion while providing habitat for other fish and wildlife species. Washington’s wetlands help maintain a safe, healthy environment and economy.



Wetland connected to Little Spokane River.

In Washington, we recognize the harm climate change can have on wetlands—from sea water intrusion to water chemistry changes to even being the source of greenhouse gases when improperly disturbed.

There are also numerous ways wetlands help us cope with climate change including sequestering or storing:

• Carbon efficiently while emitting little methane.
• Twice as much carbon in coastal wetland soil than in all the world’s tropical forests.
• More carbon than they emit as wetlands mature.
• Large amounts of carbon in tree biomass, especially forested wetlands.
• Up to 700 billion tons of carbon around the world—including 96 million tons of carbon every year.
• Water that is released later in the season to mitigate the effects of drought.

Washington community helping restore degraded wetland system

Many state residents are passionate about protecting existing wetlands while others are getting their hands wet and dirty, working hard to restore wetlands that have been degraded. There’s no better example than the Triple Creek wetland restoration project in north-central Washington.

Located on Myers Creek in Okanogan County near the town of Chesaw, the Triple Creek project is part of a privately-owned forested wetland named after three main creeks: Myers, Bolster, and Thorp.



Triple Creek restoration site in

Okanogan County

Historically, Myers Creek cyclically spilled over its banks and inundated the Triple Creek floodplain, including a series of beaver ponds on the creek. However, the stream lost its connection to the floodplain in the late 1990s after a rain-on-snow event combined with other factors and left an incision trench with left vertical cut banks of up to 10 feet.

The beaver ponds became breached and drained, no longer providing grade control or covering large areas of the floodplain. As the now-drier soils started favoring invasive plant species, a thriving great blue heron rookery was abandoned and the wetland became less able to filter and store water.

Triple Creek land stewards join local, state, and federal partnership



Triple Creek in Okanogan County.

The Triple Creek land stewards, who invested in 500 acres together, were disappointed to see a large part of their thriving wetland dry up. After exploring a variety of restoration options, the group selected the local non-profit entity Okanogan Highlands Alliance (OHA) to lead the restoration effort.

OHA, in partnership with Trout Unlimited, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center, worked with the land stewards to find the most cost effective ways to address the wetland degradation. The team seeks to improve hydrologic connectivity between Myers Creek and the adjacent wetland, improve fish and wildlife habitat including re-establishing beaver, and restore native wetland vegetation.

OHA secured community-based, federal and state funding—including funds from the settlement agreement reached between Ecology and the owners of the Buckhorn Mountain gold mine for environmental remediation. In addition, local groups, clubs, students, and community members have so far provided more than 1,400 volunteer hours to help restore the wetland.

Engineered beaver dams helping restore Triple Creek wetland


From left to right: In August 2016, Triple Creek restoration team installs structure mimicking a beaver dam. In May 2017, the red arrow would be underwater as the structure is overtopped. In August 2017, the structure is adaptively managed to extend its functional life. By May 2018, Myers Creek comes close to spilling over its banks onto the floodplain. Photo courtesy Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlands Alliance.

The restoration team is focused on reducing the severe stream channel incision that disconnected Myers Creek from the floodplain. The project design mimics the work of beavers by using lines of wooden posts that are woven with branches to slow and redirect stream flows as needed. The structures help capture sediment to build the streambed back up and raise the water table. They also help make the channel longer while reducing its slope, making the system more stable.

By emulating the effect of beavers to slow stream flows, capture sediment, and connect the water with the land, the project aims to improve water quality and increase water storage capacity. Re-establishing beavers, and the plant life they need, is a key component of mitigating local drought and fire issues—increasing resilience to climate change. Wetlands help store water that becomes available later in the season to support streams and underground sources of water, and to offset the effects of drought.

Triple Creek wetland project achieving success

The first structures were installed in the field season before two years of intense flooding, creating optimal conditions for transforming the site. As Myers Creek interacts with the human-made beaver dams, the team's objectives for the stream are being realized more rapidly than expected. In places, the streambed at the site is more than four feet higher now than when work started in 2016—with a 23 percent increase in the overall channel length of Myers Creek within the project area.


Beaver at the restoration site captured on wildlife camera in fall 2017. Natural beaver activity will be critical to long-term project success.

The team continues to repair and enhance instream structures and is dedicated to establishing a healthy riparian plant community. A diverse and robust buffer zone will not only improve native vegetation but will encourage beavers to recolonize the area, and modify and maintain the site into the future.

Beavers have already shown increased interest in the project site, starting just a few days after construction began in 2016. Beavers even wove a post line themselves in 2017, before the project team could get to it!

By Curt Hart, Ecology, and Julie Vanderwal, Okanogan Highlands Alliance