Interns and Alumni

Paige is excited to take what she’s learning as a Water First intern and combine it with her growing interest in traditional Anishinaabe ways. That mix of knowledge, she thinks, could be the key to solving a lot of issues. “It’s new knowledge – I’m learning a lot,” she said of the water quality training.

Paige is currently working as the environmental field technician at Wahnapitae First Nation. She is also attending Laurentian University part-time, pursuing a degree in Restoration Ecology.

I was enrolled in an online solar installation and maintenance program delivered through Gezhtoojig before starting the Internship. Honestly, I didn’t think much about this area of work, but the posting was brought to my attention a day before closing. With my past environmental-related training experiences, I figured this was the next progression in gaining more skills that are transferable.

Water is all our lives – it’s what sustains all living things on mother earth. My community is surrounded by big industry, ie. forestry, mining and the like. Those industries along with many others impact the quality of our water and our ability in the future to sustain our communities. I believe it’s our duty and way of life to ensure that we protect life, for our present and our future generations.

There are so many opportunities this program has opened my eyes to. I believe with my previous Indigenous environmental keepers training, the solar program training, past life/career experiences, and with Water First’s water quality and operator training portions of this particular program have given me the opportunity to further advance the people within my territory to become self sustaining and keepers of the land.

I’m never too old to learn new things – spoken from a man without a plan.