“I wanna make sure that my children & grandchildren have healthy water if that means that I have to track it to the source that that’s what I will do.”

Chris saw the Water First Internship as a chance to learn valuable skills and lay the groundwork for a career in his home community. Chris was hired by Aundeck Omni Kaning (AOK) after the internship and is now working as an OIT at the local water treatment plant.

Initially overwhelmed at the amount of information involved in testing water, twelve weeks in Chris started to feel comfortable with the work. “It’s really great to get so much hands-on experience,” he said. “For me, hands-on is so much easier to learn.”

“I like it because it’s environmentally based,” he said. “As I’m getting older I’m starting to think about the generations that are coming. This is important work.”