Tag Archives: The Evergreen State College

Interview with Mikala Waldrup, SPP’s Ecological Program Coordinator

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in Conservation Programs Partners

We sat down with Mikala to learn more about her role at SPP, as well as her SPP supported thesis work. 

Mikala Waldrup with a Western Pond turtle. Photo by Xitlali Herrera.

Could you tell us a little bit about your background and what brought you to Evergreen and SPP?  

After undergrad I joined a Conservation Corps, which was an AmeriCorps program that mainly focused on conservation, disaster relief, and wildland firefighting and fire mitigation. I spent three years with that program, mostly doing conservation, stewardship, and learning about management practices and restoration ecology through hands-on practice. But I didn’t feel like I had the science background, or the educational background, and I felt like to be more marketable to potential employers I wanted to pursue a master’s degree. 

 I also love learning, and I felt ready and excited to go back to school. I wanted to move the Pacific Northwest and Evergreen just spoke the most to me. My aunt used to live out here in Washington, and I would visit in the summers in high school. I fell in love with the flora and landscapes that are out here, and it felt right. I really love the Evergreen model in terms of not having grades or tests, and the learning community that it can create.  

I was looking for a new job in the transition and the SPP position that I’m currently in was open. I love doing environmental interpretation and education, and I also love doing hands-on conservation work. Getting to work with the western pond turtles and also getting to lead educational modules, seminars, and workshops has just been a dream come true for me.  

Could you expand a little bit on your program and the work you do with SPP?  

As the Ecological Program Coordinator, I facilitate the Western Pond turtle recovery program and coordinate the ecological programs at Cedar Creek Corrections Center.  

The western pond turtle is one of two native turtles in Washington, and it is afflicted by a shell disease. It’s caused by a fungus (Emydomyces) that eats away at the keratin in the shells. It creates pits and lesions, and when that happens, it can create a fluid sack underneath the turtle’s shell. This can press against the lungs or the spinal cord as the turtle is trying to heal itself. If it’s left untreated it can kill the turtles. Wildlife biologists with Fish and Wildlife go out and catch the turtles in the wild, assess them in the field for shell disease, and then bring them to vet partners where they undergo CT scans. Infected turtles go through surgical debridement during which affected parts of the shell are removed. They then fill it with bone cement similar to how a filling is done in dental work. After they’ve been in care at the zoo and the vets for a period of time, they come to Cedar Creek for longer-term care. The technicians feed them daily, clean their enclosures, monitor health, and maintain environmental conditions. 

My piece of the puzzle is coordinating that effort between all the partners (Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, PAWS, The Oregon Zoo, and Cedar Creek Corrections Center) and the technicians. Each week I go into the facility and lead education, and we talk about the turtle’s recovery. We note if there’s any health concerns, take pictures, and weigh the turtles. I also bring in outside partners to give the technicians a more well-rounded picture of the full recovery and the broader partnership.  

Western Pond turtle exhibiting signs of shell disease. Photo by Xitlali Herrera.

You also are doing an SPP supported thesis in restoration work. We’d love to hear more about that.  

Yeah, so I am doing a thesis on Oregon White Oaks (Quercus garryana), which is the only native oak species here in Washington, and their relationship to prescribed fire. Oregon white oaks are a transition species, meaning that they typically inhabit areas between open prairies to a more closed canopy forest. Conifer encroachment and fire suppression have really put the species at risk. I’m studying the effects of prescribed fire on both mature and immature (seedlings and saplings) white oaks.  

SPP grows this species in conservation nurseries at Stafford Creek (SCCC), Washington Corrections Center (WCC), and Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). I think there’s several thousand that have been sowed within the last year, and they will be grown and planted back out into the prairies in oak savannah and oak woodlands here in Western Washington. My thesis is related to prairie oak restoration work. 

Mikala doing thesis field work at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). Photo by JBLM staff.

What are you hoping to do with your degree after Evergreen? 

Get a job (laughs). I would love to go into something related to restoration ecology or fire ecology. Ideally, I would be able to do some hands-on work, and my most ideal position would look something like half field/half office. I’d like to be involved in decision-making regarding restoration practices happening in the field. I also really love the work that SPP does and would love to continue incorporating ecological restoration with the human side of it—the human restoration and healing that can happen through nature. So, if there’s a way to marry all of those things that’s really a dream for me.  

What is your favorite reptile or amphibian?  

You know I wasn’t really into them before this position! I think turtles are pretty cool and yeah, I guess I would say the Western Pond turtle because it’s the species that I have worked most closely with and they’re just really cute. The corners of their mouths are turned up, so they always look like they’re smiling. They’re very photogenic whether or not they are smiling, maybe that’s anthropomorphizing them, but they’re a really docile, calm species. They have a lot to teach us in terms of the pace at which they move, as they are a slow growing species. They move slowly; they live long lives. They do everything really slowly. The shell disease comes on slowly. The treatment of it is slow. The recovery is slow. They have something to teach us in terms of moving slowly through our days and in our society. 

What kind of things do you like to do in your free time? 

I love to garden, do yoga, and watercolor. I also love exploring trails and our natural areas here. Grad school doesn’t provide a lot of time for extracurriculars or hobbies, but it is really nice to have a few things that bring me a lot of joy and stress relief. I also love making lots of vegan recipes.  

Anything else you’d like the readers to know?  

I think I just really want to emphasize the SPP model and how transformative it is—the partnership between biologists, veterinary partners, incarcerated technicians, our DOC partners, the coordinators, and SPP staff. The way the SPP model is built everyone should be benefiting if it’s working correctly, and if anyone within the partnership is not benefiting there’s something going wrong. And I just think that that model where the partnership is the project is so cool. Getting to work with such a diverse group of people with different backgrounds is something that I’m so grateful for, and I’m very grateful for the support that SPP has given me throughout my grad school career. I’m grateful for the gift of presence from the technicians I work with. I just want to express my gratitude for SPP and all that it does for so many people.  

WASBA’s Annual Beekeeping Facility of the Year Winner 2024: Washington Correctional Center for Women 

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in Community Organizations Incarcerated Voices Partners

“Keeping bees is like honey for your soul” – Incarcerated beekeeper at WASBA’s Beekeeping Facility of Year award ceremony 

Written by Anneke Wilder

At the end of March, the Washington Correctional Center for Women (WCCW) celebrated an exciting achievement. The women’s facility won the Washington State Beekeepers Association’s (WASBA) second annual Beekeeping Facility of the Year award for 2024. In a gym beautifully decorated by the WCCW incarcerated beekeepers, attendees celebrated the partnerships and dedicated individuals that made it all possible. Attendees included DOC Secretary Tim Lang, WCCW leadership and staff, WASBA Vice President Ellen Miller, WASBA’s Education lead Sandy Fanara, Sustainability in Prisons Project (SPP) staff, and other volunteers and contributors.  

Educational tables set up by incarcerated beekeepers. Photos by Emily Passarelli. 

The beekeepers set up educational tables for attendees to learn about all aspects of beekeeping, complete with opportunities to view, touch, and ask questions about the tools and materials necessary to keep bees and extract honey. Varroa mites, the scourge of every beekeeper’s hive, were a significant topic of conversation. Incarcerated beekeepers hoped to raise awareness of the issue through their educational table as well as in speeches during the ceremony.   

SPP Coordinators Mikala Waldrup (left) and Anneke Wilder (right) found Varroa mites under their seats during a speech from an incarcerated beekeeper. The beekeeper hoped to raise awareness of the destructive pest. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

Beekeepers also spoke about the benefits of honey and the importance of bees to both our global community and their community behind bars. Several incarcerated beekeepers emphasized the transformational power of caring for the bees, making connections between beekeeping and their own lives. One woman noted how the bee’s sense of community and dedication to their queen has helped her understand the importance of community in her own life. Another beekeeper warned that if humans don’t cultivate this sense of care for the natural world and each other, it could push our species to extinction.  

Incarcerated beekeeper Michelle Gabel shows off the Facility of the Year plaque. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

The ceremony wrapped up with the award presentation, a honey tasting, and a gift from the incarcerated individuals to volunteer Sandy Fanara and WASBA: beautiful handmade quilts made by some of the beekeepers themselves.  

WCCW Liaison Lara Kempton (left) presents WASBA volunteer Sandy Fanara (right) with quilts handmade by incarcerated beekeepers. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

Partnerships, like the one between WASBA, WCCW staff and beekeepers, volunteers, and SPP, strengthen our communities. The resulting patchwork of diverse, dedicated, and inspiring individuals helps to grow the practice of beekeeping within the state of Washington and ensure that our pollinators continue to be respected, protected, and cared for in the generations to come. 

WASBA vice president Ellen Miller (right) presents WCCW liaison Lara Kempton (left) with the 2024 Facility of the Year Award. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

Taylor’s Checkerspot Post-Diapause Release 2025

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in collaboration Conservation Programs Ecological Restoration

by Xitlali Herrera

The 2025 Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly post-diapause release is complete! With the help of the Mission Creek butterfly technicians, SPP staff, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), and many volunteers, we were able to take advantage of the beautiful weather last week to successfully release about 4,500 larvae across three sites over three days in South Puget prairies.

As part of the release, WDFW set up a total of 30 temporary enclosures that will allow them to estimate percent survival to adulthood. While at the release site(s), we were elated to find wild Taylor’s checkerspot larvae! This shows us that these larvae are not only surviving, but reproducing in the wild just as we had hoped. The Mission Creek Taylor’s checkerspot program has retained 511 larvae that will be bred this spring to continue the cycle of Taylor’s checkerspot rearing and conservation.

Samantha Bussan with Center for Natural Lands Management (CNLM) at the release site. Photo by Xitlali Herrera.
Xitlali Herrera, the Butterfly Conservation Coordinator for SPP, helps release Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly larvae. Photo by Samantha Bussan.
Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly larvae reared by incarcerated individuals at Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women. Photo by Xitlali Herrera.
Wild Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly larvae found at the release site. Photo by Xitlali Herrera.

Winter in the Native Plant Nurseries  

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in Conservation Programs Ecological Restoration

By Nathaniel Kelly, Mariana Cervantes, and Salvador Hernandez 

We often think of spring and summer as the busiest months of the year for gardens and gardeners, but working with native plants means that the work doesn’t stop in the winter! Technicians in SPP programs are busy gearing up for the seasons ahead. We were curious what it’s like at the nurseries during this season, so we asked some of SPP’s Conservation Nursery Coordinators what goes on in the colder months of the year.  

Castilleja hispida (harsh paintbrush) blooming near yarrow at the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW). Photo by SPP staff.

Although the winter may not seem like a great time for plants, this is a busy season for the technicians at Stafford Creek Corrections Center (SCCC). The seeds of many species of plants native to Washington need to be exposed to a period of cool, moist weather in order to break their dormancy and sprout. The technicians have sown seeds from over a dozen species of plants into over 40,000 cones! Some of these plants are not frequently grown outside of native plant nurseries. Therefore, the specifics of their cultivation are up to us and the technicians to refine, which can be difficult but also very rewarding. The plants produced will be sent out to various partners working on south Puget Sound prairie restoration, Olympic National Forest trailside restoration, or to our own seed farm at a different facility. There may not be any pretty pictures of our plants right now, but we’re looking forward to spring when the hard work will pay off! 

Plantain grown at Stafford Creek was recently transferred to Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women for their Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly program. The plantain provides food for larvae that will be waking up soon! Photo by Nathaniel Kelly. 
Technicians at Stafford Creek sow plants during the winter months. Photo by Nathaniel Kelly.

The seed nursery at Washington Corrections Center (WCC) is currently cultivating Danthonia californica (California oat grass), Castilleja hispida (harsh paintbrush), Achillea millefolium (yarrow), Valeriana congesta (sea blush), and Silene scouleri (scouler’s campion). Since these native plants are well-adapted to the local winter conditions, we take a minimal approach to winterizing the garden. Maintenance efforts focus on consistent weeding and ensuring proper drainage to prevent rainwater from pooling, particularly because the nursery is situated in a flood-prone area. These measures help maintain optimal growing conditions for our plants throughout the winter season. To further support the ecosystem and suppress weeds, we planted cover crops, Phacelia tanacetifolia (lacy scorpion-weed) and Trifolium incarnatum (crimson clover), around the nursery rows. These cover crops help prevent invasive weeds from taking hold and will also serve as a vital food source for the honeybees at the facility. In addition to these ongoing efforts, we are excited about the expansion of our nursery to a new field. Preparations for planting in the new area are already underway. Soil samples have been collected, and we look forward to analyzing the results to determine the necessary steps for a successful planting season. 

Technicians at Washington Corrections Center are conducting a soil test in the area slated for nursery expansion. Photo by Mariana Cervantes.  
Non-native plants staying warm in the Sustainable Practices Lab greenhouse. Photo by Mariana Cervantes.  

A good portion of our winter at Washington Corrections Center for Women is to clean up and prepare for the coming spring. We power wash trays to remove old dirt and moss, while at the same time we remove broken cones and trays. If there are any plants to overwinter, we move them into our covered hoop house, but we keep the sides of the hoop house up so the native plants can still experience the cold. This helps us better control the water schedule. If we leave the plants in the rain, they will likely become too saturated with water, causing the plants to rot and die. Currently, we have Quercus garryana and Castilleja hispida in our protected hoop house. We also prepare plans that require cold stratification (a period of cold temperatures) by storing them in cones or in the refrigerator. Castilleja hispida likes to be in soil through the winter, so we sow it by early December. Others like Balsamorhiza deltoidea prefer to be put into a refrigerator around the midpoint of January.   

Interview with Michael Zirpoli

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in Ecological Research Ecological Restoration

We’re so excited to welcome Michael Zirpoli, SPP’s Ecological Conservation and Training Resource Manager, to the SPP team! We sat down to get to know a little bit more about him and find out what he’s been up to here at SPP.  

Michael Zirpoli, SPP’s new Ecological Conservation and Training Resource Manager, shows off truffle mushrooms foraged with the help of a truffle dog. Photo by Heather Stewart-Ahn 

Could you tell us a little about your background and what brought you to SPP? 

I moved to Washington state in 2011 to go to Evergreen State College. I was in an alternative education class at Penn State, and they talked about Evergreen’s model of education, and I got really interested. I went home that night and did some research, booked a ticket out here for the next week, and ended up moving my life across the country and never looking back. That was the start of my journey with Evergreen, fourteen years later there is nowhere on Earth I would rather be.  

As a student, I took the Fungal Kingdom class with Paul Przybylowicz and Lalita Calabria. I ended up getting involved in a student originated independent research project with Lalita Calabria, investigating the effects of reindeer lichen aqueous extracts on Prairie plant germination and seedling growth. Part of that research involved connecting with Carl Elliott, the Conservation Nursery Manager for SPP.  

That was the first time I had ever heard of SPP. I knew people who had been involved in Gateways for Incarcerated Youth, and I always thought it was really cool that Evergreen did these programs that involved working in prisons. When I learned about SPP, it always sat in the back of my head as something to keep an eye out for if a job ever opened. Then a job opened up six years later!  

It’s kind of the perfect intersection of all of the work that I’ve done up to this point as well as a lot of personal stuff in my life. During a leave of absence with Evergreen, I had the opportunity, through an Americorps position, to work with the houseless population in the Olympia School District, which taught me a lot about working with marginalized communities in educational settings. I come from a family background of folks involved in law-enforcement and that side of the carceral system, I have also had family who have been incarcerated, so I’m familiar with the impacts the carceral system has on people‘s lives. SPP felt like an opportunity to take my interest in working in science and education aimed at underserved populations and do something incredibly positive and unique with it, all while still being involved in the Evergreen community. 

 

Michael with butterfly technicians and SPP Coordinators from Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women. (Top row from left to right: Xitlali Herrera, Michael Zirpoli, Shelly Lagroone, Jennifer Teitzel, Vickie Phillips, Mariana Cervantes. Bottom row: Kennie Calvert, Trista Egli) 

What’s your role at SPP? 

I’m the Ecological Conservation and Training Resource Manager for SPP, so my role is primarily focused on overseeing ongoing ecological conservation projects that SPP is involved in. That includes the Taylor’s Checkerspot butterfly program at Mission Creek and the Western Pond turtle program at Cedar Creek. I’m also involved in developing and disseminating SPP materials for the broader Evergreen community and broader community in general.  

What initiatives are you most excited about working on? 

I’m very excited to be involved in the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly program. As I mentioned, some of my undergraduate research involved working on the prairies. The plants that we worked with in that study were all plants that are host or nectar sources for the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly. It feels like an opportunity to get back into that world.   

As I’ve learned more about the Western Pond turtle program and about the fungal pathogen that attacks their shells, I’ve gotten excited about that initiative. I’m particularly excited to be involved in the rehabilitation of the turtles, as well as the chance to use my background in mycology to do independent education and research about the fungus itself. I can’t wait to learn more information about the fungal pathogen and teach the technicians about it! 

I also really love working with Evergreen students, they are some of the best students in the world. The fact that I get to work directly with our amazing graduate students is one of the best parts of the job for me. I also love that we get to work with state and federal agencies working on scientific conservation projects, not being expected to be the expert but more focused on disseminating that information to a broader audience. 

Michael at Cedar Creek Corrections Center on turtle intake day for the Western Pond Turtle program. Photos by Mikala Waldrup. 

What’s your favorite mushroom and why?  

Morels. I had the great fortune to catch morel fever from Mike Bueg, who’s faculty emeritus here at Evergreen. He was the first to teach mycology at Evergreen, and he was also Paul Przybylowicz’s mentor. I heard Mike talk about morels for the first time in fall 2016, and it started with being excited about picking morels for food. Morels are a great spring mushroom, one of the first things to get you out of the house after a long winter. There is a reason that there’s mushroom festivals across the world celebrating morels and the start of morel season! For me, morels are the harbinger of spring; it is life after the long winter.  

I was really into finding them and picking them, and then that turned into a multi-year collection project. I learned that the taxonomy regarding morels is in flux right now, and there’s a lot of research and not a lot of documentation of species diversity here in the Pacific Northwest, more people eat morels then collect them for science, go figure. So, the past five or six years I’ve spent every spring collecting samples from around Washington and preserving them. I ended up doing a multi-year research project investigating morel taxonomy, their characteristics in isolated culture, and methods for indoor and outdoor cultivation.  

One of the things I learned about morels is that people have been trying to cultivate them going back to the 1800s, but concerted efforts started in the 1970’s and 1980’s. There was one graduate student in San Francisco, Ronald Ower, who managed to cultivate them. He was the very first person ever to do it in the lab, but like in a broken-down freezer in the basement of his lab building with cultures he collected himself. I worked in the lab at Evergreen and thought, “I’ve got access to plenty of broken-down freezers, and a handful of morel isolations I’ve collected. I’m gonna try this.” I got close with my efforts, and then Covid happened. It slowed the process, but I’ve continued my work. I still have some bins in my backyard and I’m making plans to get back into the lab this summer to continue that cultivation research. I know this will be a project that follows me for the rest of my life. 

We talk about morel fever in the spring. In February, I’m like “I need to go walk around even though I know the ground is still frozen and mushrooms are still weeks away.” But that’s led me to finding and photographing morels in the earliest stages of their development, sometimes no more than a millimeter in size! I can admit it’s become a bit of an obsession. My wife could tell you it’s about this time of year when I start talking about all the plans for hunts, burns to check, meals to cook, and experiments to try. This is not a self-proclaimed title, but I’ve been referred to by Paul Przybylowicz as the local expert on morels.   

Michael with a box of morels foraged in Washington. Photo by Heidi Steinbach. 

What kind of things do you like to do in your free time?  

Aside from mushrooms? [laughs] Spending quality time with my best friend and wife, Heidi Steinbach, who also happens to be my former research partner. We have got two cats at home, so I spend a lot of time with them, I love a quiet day reading books on the couch with the cats. I love music, I like to play guitar, listen to records, and go to concerts. I enjoy being out on the water, especially whale watching and kayaking. I enjoy hiking and being out in the woods, camping, bird watching, foraging, and just general nature bathing.  

Tribal Sons and Evergreen Workshop: Plant Teachings with Kendra Aguilar 

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in collaboration Education Health

SPP recently had the honor of collaborating with Evergreen Native American and Indigenous Studies Faculty Kendra Aguilar to offer the first of many cultural workshops at Washington Corrections Center. The workshop was hosted by the Tribal Sons, a group of Indigenous incarcerated individuals at WCC. Tribal Sons was created to “promote the wellness and rehabilitation of [Indigenous] people through healing with Indigenous ceremonies and traditions.” We were joined by cultural leader Carolyn Hartness, Evergreen Tribal Relations Liaison Lyn Dennis, and DOC Director for Person Centered Services Megan Pirie.  

After introductions and a welcome led by Carolyn Hartness, Kendra Aguilar facilitated the plant teachings workshop. Students were able to touch and hold different native plant cuttings as Aguilar spoke about the social-emotional skills that can be learned from each plant. In recognizing the strengths that different plants possess and what they contribute to their environment, students were encouraged to apply those skills to their own lives as well. During a break, visitors got to hold some baby chicks from the Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL) too! 

The workshop concluded with a song and a tour led by Tribal Sons. SPP looks forward to expanding opportunities for cultural workshops in the future! 

Carolyn Hartness, Indigenous cultural leader and artist. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  
Cultural objects made by Tribal Sons members. Photo by Emily Passarelli.
SPP Coordinator Anneke Wilder and DOC Director for Person Centered Services Megan Pirie look at lichen during the plant teaching workshop. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  
A workshop student holds a rosebud. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 
 Lyn Dennis and Carolyn Hartness learn from a Douglas fir clipping. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 
Workshop leader Kendra Aguilar holds two baby chicks that are being raised in the Sustainable Practices Lab (SPL) at WCC. Photo by Emily Passarelli.
Workshop student and SPL member Juan Hernandez shows SPL’s vermiculture system to Kendra Aguilar and Lyn Dennis. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

Nature Drawing at WCCW

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in Education Nature inside

SPP Workshops are starting back up in facilities after a hiatus, and we couldn’t be more excited! Recently SPP kicked off this initiative by hosting its first workshop since pre-pandemic at Washington Corrections Center for Women. 

The Introduction to Nature Drawing Workshop was a huge hit! Drawing from her background in scientific illustration, SPP Coordinator and artist Anneke Wilder led the workshop. Students learned about the history of nature drawing and illustration as well as some drawing tips and tricks. The second half of the workshop the students spent some time sketching from books or specimen that were brought in. Some SPP staff even joined in on the fun! 

We’re looking forward to bringing in more experts and educators that offer unique learning experiences to incarcerated students. 

Kelli Buggs Jones draws a few different specimen. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

 

A student sketches a cedar frond. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  

 

Tatiana Baker shows off her drawing of a flower. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

 

SPP Coordinator and workshop host Anneke Wilder gives Michelle Gabel some tips on shading. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

 

Students got to choose from a variety of specimen for drawing subjects. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

 

Student Michelle Nichols and SPP Coordinator Laureen Dulo use images from books as references. Photo by Emily Passarelli.  

 

 

Interview with Salvador Hernandez, Conservation Nursery Program Coordinator    

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in Ecological Restoration SPP Network

A dedicated community of people is what powers the Sustainability in Prisons Project. We sat down with Sal Hernandez, one of our coordinators, to learn a little more about his background and role at SPP. 

Can you give us a little bit about your background and what brought you to SPP? 

I like working with plants and have been doing it for about a decade—mainly either identification, rehabilitation, or disease control. I managed and maintained a temperate woodland garden for a while. Recently I was an irrigation specialist, leading irrigation at an indoor nursery.  

I also believe in second chances. I was on a razor edge for a long time, and I could have ended up in a facility myself if I wasn’t on my game 24/7 as a child. One reason I’m here is because people were nice to me, and I want to be that for someone.   

Above: Sal Hernandez, Conservation Nursery Program Coordinator, teaching at WCCW. Below: Sal Hernandez with Michelle Nichols going over sowing logs. Photos by Emily Passarelli.  

What do you do at SPP? 

I teach students at Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) how to grow plants for prairie restoration and conservation around Washington. I teach how to maintain plants and look for disease, different germination practices, burning practices, and geology. I teach about the climate of Washington prairies and what a native prairie in Washington looks like, as well as how to preserve them.  

Why type of plants do you work with at the WCCW conservation nursery? 

We work with a variety of prairie plants. Several species of Lomatium and Quercus garryana (Garry oak) are two that we work with. Garry oaks are a longer-term plant that we’ll have for a couple of years. Those oaks pass hands because they will stay in the nursery for a long time, and many of the technicians will move on from the job or be released. So that care passes from team member to team member. We also grow strawberries, the native Fragaria virginiana, and Castilleja hispida (harsh Indian paintbrush). We grow those for the [Taylor’s checkerspot] butterflies. The paintbrush is also grown for seed collection since there are low numbers of that plant in the wild.  We grow a variety of other stuff too—whatever we need that year.  

Above: Garry Oaks (Quercus garryana) grown at the WCCW Conservation Nursery. Photo by SPP Staff. Bottom left: Harsh Indian paintbrush (Castilleja hispida). Photo by Rod Gilbert. Bottom right: Technicians plant seeds at the nursery. Photo by Emily Passarelli. 

What has been the biggest reward of working at WCCW? 

The biggest reward is seeing the technicians really latch on and get a lot from the program.  They are always wanting to know more and learning and progressing. Seeing them grow as people as well as students is rewarding.  

Students bring new ideas, or they try something new that works—they’re like “maybe this will make it easier.” Or they’re reading through books and they’re asking me questions like “How does this work?” and “What if we did that?”  

They are also curious about what they could pursue in the field post release and ask me questions about that process. I’m a big proponent of work, I guess, and I like people learning stuff that they can apply immediately. Getting hands in the dirt is very important to me, and I want to teach them skills that they can use afterwards. They’re very appreciative, and I like to see that they’re already planning beyond incarceration. And just from the few students released, their excitement to be out in the field growing stuff, touching dirt, that’s what is most rewarding. 

Above: Janee Medlock shows off two Garry Oaks (Quercus garryana). Below: Sal Hernandez working in the WCCW nursery. Photos by Emily Passarelli.  

What do you think is coolest northwest native plant adaptation? 

Oh definitely Castilleja hispida (harsh Indian paintbrush). It’s a hemiparasitic plant. It can grow on its own during the first few months of life, but it has to eat something so we intentionally plant sacrificial plants next to it that it will eventually kill. Typically, the sacrificial plant is yarrow because it’s a hardy plant.  I just think it’s funny that we have to plant other plants so they can eat them. Initially the paintbrush is a smaller plant, but once it connects to the roots of the yarrow it starts blooming thicker, and it grows greener and healthier.   

What do you do for fun outside of school and work? 

My main thing that I do is historical fencing. I get in full outfit. I fence with a local group that is part of a worldwide organization, and the local group has been great. It’s definitely a found family sort of vibe—a lot of us are really close and we hang out every Wednesday night. We go to tournaments all over the West Coast. During the adventure season we go camping, and we hang out by the fire at night and fight throughout the day. There’s a lot of singing and dancing, it’s really fun.  

Incarcerated Individuals at Washington Corrections Center Connect to their Ancestral Traditions with the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden

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in Environmental Justice Gardens Incarcerated Voices

Nourished by the compost processed on site and tended to by caring hands, the gardens at the Washington Corrections Center (WCC) are impressive bursts of color against the green Pacific Northwest landscape. In the summer the beds are filled with marigolds, cosmos, sunflowers, poppies and more, and they are a source of pride for the incarcerated gardeners.

Flower beds at WCC. Photos by Emily Passarelli.

One garden in particular offers not only an opportunity to learn gardening skills, but a way for indigenous gardeners to connect to their community and culture. The Tribal Sons Medicine Garden is home to medicinal and culturally significant plants such as sage, lavender, and cedar trees. Creation of the garden was spearheaded by indigenous community members, and it now provides a place of solace, growth, and connection.

A sign created by incarcerated individuals for the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

Some of the herbs grown in the garden are used for ceremonies performed by tribal members in the facility. Since Native Americans are incarcerated at roughly 3.6x the rate of white people1, it is crucial to provide opportunities like the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden that allow them to continue stewarding their ancestral lands.

An incarcerated contributor to the garden was recently quoted in a King 5 article regarding his experience of the healing powers of the medicine garden: “This is harmony, this is peace, this is serenity,” he said. “This is healing, this is restoration, this is rehabilitation.”

Medicinal herbs recently planted in the Tribal Sons Medicine Garden. Photo by Emily Passarelli.

During a recent Foundations in Composting class meeting, students performed a soil test in the medicine garden with the help of composting expert Sally Brown. Halfway through the test, the chunk of test soil dropped suddenly back to the ground. “They wanted it back,” one of the indigenous gardeners joked, “the ancestors wanted the soil back.” 

 

1 Vera Institute of Justice. ​ (2019). Incarceration Trends in Washington. ​ Retrieved from http://www.vera.org/state-incarceration-trends. ​

 

 

In the Field with the Taylor’s Checkerspot Butterfly Program  

by

in Conservation Programs Ecological Restoration Partners

By Marisa Pushee and Courtney Murphy 

An adult Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly rests on a flower. Photo by Keegan Curry. 

On a drizzly morning in early June, SPP program partners gathered at Scatter Creek Wildlife Area to connect and share experiences working with the federally endangered Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly (Euphydrayas editha taylori). Incarcerated butterfly technicians and Department of Corrections (DOC) professionals from Mission Creek Corrections Center for Women (MCCCW) gathered with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) biologists and The Evergreen State College (TESC) staff. 

SPP Butterfly Coordinator, Courtney Murphy, and WDFW lead the team as they delve into plant identification. Photo by Kelli Bush. 

With binoculars and plant ID guides in hand, the team was excited by the rich biodiversity and felt inspired to see checkerspot habitat up close. WDFW works diligently on restoration at Scatter Creek—planting native species that are critical for the Taylor’s checkerspot to use as host plants, for food, and for basking. The opportunity to see the butterflies’ prairie habitat first-hand proved an eye-opening experience for colleagues across the program. The butterfly program technicians at MCCCW work year-round to successfully rear and breed the endangered butterfly in captivity. Through their work with SPP, butterfly technicians learn extensively about prairie ecosystems. For many, this was their first opportunity to see essential native plants like paintbrush and lupine.  

Butterfly technicians touch native flowers that make up the habitat of Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies. Photo by Kelli Bush. 

Many of the program technicians expressed interest in careers in restoration and environmental studies, and the field visit offered an opportunity to further grow their professional network and gain more information about working in the sciences. WDFW biologists, Andrew Dechaine and Melinda Vickers, shared with the team the diversity of careers paths that can lead to work with wildlife and provided information on upcoming job openings.  

SPP Butterfly Technician shows her lupine tattoo next to lupine growing at the restoration site. Photo by Kelli Bush. 
The MCCCW SPP team from left to right (top row: Shelly Lagroone, Vickie Phillips, Karmen Moen, Dalynn Martinez, Jennifer Teitzel, Alivia Garcia, Courtney Robbins, Theresa Boyer ; bottom row: Trista Egli, Radalyn King, Kennie Calvert). Photo by Courtney Murphy. 

DOC Corrections professionals were also able to connect with the SPP team and learn more about the endangered butterfly that their dedicated work helps support, taking that knowledge with them to strengthen the program and support the technicians in their work. The Scatter Creek site visit provided an exciting opportunity for colleagues to build connections with one another and with the prairie habitat that the Taylor’s checkerspot butterfly calls home!