Youth Employment Training Initiative (YETI) 2024

CRWP partners with CRNA’s YETIs for training at the Little Tonsina Bridge.

CRWP/CRNA Climate Change Coordinator Colleen Merrick led the Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI) trip to Little Tonsina this past month, and recaps the experience.

“This summer, the Youth Employment and Training Initiative (YETI) at CRNA is in full swing, welcoming teens from the community. Collaborating with various regional organizations and agencies, YETI participants are diving into experiential learning that promises to make a lasting impact.

In their first week, our YETIs partnered with CRWP Hydrologist Kirsti Jurica. Together, they tackled the surveying and monitoring of the Little Tonsina fish passage site. The teens were introduced to observation notebooks, a key step towards developing their own lab notebooks. They applied their high school math skills to calculate river depth, width, speed, and velocity, directly correlating classroom learning with real-world scenarios.

Beyond numbers, our YETIs explored the interconnectedness of riparian environments. They discovered why macroinvertebrates are crucial for salmon health and how river velocity affects spawning habitat and infrastructure stability. This hands-on approach allowed them to bridge classroom knowledge with ecosystem dynamics, seeing firsthand how their studies translate to meaningful contributions in the field.

Stay tuned as our YETIs continue their journey of learning and community impact this summer!” —Colleen Merrick