Introducing Matt Webster, new AmeriCorps Member

Hello! My name is Matt Webster, and I am an AmeriCorps member serving with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at Lake Sammamish State Park, in Issaquah, Washington. I hail from North Alabama, and am beyond excited to be working here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest (for the first time, I might add). My love of the outdoors was sparked as a young child, when I had the opportunity to take a school trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab – a marine-based environmental education and research center on a barrier island, off the gulf coast of Alabama. The transformative experience that I had there fueled my passion for the outdoors, and kick-started my interests in scientific study. Since then, I have attended Birmingham-Southern College, graduating with a degree in Biology. While at BSC, I conducted research on a variety of topics, including my capstone senior research focused on benthic macroinvertebrates as biological indicators of water quality. My educational experiences at BSC led me to love scientific research, and field work in particular.

My experiences at BSC also led me to realize and develop my love for environmental education. Understanding the monumental effects engagement with the outdoors can have, I was eager to be a part of others’ respective journeys of discovery, by becoming an educator myself. In my final years at BSC, and since graduation, I have participated in the Southwest Outdoor Educator course with the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS), and have been involved in a variety of environmental education programs.

I am overjoyed to continue my journey with the USFWS, Friends of Lake Sammamish State Park, Friends of Issaquah Salmon Hatchery and the various organizations involved in the Urban Wildlife Refuge Partnership, here in Issaquah!

I hope to meet you at the park and encourage you to volunteer to work with me to restore natural habitat to increase wildlife.

Please reach out at matt.webster@parks.wa.gov or director@flssp.org