Support
This past summer, I served as the Fundraising and Outreach Intern at the Henry's Fork Foundation (HFF), a nonprofit organization dedicated to conserving, protecting, and restoring the unique fisheries of the Henry's Fork River and upper Snake Basin. During my time there, I gained a deep understanding of water irrigation and management practices, as well as key concerns related to the local ecosystem and river health. With the support of HFF, I participated in soil health days led by local farmers and other nonprofits of the area, assisted with state park clean-ups, and performed trout population assessments with Idaho Fish and Game. These activities not only familiarized me with the local environment but also highlighted the significant effort and coordination required to conserve water and protect the health of the river meanwhile supporting the agricultural industry. Idaho contributes to a large portion of our nation's agricultural industry despite being a relatively arid state; therefore, water management is a large concern for many, including HFF.
My day-to-day responsibilities included managing the foundation's Morning Bites program (as seen in the picture above), overseeing their LinkedIn page, and assisting my mentor Kam with event planning and fundraising. Morning Bites, one of HFF's newer outreach initiatives launched last year, involves setting up a tent at one of seven angler access locations and offering coffee, donuts, and bite-sized information about the organization to visitors. This hands-on experience, combined with creating and posting informational content on LinkedIn, allowed me to strengthen my science communication and public speaking skills while deepening my understanding of fish and river ecology.
Overall, my time at HFF provided invaluable experience in both outreach and fundraising. Despite not having any prior experience within these fields, I have learned a great deal and am deeply grateful to the HFF team for their support and guidance and for the funding that I received that made it possible.