What Alaska animal would you be? We asked a few board members and their answers are telling
By Dawnell Smith
Here in the last months of our 50th year and last weeks of our fiscal year, we want to thank our board members for putting in the hours and donating the dollars to help Trustees for Alaska protect clean water, healthy fish and wildlife, and landscapes abundant with life.
Our board includes former or active lawyers who know firsthand the role legal work plays in influencing decisions about what happens in and around our communities as well as nonprofit leaders, advocates, educators, scientists, and community leaders who nourish the voices of those impacted by those decisions.
This month we want to introduce four board members who joined the board this fiscal year. You can find out more about our amazing board members on our board of directors page. Here, we share a few answers to three questions posed to our newest members Stacy Shutts, Leonard Steinberg, Sophie Swope, and Margaret Williams. Here’s what we asked:
- What’s your favorite mythical or magical being (define these terms in any way you choose)?
- If you could be any more-than-human Alaska animal, who would you be and where would you live?
- How do you think being a Trustees board member fits within your way of being in the world?
Stacy Shutts: Do unicorns exit? Have you seen a Narwhal?
Pod of Narwhals. Photo by Dr. Kristin Laidre, Polar Science Center
Mythical being: My favorite mythical being is a unicorn, because how come that’s not possible even though Narwhals exist? Also, it reminds me of my niece who is obsessed.
Alaska animal: I would be a Cook Inlet beluga whale to help their numbers go up!
How Trustees fits way of being: I reflect a lot on the international connections of people, ecology, and sense of place. My personal travels and current graduate work build a framework in my mind of how accessible, relatable, and necessary it is to incorporate global thinking; serving on the Board of Trustees for Alaska gives the opportunity to partake in the critical work of the attorneys and staff who are benefitting one of the most wild places left in the world. There is a lot to be said, of course, for all this provides globally in the face of climate change, justice for Indigenous people, and the flora and fauna that are precious to biodiversity.
Leonard Steinberg: Making a difference for future generations
Leonard hiking in the Brooks Range
Mythical being: A U.S. president who protects the Arctic
Alaska animal: Golden eagle soaring above the taiga and tundra.
How Trustees fits way of being: An opportunity to contribute to wilderness preservation for future generations.
Sophie Swope: Soaring the skies
Mythical being: Little people
Alaska animal: I’d live soaring the skies in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta as an eagle or hawk
How Trustees fits way of being: I think it shows what I stand for in the world. What’s worked on at Trustees is what matters to me and the things that need to be worked on in the world in general.
Sharp-shinned hawk, Photo by Craig McCaa, BLM Alaska.
Margaret Williams: Illy of Lake Iliamna
Mythical being: Legend suggests that there may be a Loch Ness kind of creature in Lake Iliamna, in the Bristol Bay watershed, called Illy. Lake Iliamna is a spectacular, special place – one of Alaska’s natural gems. So I would have to say Illy is my favorite mythical being.
Margaret packrafting with her dog
Alaska animal: If I could be a non-human animal, I would be a ribbon seal. I love to swim in the ocean, and I’ve always been fascinated by pinnipeds. Ribbon seals are international creatures of the Arctic, navigating the cold waters of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas, moving freely across the U.S.-Russia maritime boundary. They are also so unusual and beautiful in appearance!
How Trustees fits way of being: Being a member of the Trustees board is a chance for me to support a great team of people defending Alaska’s wild places; that is really important to me.