Environmental Initiatives
Andrea has a deep appreciation for the natural world and expresses this through producing purposeful work that protects the planet. She has been invovled in creek restoration projects that involved improving fish passage and restoring native plants and riparian buffers along waterways.
Watershed Restoration
The Powers Creek Restoration project in Northwestern California involved replanting native riparian and floodplain forests as well as reshaping the creek’s channel for improved fish passage. An enormous amout of effort went into restoring in-stream structure with logs, rocks, and gravel beds where salmonid species typically like to spawn and rear. To educate the public about the importance of reshabilitating Powers Creek, Andrea successfully launched a digital marketing and media campaign. The scope of the marketing focused on social media content, video production and storytelling, press outreach, and coordinated tours with schools interested in learning about the restoration initiative. The digital efforts successfully generated press and overall interest in the project.
Video Series
Andrea has helped environmental organizations build a trusting voice with meaningful copywriting that has helped them become reputable in their industry. Andrea understands how to simplify complex issues with the written word, so it is compelling and relatable to the general public. For example, she wrote a press release for the Powers Creek Restoration Project and illustrated what’s behind revitalizing a creek. It not only spread awareness about the inititaive, but also educated the community about environmental topics. Press outlets ran the press release as it was written —Andrea understands the concept of formatting releases to read as a story.
Press Examples:
https://kymkemp.com/2021/11/02/blue-lake-rancheria-tribe-restores-section-of-powers-creek-to-improve-fish-habitat-for-endangered-and-threatened-salmonid-species-in-mad-river/
https://krcrtv.com/north-coast-news/eureka-local-news/tribe-receives-federal-funding-to-restore-salmonid-population-in-mad-river
https://www.yournec.org/restoring-blue-lakes-powers-creek-one-of-the-countys-most-significant-urban-streams/
Copywriting
To illustrate the lengthy process of restoring a creek, and how part of it involves excavation work to deepen the channel, Andrea created a timelapse of the work that took place over a two-week period. The video received enormous engagement and successfully showed the transformation of the creek to the general public. The series successfully served as an educational tool to break down the project in simpler steps with clean copywriting, as well as visually showing the transformation. The stories were used in presentations as well as promoted on social media platforms.
Riparian Forest Restoration
Over the course of a few months, several riparian forest restoration projects were taking place on tribal land at the same time, two of which were along creeks, and the other along the mainstem, Mad River. To educate the public about riparian buffer restoration, Andrea launched a social media picture campaign illustrating the entire process showing photographs of the restoration of native plants and trees. The messaging foucused on the importance native species play for our ecosystem. Topics included how native plants help restore fish and wildlife habitat, as well as how riparian buffer plays an important role in keeping sediment out of the river while mitigating erosion. The photographs and educational content received high engagement on social platforms, generated press, and gave the environmental stewards of the project continued credibility.
Grant requirement content
To illustrate the grant funding requirements that had been met for the riparian buffer restoration project, Andrea produced an informal video about riparian buffers along Mad River. Andrea interviewed an environmental scientist about the importance of restoring river systems that are rapidly changing because of climate change. This was an effective way to detail a project’s scope by having someone explain the process in an interview format instead of submitting a typical written report. The video was well received by federal and state partners, and it was also used for social media and website purposes.
Toxic algae blooms
Harmful cyanobacteria blooms have become more prevalent on the North Coast during the summer months due to a mixture of hot temperatures and lack of rainfall. These toxic algae blooms have caused large-scale fish kills, habitat loss, and have degraded local river systems.
To alert the public on several occasions when toxic algae blooms were found by environmental scientists, Andrea documented the water quality sampling process and posted the findings on digital platforms. With impactful copywriting, compelling photographs, and strategic digital placement, the posts were shared to multiple Facebook groups, and within hours the information was picked up by several print and TV press outlets. The content was recognized and used by the Department of Health and the Water Quality Control Board. The cross-sharing of content bolstered and strengthened community partnerships.
Edna Testing
Six tribes worked with California’s Water Quality Control Board to monitor threatened and endangered salmonid species populations in North Coast watersheds by implementing eDNA testing. To illustrate a relatively new way to gather data, Andrea launched a video campaign documenting the process. The campaign fulfilled grant requirements, educated the public, and strengthened environmental partnerships.
