Laura Buck, B.A. Psychology/Anthropology & Diploma in Bus. Admin.
Laura is a Senior Field Technician/Communications Officer that started her career with Fort Folly First Nation in 2002. She first started working with the Flora & Fauna Program, cataloguing various species on-reserve and in the surrounding area of Dorchester. In 2004 she was recruited over to the Recovery program, working part-time seasonally while she studied at NBCC Moncton and then again until she graduated Mount Allison University in 2011. Laura also works closely with Elder Gilbert Sewell, from Pabineau First Nation, learning Indigenous Knowledge and helping accompany him in IK Studies.

Where are you from? I am from the small village of Dorchester NB with my roots integrated in Fort Folly. I spent the first few years of my life in Portage Vale & Sussex NB before moving back to Dorchester. I went to Sussex Elementary, Dorchester Consolidated School then split my high school days at Tantramar Regional High School and Petitcodiac Regional School, where I graduated from. Now my son Xavier and I live a few minutes away from Fort Folly in a small rural community outside of Sackville NB.

Previous Jobs? My first job at 16 I worked at Blueberry Hill Farm outside of Petitcodiac NB on the way to Elgin making $5.35 an hour (I thought that was a lot ha!). In the latter years of high school, I worked at Fawcett’s Do-It Centre in Petitcodiac then started my first seasonal employment with Fort Folly in 2002. After that summer I moved to Calgary and Banff AB, working at a grocery store and resort, then moved home to continue my seasonal employment. A few years later I lived in Fredericton, working at a coffee shop, then started University at St. Thomas. Some time later I again moved out to Calgary, where I worked at a shoe store for a year and a half before moving home to finish my degree at MTA. I’ve had a couple random jobs! I was then hired on full time with FFHR in 2011.

Training?
*Years of endless salmon and species at risk training with professionals from all over the Maritimes ie. DFO, Fundy National Park, •Canadian Rivers Institute, UNB, etc.
•Workplace Standard First Aid with CPR C & AED
•Swiftwater Safety Rescue Training
•ATV Training Course
•Wilderness Survival
•CABIN Certification
•Electrofishing Training & Certification
•Pleasure Craft Operator Card
•Visible Implant Elastomer Tagging
•Redd Surveying
•Long-term monitoring in river geomorphology
•UAS Ground School Training Course
•Restricted Operator Certificate with Aeronautical Qualification
•Indigenous Knowledge studies/medicinal plant identification
•Word Press Website Training
•Many workshops at UNB Fredericton (too many to keep track of)
(This is all I can think of for now, not including all the normal field activities I do ie PIT tagging, antenna array tracking, etc)

Why Get Involved in Environmental Conservation?
I love being outside, there is something to be said about being all encompassed and connected to the earth, so it was only natural to lean towards working on the river and with species at risk. The way I see it is that Mother Earth is a cohesive ecosystem and when that system is out of balance, everything is negatively affected. In this regard, if the inner Bay of Fundy Atlantic salmon completely disappear, other species will too. They are an iconic species, a species that was once depended on for food by my ancestors and even more importantly, an indicator of a healthy river. Today I have the opportunity to make that memory a reality by helping to recover the species and restore our rivers. We take and take and take, but what do we give back? How do we help? The cycle is vicious and as humans we have the power to protect and preserve the earth, so if I can do my part to protect what I can, no matter how small, I will. The Earth and our children’s future depend on how we act today, and it is critical we lay the foundation now before it’s too late. We have the ability to do great things, people should understand that and take better care of the environment…respect goes a long way.