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	It may sound strange, but for all the technical expertise required, relationships are at the heart of conservation work. As land ownership lies in the hands of individuals, corporations, and communities, building good stewardship practices into our people&#39;s lives on land requires building strong relationships.&nbsp;</p>
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	<img alt="" src="{filedir_5}Callie-Bertsch.jpg" style="width: 175px; height: 131px; float: right;" />Callie Bertsch has been building relationships, and expanding conservation, since she graduated from John Brown University with a degree in Biology and minor in Intercultural Studies. During her studies, Au Sable occupied a formative period for Bertsch: a student at Great Lakes (Land Resources and Ornithology) and Pacific Rim (Bioethics and International Development and Environmental Sustainability), an Environmental Education intern in winter and spring 2005, and a cook in 2005-2006. However, she&#39;s now taken her education to the front lines of conservation efforts. She entered a joint Masters and Peace Corp program, where she received her Masters of Science in Forestry at Michigan Technological University and worked for the Peace Corp as a Community Development Volunteer in Bulgaria. &nbsp;Her work and research in Bulgaria required relationships, in tourism, business, cultural heritage preservation, and forestry. &nbsp;Her current job requires building relationships with local farmers to preserve important natural features and protect land and waterways.&nbsp;</p>
<p>
	We caught up with Callie to learn more about her position and what&#39;s fueled her work:</p>
<p>
	<strong>What do you do in your current position?</strong></p>
<p>
	My current position is a grant that is funded by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. &nbsp;So I support both agencies through conservation planning for farmers and non-industrial private forestland owners through activities outlined in the Farm Bill for the NRCS and promoting the Michigan Agricultural Environmental Assurance Program (MAEAP), which is a voluntary program for farmers who want to help conserve natural resources. &nbsp;In the program farmer&rsquo;s basically adhere to Michigan&rsquo;s Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMP&rsquo;s), which allows them to promote their farm as environmentally sustainable and may also provide protection when there are right to farm complaints against them.</p>
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	<strong>Why is this work important to creation care?</strong></p>
<p>
	Every day we work to conserve our natural resources that we all rely on for healthy living and enjoyment.&nbsp;My main duties can range from going on a farmer&rsquo;s property and assessing their resource concerns, which may include air quality, soil erosion, water quality, and includes human and animal elements. &nbsp;One day I may write an intensive grazing plan, which includes designing fences to best utilize plant resources, while keeping animals out of water resources and preventing soil erosion. Other activities include waste storage facilities and agrichemical storage facilities to keep animal waste and chemicals from entering ground water systems. We also write nutrient and pest management plans to help farmer&rsquo;s only apply the needed amount of pesticides and fertilizers on their farm to keep excess from entering into the ground water. We also work to create wildlife habitat and promote the private consultant industry by cost sharing forest management plans for landowner&rsquo;s.</p>
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	<strong>What about your work gives you hope?</strong></p>
<p>
	There are two elements. The first is when I meet a landowner who is already implementing conservation practices because they are aware and care and they are just looking for financial assistance. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s nice to be able to reward these people. The second is the people who are unaware that we can educate about the importance of natural resource conservation. &nbsp;Our assistance can help them manage their farm more sustainably from a financial standpoint as well as realize the importance of their actions on the natural resources and their ability to help conserve them. &nbsp;I always love the moment when they realize that simple changes they can make really affect the environment as well as save them money in the long term. &nbsp;</p>
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	In my position, I also had the opportunity to participate in a climate change grant where I wrote a climate change adaptation plan for Delta County. Through this yearlong process I have already seen a shift in attitudes about climate change and people taking action in the mitigation and adaptation process.&nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>What was most memorable and important to you about your time at Au Sable? &nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>
	Au Sable is where I discovered my passion. I knew I was interested in a career in natural resources, but before Au Sable I had not yet learned how to reconcile my faith to my interests. &nbsp;Au Sable is where Biblical truths were presented to me and I fully understood that as a Christian it was my duty to take care of creation. It was eye opening, and I remember the moment realizing that I could have the career I wanted and live a Biblical life. Unfortunately, in the church I grew up in, political ideas about being an environmentalist overshadowed the command that we are to take care of the environment as Christians!&nbsp;</p>
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	Beyond this idea, Au Sable was just plain fun! The community was one of the most accepting I had ever been a part of. My professor&rsquo;s passion for what they were teaching instilled a passion in me. And every time I left Au Sable I was so incredibly motivated to go home or back to school with friends and family and share what I&rsquo;d learned.</p>
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	<strong>How does your faith in Jesus Christ affect the work you do today? &nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>
	You know, I think Jesus had the most incredible ability to see things from each person perspective, that their actions and behaviors were based on their past experiences and through that he knew how to reach them. &nbsp;Understanding people&rsquo;s viewpoint and where they are coming from can help me to educate them and see how conserving natural resources really benefits them. &nbsp;On top of that, being compassionate, loving, humble, and open to people always gains credibility and helps in building relationships, no matter who you&rsquo;re working with! &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>How did your time at Au Sable help prepare you for what you are doing now? &nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>
	It&rsquo;s where my passion was developed for conserving natural resources and understanding that without conserving and or preserving them we have an unhealthy environment and an unhealthy environment results in unhealthy people. &nbsp;The natural world and humans are interconnected. I love helping people make that realization so that they too have a desire to help in the conservation process. &nbsp;</p>
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	<strong>Why do you think people should continue to study at Au Sable today? &nbsp;</strong></p>
<p>
	Au Sable provides a unique experience to gain knowledge and experience from really talented and passionate professors. &nbsp;Hands-on learning sticks with you forever. My three week ornithology course (I didn&rsquo;t even know what ornithology was until I signed up for the course and found out I needed to bring binoculars) still sticks with me. I can still identify the birds by sight and sound and impress people every time I identify a bird. &nbsp;It&rsquo;s been ten years and I still describe the study we completed about the correlation between grouse nesting distance and nest predation. &nbsp;Au Sable helps students understand their passions and how they can impact the world. &nbsp;I knew after taking &#39;International Development and Environmental Sustainability&#39; that one day I&rsquo;d live overseas and that&rsquo;s what I did with the Peace Corps in Bulgaria. In a sense, Au Sable opened the door for all of the experiences I&rsquo;ve had to this point in my life which I&rsquo;m so proud of, and I think it has done that for all students who have attended any of it&rsquo;s campuses.</p>
