Nara McCray: AYEA Intern

Spreading the Word for Youth Activism
By Nara McCray

I was born and raised in Anchorage Alaska, and have just completed my freshman year at Alabama Agriculture and Mechanics University where I am pursuing an environmental science degree. As my home, I am fraternally connected to Alaska. And as my playground, I am emotionally connected to Alaska. This summer I am interning with Alaska Youth for Environmental Action (AYEA), which is a program of the National Wildlife Federation. As the Media and Technology intern, I am responsible for conducting statewide outreach using social media like Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter as a means of communicating with the public; including sponsors, youth and funders. I have just completed AYEA’s first ever Annual Report, which will be available at the upcoming fundraiser where I will be the Emcee.

Nara McCray gives a speech at a press conference.

As a child, my mother would take me outdoors often hiking, camping and biking. I hated it. As I matured I realized how connected we are to nature and how important it is to us as beings. The earth has a balance, in order to maintain that balance us who are disrupting the equilibrium need to do our best to try and repair the natural systems of our environment. Conservation is a crucial factor in helping maintain the natural equilibrium some refer to as the Gaia hypothesis. The pristine condition of much my home is at risk because many view the abundance of natural resources in terms of monetary wealth. In order for Alaska to have a sustainable income from our resources, we should try to preserve our natural commodities rather than extract them. Conservation will provide continuous wealth, whereas extraction is only temporary. Despite my younger thoughts of outdoor recreation, I now love the outdoors and hope to work in the conservation field.