blue water woman--spring 2016--B
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government professional<br />
of the year<br />
sheri faust, port huron<br />
protecting<br />
the environment<br />
by Patti Samar<br />
Some people spend their entire lives trying to figure out what they want<br />
to be when they grow up. Sheri Faust of Port Huron was not one of those<br />
people. She just always knew she wanted to work in the sciences and work<br />
toward solving environmental problems.<br />
And so she does.<br />
Faust is the environmental health educator for the St. Clair County Health<br />
Department. She is responsible for promotion and outreach for the health<br />
department’s environmental health division. On any given day, her job might<br />
take her into classrooms, where she teaches children of all ages about the<br />
importance of caring for the environment, or wading into rivers and streams.<br />
Additionally, she spends her free time outside of work volunteering for a<br />
number of environmental organizations.<br />
Her passion for the subject is unmeasurable and for that, Faust has been<br />
named the Blue Water Woman Government Professional of the Year. She<br />
was nominated by her friend Chris Gearheart.<br />
Outside of her official work life, Faust serves as president of the nonprofit<br />
Friends of the St. Clair River, whose mission is to provide meaningful<br />
experiences that engage the community in the protection of their <strong>water</strong><br />
resources through <strong>water</strong> quality monitoring, stewardship activities and<br />
advocacy.<br />
Faust has also been instrumental in the establishment and organization of<br />
the Blue Water Sturgeon Festival, the anuual Earth Fair, the Stream Leaders<br />
(Adopt-a-Stream) program, and River Day, among many other volunteer<br />
activities.<br />
“Sometimes I get things done through a nonprofit angle and sometimes I<br />
get them done from a government angle,” said Faust regarding the overlap<br />
between her work life and her volunteer life. “But either way, I’m a better<br />
advocate for our <strong>water</strong> resources.”<br />
Faust also understands that the <strong>water</strong> in the Blue Water Area is not only<br />
critical for all of the obvious reasons, but that it impacts the “big picture” in<br />
the community as well.<br />
“All this <strong>water</strong> that we have is what draws people to this community,” she<br />
said. “So much of our economy depends on <strong>water</strong> and our lives depend on it,<br />
too.”<br />
And with a <strong>water</strong> crisis in Flint taking place not far from the Blue Water<br />
Area, Faust notes what she shares with elementary school students: “This is<br />
what I tell third and fourth graders: If we drink polluted <strong>water</strong>, we are not<br />
going to be healthy; if we breathe polluted air, we are not going to be healthy.<br />
“If our environment is sick, we’re going to be sick.”<br />
And the students soak up her words. “My focus is always on environmental<br />
education,” she said. “I have this real desire to engage girls in science. There<br />
are not as many girls interested in science and I like to encourage them.”<br />
A wife and mother of two young daughters, Faust involves her own<br />
children in many of her environmental endeavors. “I put them to work at the<br />
Earth Fair and I put them to work at the Sturgeon Festival,” she said.<br />
Faust noted “there is no other position like mine in any other health<br />
department in the state. In other counties, my position would fall under the<br />
drain commissioner.<br />
“I like the platform that the health department gives me to bring the<br />
environmental message to the citizens.”<br />
10 <strong>spring</strong> <strong>2016</strong> BlueWaterWoman.com