blue water woman--spring 2016--B

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