Welcome to this week’s Team Member Spotlight! Each week we’ll be interviewing one of our team members to highlight the incredible people who help make AWA possible.
This week, we’re interviewing AWA’s intern, HK Janssen!
Introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about you.
Hello! My name is HK Janssen. I just celebrated the silver jubilee of my Alaska citizenship. When not chasing after my two goodest pups, you can find me attending the Duke Russell Experience, as you can really find yourself Outta Place when you go.
What excites you about this internship?
The Beaver Project! But, everything I am learning about Alaska animals, both big and small, at AWA is very exciting as well.
I just recently learned that a massive part of the Alaskan ecosystem rests with the teeny-tiny glacier ice worm, which is only 1-3 millimeters long. Why is this, you may ask? Because the glaciers where they make their home are receding due to climate change, and the algae and bacteria the ice worms lounge around and eat all day are disappearing along with them. Now, without the crucial bacteria that passes through the ice warms and onto the birds that eat them, the food chain is starting to crumble.
What project, initiative, or professional achievements are you proud of and why?
Well, it is an in-progress achievement, and I am only doing it for street cred, but after 16 years of being out of school I decided to go back for a college degree. I am proud of myself and all my fellow students above the age of 40. It takes some chutzpah to attend college with your grandkids.
What are you most passionate about?
I’m the most passionate about Save Our Waters. When I lived on the Kenai Peninsula I heard firsthand from the commercial fishermen about the stress and concern over the emergency closures of Cook Inlet. I learned how multiple generations stake their lives and livelihood every year, every season, on the waters of the Cook Inlet. I also learned that trawler fishing was in part to blame for the closures; the destruction of the seafloor, by-catch, and family income were all part and parcel of the trawler industry. I just want healthy Alaskan waters for the future and whether trawling has a place in that future is uncertain.
What are your career goals and future plans?
I intend to take my newly framed degree and move to Nunavut to open a wildly successful chain of reindeer hotdog carts.
Tell me about a time you had to overcome a challenge and what you learned from it?
The biggest challenge I have ever overcome was knowing my limits. The lesson came in the form of cutting my own hair. What I learned is that the limit on how good I look starts and stops with bangs, and I do not look good in bangs. I was 33.
What is your major (and minor!) and why did you choose it?
I am an English major with a Creative Writing minor. I chose this path when I was a very young child, writing atrocious detective stories, and followed it through the torment of my local librarian at all hours and every weekend. Luckily I landed here at AWA being able to give a humorous voice to all the Alaska animals.
The best piece of advice I've ever been given is…
It’s more of a mantra than advice but, “Þetta Reddast.” It’s a piece of ancient Icelandic wisdom meaning “it’s all going to work out in the end.”
The best advice is: trust dogs, they know who to stay away from.
If I weren't so darn good at interning, I'd probably be:
An assistant manager at Build-A-Bear.
Wildcard Question: What Alaska animal do you think you can take in a bare-knuckle brawl?
Oh that is an Xtratuf question… but I think I’m going to go with Gumboot Chiton, because they’d never see me coming. If you didn’t get that joke, shame on you for missing last Trivia Tuesday on our social media!
Last One: What advice would you give to the next superstar intern?
If you mess up my template forms I will hex you and your entire lineage with intrusive shower thoughts for time and all eternity.
Stay tuned next week to meet our next team member!
