Alaska Forum trains environmental technicians: apprenticeship program seeks employers for summer fieldwork recruits.

• Author: White, Rindi
• Position: WORKFORCE TRAINING

A relatively recent addition to Alaska's pool of apprenticeship programs is assisting companies in project development, mining, reclamation, and other fields in finding reliable environmental technicians.

Alaska Forum, Inc. is a federal nonprofit formed to support the annual Alaska Forum on the Environment, a conference held to talk about a variety of environmental topics including climate change, energy, sustainability, solid waste and recycling, marine debris, hazardous waste cleanup, hazardous materials management, pollution prevention, and other issues that affect Alaska.

The Forum has since expanded to operate an Environmental Technician Apprenticeship program, the Green Star environmental conservation and pollution prevention program, and to provide solid waste training and other online courses.

Local Technicians Needed

Apprenticeship Director Karen Kroon says the Environmental Technician Apprenticeship program began because oilfield operator ConocoPhillips brought forward a request for more Alaska-trained environmental technicians.

"Conoco was saying they were hiring contractors who were bringing people to come up from out of state and they were bringing families up here, then [the employees] realize it's dark and cold and they'd move back south," Kroon says. The company said they would prefer to see their contractors hire Alaskans, who are familiar with the realities of living in this state, but couldn't find enough trained local technicians to meet their needs.

Environmental technicians need to be able to collect soil, water, air, and other samples while meeting very high standards for sample integrity.

"Maybe they're going out into a field for a new project, or a pipeline project, or for cleanup of a site, where they're sampling soil and air and water quality," Kroon says.

ConocoPhillips has provided some financial support in the past and helped to create the program, Kroon says. They and other employers donate their time and expertise on an Advisory Board for the program.

Focus Is on Employer Participation

Although trained environmental technicians are a recognized need in the state, Kroon says she works hard to help employers understand the value of their program and to be willing to participate with the apprenticeship.

Ten employers currently work with Alaska Forum on the program: ConocoPhillips; CH2M Hill; Environmental Management, Inc. (EMI); Environmental Resources Management (ERM); Exp Global, Inc.; UMIAQ; the Knik tribe...