Although it took a few years of living on a major flyway, Kristin Smith (pictured right, blue jacket) became hooked on birding after participating in the Copper River Delta Shorebird Festival eight-hour birding challenge. What started as a (seemingly) casual outing revealed the wealth of birds all around, every day. Ms. Carpenter managed the Copper River Watershed Project for 20 years, a nonprofit engaged in salmon habitat restoration and watershed education and stewardship in the Copper River drainage. She is currently leading another regional nonprofit, the Prince William Sound Economic Development District, working to build regional partnerships to improve ferry service in the Sound, catalyze investment in mariculture, and advance priority economic development projects in the Sound's communities. Cordova, in eastern Prince William Sound, has been home for 29 years, a great place to indulge a love of dipping a paddle in water to go explore. Ms. Carpenter holds a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from Middlebury College. (Kristin terms off the Alaska Board in Spring 2024.)