In 1944, the Department of Navy leased 76.5 acres of land from the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe and the Pyramid Lake Ranch. The acreage was established for the land-based operations in support of the torpedo and bombing activities for the Naval Air Center, Alameda. Because of these activities, the Pyramid Lake Torpedo and Bombing Range was declared a Formerly Used Defense Site (FUDS) in September 1999 and put under the administration of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for remediation.

For this project, I was part of an environmental restoration team, where I was responsible for community outreach with the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe. We began this project by meeting with the Tribal Council, receiving their approval to undertake the work, and collaborating with the Council and reservation members to remedy the site. The environmental restoration team consisted of members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), USACE contractors, the U.S. Navy, and members of the Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribe working side-by-side to address environmental injustices. I was responsible for creating community newsletters, writing articles, and assisting the project manager in providing project status updates to the Tribal Council.

As a result of this work, the environmental team I was on received the U.S. Secretary of Defense 2005 Environmental Team Award and the U.S. Secretary of the Army 2005 Environmental Team Award. I also received the USACE Commanders Award for Public Service and a Pyramid Lake Paiute Tribal Recognition Award.