Remembering a science communicator of profound excellence
In a research organization, an excellent R&D public affairs specialist and science communicator needs a myriad of qualities and talents, including an above-average understanding of science and the ability to translate technical information into articles that captivate the imaginations of the American public. R&D public affairs specialists also need to be intuitively perceptive and insightful while being able to foster a whole community. They must possess media communications savvy, legislative affairs shrewdness, creativity, and a collected calm under high-pressure cameras-on situations. Tact, judiciousness, kindness, and a sincere drive to champion one’s organization and the people within are all essential soft skills needed for public affairs excellence.
Yasmeen Sands possessed all these qualities in abundance.
As the Pacific Northwest Research Station’s senior public affairs specialist, Yasmeen Sands, held a bachelor’s degree in mass communication and a master’s in technical communication from the University of Washington. However, she was so much more than her education and career with the Forest Service. She was also an artist (watercolor painter, seamstress, crocheter, and singer), an advocate and avid animal lover (she interned in a veterinary clinic when she was deciding on her career path and has saved countless domestic and wild animals—most recently, a discarded older horse destined for slaughter named Jamaal), a content researcher of extraordinary acumen, a writer imbued with wordsmithing grace and elegance, and a deeply committed humanitarian.
Yasmeen was protective of her professional community and safeguarded us all by ensuring her colleagues had the tools and training to confidently conduct interviews. For those that were nervous, or embarking on their first interview, she took as much time, as many dry runs or practice sessions as needed, to help her colleagues be successful. She was compassionate, the kind of colleague that would stop her day to help a friend grieve for their recently deceased mother or make a point to check in with a struggling coworker. In essence, she was there to coach her professional community, to help them thrive, and be their best selves.
On camera, Yasmeen filled the frame with her larger-than-life vivacity. Forest Service R&D public affairs specialists are a small community. We are situated far and wide around the country and many of us have never met in person, even if we work together and communicate daily. After years of knowing her from virtual meetings, Yasmeen, typically private and always professional, disclosed that she was only 5 ft tall. She contained multitudes—confidence, caring, compassion, courage, intelligence, humor, ferocity, and grace. Many of us were shocked, having spent years picturing her as a woman at least 6 ft tall. She was a giant among us, even if she was small of stature.
Yasmeen had a profound love and understanding of the natural world. She was also known for her great appreciation of the poet, Mary Oliver, who is renowned for her connection to nature. During team meetings Yasmeen would find the perfect Mary Oliver quote or poem to uplift, inspire, or comfort. Her favorite quote—one that she would want to leave us all with—was from Oliver’s “The Summer Day.”
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Yasmeen was a part of the Pacific Northwest Research Station family for 25 years. For 22 of those years, she wrote the stories and communicated to the world the incredible wonder and knowledge that the station had to offer. In her LinkedIn bio she said it best, “All in all, I have a pretty sweet gig—I get to work on a daily basis with world-renowned scientists, communicating their research on pressing issues about our beautiful and fascinating natural world to help communities understand and make informed decisions about natural resource management.”
This year marks the station’s centennial. Yasmeen’s 25 years have been an integral part of the station’s history, of fostering the station’s community, telling its story, and shining a light on the extraordinary work it does to advance forest science. Her devotion and excellence of service to the Pacific Northwest Research Station community is nonreplicable and irreplaceable.
She was the secret in the sauce.
Storytellers have the superpower of fostering a community forever through their stories and words. Yasmeen will be missed by us all terribly. But her words and her stories will live on in perpetuity—cradling and fostering the station’s community in her words and shepherding us into the future.
Visit Yasmeen and the history of the station through her remarkable work anytime: