Submitted Photo Katherine Arnold is in Washington, D.C., at the National 4-H Youth Summit as a pollinator ambassador for North Dakota.

Pierce County 4-H member Katherine Arnold left for Washington, D.C., on March 9 to represent North Dakota as a pollinator ambassador at the National 4-H Youth Summit on Agri-Science.

Arnold is one of five pollinator ambassadors for the state.

Arnold, a Rugby High freshman who stays busy with 4-H and FFA, spoke via cell phone on her way to a Pride of Dakota sales event in Bismarck days before she left for the summit. Her parents, Steve and Robyn Arnold, own Arnold’s Misfit Acres BBQ in Willow City. Their sauces and seasonings bear the Pride of Dakota label.

Katherine Arnold said she planned to fly from Minot to Minneapolis along with Brenden Klebe, Pierce County’s NDSU Extension agent, who will serve as a chaperone for the small group of North Dakota ambassadors. The North Dakota ambassadors would meet up in Minneapolis after flying in from places such as Williston and Fargo and travel in a group to the nation’s capital.

She said she hoped to learn about the field of agricultural science and receive training to teach younger 4-H members about pollinators.

“I will be going around the state when I get back,” she said. “I’ll be teaching younger individuals and 4-H members about the importance of pollinators in our food system and our economy. I’ll talk a little bit about everything a pollinator helps with.

“Some examples of pollinators are honeybees, butterflies, ants, bats, birds, and mason bees. A wide variety of insects and birds are pollinators.” she said.

“She’s going down to Bismarck this weekend to learn how to be a smarter businessperson,” Steve Arnold said. “We depend a lot on honey for our products, so that was kind of a neat side deal with learning about pollinators.”

Katherine Arnold called pollinators “extremely important. They’re the forefront of our food system, for everything from vegetables and fruit to even our livestock. We see that a lot in our everyday gardens. Farmers see them pollinating their crops in the fields.”

She said livestock needed pollinators because “they pollinate the crops that provide nourishment to our livestock – grain, corn, alfalfa, and hay.”

She said after she comes back from D.C., she plans to “start out with doing small presentations here and there around Rugby and probably go around the state with my pollinator ambassador group.

“I’ll create an action plan at the assembly in Washington D.C. with my group,” she added.

Robyn Arnold said of the summit, “There’s some structure at the national level that they’re going to be learning about, I guess and part of it is creating an action plan. It’s all ambassador-driven. The adults who are going along to chaperone, they’re just there to chaperone, but the kids are going to be coming up with their own action plan.

“They’ve got to decide what’s important to bring back to North Dakota to each of their communities and to the state itself to improve pollinator habitats,” she added.

“I’m really excited to learn more about agri-science and visit our nation’s capital for the first time,” Katherine Arnold said. “We’ll also get to meet with Representative Kelly Armstrong and Senator Kevin Cramer when we’re there.”

She said she looked forward to meeting the other pollinator ambassadors from North Dakota. She said they’ve already met via Zoom meeting.

Katherine Arnold said she wanted to tell fellow 4-H members, “Whatever you want to do, as long as you put your mind to it, you can do it.

“I did not expect to be selected for the ambassador program whatsoever,” she added. “It’s amazing that out of six people, I got selected. It’s quite an opportunity. I’m really excited to start it off.”

She said she planned to study nursing after she graduates high school. “I might decide to get a minor in business or entrepreneurship. I haven’t planned that all out, but I’ve definitely decided to go into nursing.”