The Foreign Service Journal, September 2018

52 SEPTEMBER 2018 | THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL Early childhood experiences and a commitment to environmental stewardship served this diplomat well throughout his career. BY TOM ARMBRUSTER Practicing Environmental Diplomacy Thomas Armbruster was U.S. ambassador to the Republic of the Marshall Islands from 2012 to 2016, his last assignment before retiring after a 28-year diplomatic career. Ambassador Armbruster joined the Foreign Service in 1988 and served overseas in Russia (where he was the only U.S. diplomat ever to arrive by kayak), Tajikistan, Mexico, Cuba and Finland. He received career achievement, meritorious and superior honor awards from the State Department, as well as an award from President Hilda Heine of the Republic of the Marshall Islands. Prior to joining the Service, Amb. Armbruster was a journalist with KGMB-TV in Hono- lulu and Hawaii Public Radio, as well as Maryland Public Television in Owings Mills, Mary- land. His publications include a chapter in the book Inside a U.S. Embassy (FS Books, 2011) and articles in The Foreign Service Journal, State Magazine, Chesapeake Bay Magazine, Above and Beyond, OpsLens, The GeoStrategists and The Ambassadors REVIEW. I n my eighth-grade environment class, our teacher encouraged us to do field work rather than write a paper. I chose to work alongside and interview a Chesapeake Bay oysterman, who showed me how the oysters filter the water and explained the vital role they play in the bay’s health. I also learned being an oysterman is cold, wet, hard work! A few years later, I worked on the charter fishing boat Breezin’ Thru, where Captain Harry told me about the old days when he would see acres of fish feeding on the surface of the bay. In the Marshall Islands they call such a feeding frenzy an unok . That simple word describes a natural phenomenon in which the big fish force the little ones to the surface, where they are then divebombed by seabirds. Seeing a healthy marine environment is one of the great joys on Earth. FEATURE