USFWS Grant: Supporting Young Professionals in Natural Resource Careers

The USFWS’s Youth in Natural Resource Careers initiative has a core need of encouraging and developing young people with the appropriate skill sets and interests to become conservation professionals. The NAAEE’s Careers and Young Professionals plan supports the Department’s initiative through the Young Professionals Group activities at the NAAEE annual conference; Utilizing web resources and getting career information to underserved audiences.

The Young Professionals Group is made up of students and entry-level employees to support youth entering the environmental field by assisting them with the process of career selection and placement.
As part of the NAAEE annual conference, the Young Professionals Group will hold mentoring sessions, career workshops, career fairs, resume stations and conferences.

Web resources that will be employed include: podcasts featuring interviews with natural resource professionals to give young people an idea of the skills and knowledge required for a given field of interest as well as a blog site for students and young professionals providing information about opportunities in natural resource careers and supporting an online mentoring community.

In an effort to reach underserved audiences about conservation careers, NAAEE will attend conferences and meetings of minority career groups such as the National Hispanic Environmental Council, Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences, and the National Alliance for Black School Educators. Additionally, NAAEE will attend meetings of natural resource education groups such as the National Association of Interpretation and the SCA to solicit participation their Young Professionals Group. These practices are in alignment with the USFWS’s focus on Youth in Natural Resource Careers.