Students paddle at Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge, NC. (Photo Credit: Steve Hillebrand/USFWS)
As Conserving the Future implementation teams consider how to attract larger audiences to national wildlife refuges and the mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, I recommend those teams encourage individual refuges to connect directly with undergraduate college students.
Hundreds of refuges – rural refuges as well as urban refuges – are within half an hour of a college or university. As we all know, refuges offer a natural diversion from the daily grind – and most refuges are free. As we all know, too, college students are always craving free diversions from the rigors of studying and the confines of their campuses.
We could tap into that college-student craving more consciously, consistently and locally than we do now. We could encourage individual refuges to establish formal and informal connections with nearby universities.
We could encourage individual refuges to have a presence at nearby colleges’ student orientation sessions, the sessions at which students sign up for clubs, intramurals and activities each fall. A Service presence at those sessions – which take place in coming weeks – would let students know that the refuge is just down the road, and that it offers great recreational opportunities, great volunteering opportunities and great career opportunities.
We could encourage individual refuges to establish at least semi-formal relationships with nearby colleges’ career counseling offices. This would ensure that students who come in seeking job advice, an internship or a volunteer possibility would know that the refuge is just down the road – and so is a potential conservation career.
We could encourage individual refuges to connect with professors in conservation-related academic disciplines, to make sure those professors know that they and their students are welcome at the refuge down the road.
I think that we should do all of this with as many universities as is feasible to attract intelligent young people of all ethnicities and socioeconomic situations.
Because Conserving the Future recommendations 19 and 22 urge us to broaden our audience and workforce to be more diverse, perhaps we should put special emphasis on doing all of the above with historically black college and universities or Hispanic-serving institutions.
Imagine Grambling University sending a steady stream of student volunteers and young Friends to Upper Ouachita Refuge. Imagine Delaware State University professors taking students to Bombay Hook Refuge to learn about salt marsh and sea-level rise. Imagine El Camino College biology students aiding California least tern recovery at Seal Beach Refuge. Imagine Howard University students regularly trekking to Patuxent Research Refuge, Hampton University students to Back Bay Refuge, Savannah State to Savannah Refuge, Alabama A&M students to Wheeler Refuge, University of Texas-Pan American students to Santa Ana Refuge. I’d love to see stronger ties between my alma mater, Syracuse University, and Montezuma Refuge.
Some of this is happening already – especially in summer via formal programs such as the Career Discovery Internship Program, the Student Temporary Employment Program, the Student Career Experience Program and Youth Conservation Corps. That’s fantastic. But let’s localize the concept. Let’s encourage individual refuges across the country to connect directly with nearby colleges, year-around on the community level.
— This blog was written by Bill O’Brian, a writer-editor in the Refuge System Headquarters Branch of Communications.
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This is a low-cost, value-added idea worth pursuing. Not only would such efforts to attract college students to refuges potentially increase appreciation and support from future taxpayers and leaders, but they would surely yield greater awareness from local communities. What I hear from ambitious college students is that the tight employment market is driving them to beef up their resumes with unpaid internships. Let’s make those opportunuties more available, too, and turn this idea into a win-win for educated citizens and the Refuge System.
If universities increasingly use refuges as outdoor classrooms or take advantage of refuge recreational opportunities, that is great and would not likely result in an increased work load on refuge staff. Conversely, if college students increasingly request volunteer opportunities this will require more effort on the part of refuge staff to organize and supervise this free labor force. Perhaps here is where the Friends can help refuge staff while bolstering their membership with college students.
Yes! I agree with Karen, as the job market becomes increasingly competitive students are looking for internships or volunteer opportunities… Refuges just might provide that place-based opportunity. Thanks for inspiring us all Bill.
Here’s an example of the kind of thing I’m talking about — from Sachuest Point National Wildlife Refuge in Rhode Island:
http://middletown.patch.com/articles/sachuest-point-national-wildlife-refuge-hosts-over-100-college-volunteers
I would guess that a lot of wildlife refuges are already going this. Our folks in the field are stretched so thin, I’m wondering what specific actions could be taken to get a lot of return on investing in relationships with colleges and universities, especially when the purpose or project isn’t self-evident.
Michael hit the nail on the head – refuges are already doing this! While working on refuges, I found that many times the schools came to us. Stations with larger visitor services staff might have the capacity to engage in more proactive outreach to encourage additional secondary participation – but it’s already happening writ large across the Refuge System.
Michael also brings up another good point – utility. What is our ultimate objective in reaching out to colleges and universities? Many of us in education know that if we want to encourage students to pursue a Service career, we shouldn’t be waiting until college to reach out to them. Most students have already decided what they’re interested in by then, if not already chosen their future career path. WE NEED TO REACH STUDENTS WHILE THEY ARE STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. I’ve long advocated for the development of Service materials that outreach to the high school crowd (see my advocacy in action during the Q&A after the Hiring the Next Generation workshop).
As I mention in my question to the panel, many refuges are already cultivating relationships with the 15-18 age set, either through YCC, community service, school field trips, etc. THIS is the time to “hook” these students on conservation. And what happens after you have a high school student hooked on conservation? What does a Service park ranger give such a student to help guide them further in their interest? Answer: 1/2 fact sheet on the Public Lands Corps Act. Wow. That is LITERALLY all the Service material we can provide to a high school student. We have awesome web sites (like Neighborhood Explorers) that reach out to the middle and elementary school crowd. But what do we have for the high school crowd? We’re WAY behind the eight ball on this one.
Take a look at the Jason Project, Peace Corps and the Cacapon Institute to get an idea of what we could (and should!) be doing. We really need products and services at the national level to support WHAT IS ALREADY GOING ON at the field level. I know Angie tried to get some traction in this direction. It would be great to see it continue to move forward.
http://www.jason.org/games
http://www.peacecorps.gov/kids/
http://www.cacaponinstitute.org/e_classroom.htm