Q: What did you study during your time at UNL? Were you involved with any groups or organizations?
A: "I was an Environmental Studies major with an emphasis in natural resources and a minor in Geography. I was pretty active in ASUN, Sustain UNL, the Environmental Leadership Program and the Environmental Sustainability Committee."
Q: Can you give a brief overview of your current position?
A: "Currently I am the Grounds and Orchard Manager at Arbor Day Farm in Nebraska City. I oversee the 30 acres of apple trees as well as the 260 acres that make up Arbor Day Farm and Lied Lodge. I also manage the grounds of Arbor Lodge State Park."
Q: One of the core values of the Environmental Studies program is to “Cultivate Your Community.” How was this reflected during your time in the program? How does it play a role in your career now?
A: "Community needs to be the heart of sustainability and environmental consciousness otherwise it’s a wasted effort, sorry to say. Getting involved in projects throughout the community helps get more people involved and aware of programs and activities they might not have known about otherwise. Dave’s [ENVR] 319 class is a great example of reaching out to community members to try and involve local groups.
Community is extremely important in my role today. Building relationships with the community and community leaders helps spread the mission of my work, brings in new opportunities and growth and helps you realize that being part of a community is a team effort."
Q: How did your involvement in the program prepare you for internship/employment experiences?
A: "The best part of ENVR was the diversity of the program. Rather than concentrate on one specific study, like a lot of majors, you get to have classes about a broad spectrum of subjects. This really helped open my interest to many different topics while still revolving around environmental
studies. I think that sets everyone in the program up for success because you rarely end up doing in life exclusively what you studied in college."
Q: What about your time in the Environmental Studies program stands out to you and why?
A: "I appreciate the groups that being an ENVR kid allowed me to be a part of. A lot of what I participated in helped give me experience with things I now work with everyday. Not to mention a lot of people involved in those groups I’m still friends with to this day."
Q: What advice would you give to current students?
A: "Explore everything you can. Every class or project could lead to a new opportunity that might end shaping your future career. Yes, classes like environmental ethics don’t seem all that exciting or relevant but you’ll end up referencing the material quite a bit (speaking from experience on
that). Becoming more involved with community and campus groups is a great way to get your foot in the door for future job opportunities and also discovering exactly what you do or don’t like about various aspects of things you might be interested in.
More details at: https://esp.unl.edu