By Ronica Stromberg
Grant Carstens graduated from the School of Natural Resources in 2020 at the height of the Covid pandemic. Today, the self-identified "Covid grad" manages two parks and has advice for other students hoping to similarly succeed in the natural resources job market.
"I think the biggest piece of advice I can give is, don't be afraid to get your hands dirty and go out and do the internships and the seasonal jobs and everything like that in a whole wide range of fields," he said.
As a dual park manager for the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Carstens oversees Lake Manawa State Park in Council Bluffs and the Wilson Island State Recreation Area across the state line from Blair, Nebraska. He manages the timber by burning, cutting and removing invasive species but also performs tasks like paying bills, hiring employees, helping law enforcement at the park and doing repair work such as fixing toilets.
"Some days you have to be a plumber or an electrician or a diesel mechanic or working on equipment," he said. "It's a big variety of a lot of different things, but basically, the goal is to, one, provide recreational opportunities to people coming to the parks and then, two, manage the natural resource to the best of our ability."
The position takes grit, which this Covid grad has. Carstens was in ROTC throughout college and now serves as an officer in the Iowa Army National Guard. He has served nine years, continuing the guard work one weekend a month and two weeks every summer.
At the university, he also performed on the Husker Spirit Squad from August 2017 to May 2020, primarily as team mascot Herbie Husker but, also, Lil' Red. Who knew he would one day work as a Husker surrounded by Hawkeyes and Cyclones, as he does now? Carstens’ career has been an upward climb, though, and he has always found footholds along the way.
With military training every summer in college, he never could take seasonal work. After graduating virtually during Covid, Carstens had only a short time to work, needing to report for a six-month military training in August. Although the pandemic had stymied hiring for many jobs in 2020, he applied to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and landed seasonal work at Platte River Park.
There, he worked as a housekeeper, changing bedsheets and cleaning cabins and the like. Carstens said he learned quite a bit from this about what park management actually entails.
Follow the rest of the Grant's story and see more picture of work places at https://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/what/newstory.aspx?fid=1327