Latins for Natural Resources to Foster Love of Outdoors

From left, Wilma Gerena, Katerina Lozano, Jazmin Castillo, and Dillon Hanson, all with the School of Natural Resources, have started a new club: Latins for Natural Resources.
From left, Wilma Gerena, Katerina Lozano, Jazmin Castillo, and Dillon Hanson, all with the School of Natural Resources, have started a new club: Latins for Natural Resources.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln's newest student club, Latins for Natural Resources, will host its first meeting from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27 in the Ubuntu Room of the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center, 1505 S Street, Lincoln.

The club is dedicated to bringing together the Latino American community on both Nebraska campuses to expand the community of nature lovers, and meetings will be conducted in both Spanish and English. The group also will provide a safe, welcoming, all-inclusive space for students, no matter their heritage or gender.

“Latin American culture revolves around family,” said Jazmin Castillo, graduate student with the National Science Foundation National Research Traineeship Program at the School of Natural Resources and co-founder of the club. “We created our organization to build community within a field that affects us all.

“Even if you are not Latino/a/x, this organization is for everyone. We want to create a community that brings together students from both campuses and gives back to the underrepresented community in natural resources like Latin Americans. So if you speak Spanish, Portuguese, English, Indigenous languages, or any other, you matter and you deserve to be spotlighted.”

Castillo is joined by Dillon Hanson and Katerina Lozano, both senior fisheries and wildlife majors, in leading the club. Wilma Gerena, business associate for the Nebraska Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at SNR, is serving as the adviser.

The group will provide opportunities to connect with and learn more about natural resources, which includes everything from groundwater to reptiles to wind, and to participate in outdoors activities.

“By getting involved with natural resources through activities, trips, and serviceship, you are able to really appreciate all that the natural world has to offer,” Hanson said.

And if those aren’t your thing, the group also plans to host events that allow students to delve deeper into different Latin American cultures or to practice and learn Spanish.

“We want our club members to have fun and learn things that will help them in the future,” Lozano said.

For her part, Gerena sees the club as a great opportunity for students outside of the School of Natural Resources to step out of their comfort zone and into the natural world — one filled with fish and worms, water and minerals, air and grass — resources that touch our lives daily, allow us to thrive, and drive our economy.

The official meeting schedule is yet to be determined, but those interested in participating can join the Latins for Natural Resources listserv here. You also can find them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, or keep up-to-date at their website.

For more information about University of Nebraska-Lincoln student organizations, click here.

Natural Resources