Mussel Biologist Tony Brady giving a presentation to the 7th graders at Waukon Middle School.

Yogi Berra, former New York Yankee skipper, once said “I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.”  Out of the house is where the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Kids in Nature initiative wants to steer today’s youth.  Genoa National Fish Hatchery (NFH) is assisting in this initiative is by accepting invitations for staff biologists to give presentations to middle and high schools on both sides of the Mississippi River.  Fisheries

Biologist Jenny Walker  presented a river ecology lesson to the Environmental Studies class at the DeSoto high school located south of the hatchery in Wisconsin.  The Environmental Studies class is offered to high school students who have an interest in a career in natural resource conservation.  The following day the class joined Jenny for a tour of the hatchery where they saw first hand the type of work that goes on at a fish hatchery and the abundant nature that surrounds the Genoa facility. 

A second invitation was offered for Mussel Biologist Tony Brady to be the closing speaker for Waukon middle school’s Mississippi River curriculum unit.  Waukon middle school is located 30 miles southwest of the hatchery in Waukon, Iowa.  A total of 105 seventh graders were rotated through in three shifts to hear the river ecology presentation.  In addition to the river ecology, the students also learned about freshwater mussel life history, and what it takes to become a professional biologist…. good grades and lots of school.  Outreach efforts such as these are bringing excitement to the students that will motivate them out of the house and into nature.