Genoa's 2008 Student Employees from left to right Chris Olds (SCEP student), Brandon Keesler and Jorge Buening STEP enrollees FWS photo

Summer is the season of growth at a fish culture facility, which means taking care of young of the year sturgeon, mussels, and other fish species whose numbers reach over the millions at the Genoa National Fish Hatchery (NFH).  This increased workload is met each summer by enlisting the help of enrollees from the Student Career Employment Program (SCEP) and the Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP).  This year Chris Olds, a senior at Lake Superior State University, Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. joined us hoping to garner experience in lake sturgeon and freshwater mussel culture, as well as in culturing our traditional warm water species of fish.  He is currently enrolled in the Fish and Wildlife Service's SCEP program. 

This summer local students Jorge Buening and Brandon Keesler also rejoined the staff as STEP enrollees.  Jorge is a senior at the University of Wisconsin Stevens Point, and Brandon will be a junior at Stevens Point.  Both are majoring in Natural Resources and have been assisting the station as volunteers or Youth Conservation Corps employees for several years.  The station has helped in their studies and also received timely answers to practical research problems through ongoing lake sturgeon diet trials that were completed as research papers last year.  The LaCrosse area is a great place to become familiar with Big River ecology and fishery issues, as they all will be assisting in ongoing fish health and management activities at the LaCrosse Fish Health Center and the LaCrosse Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office.  As seen in the picture, these young cowboys have something to prove to not only the staff at Genoa, but the world in general, and we look forward to watching them grow and make an impact on the fish and wildlife resources that we are charged to protect.