Ivett Plascencia (right) talks with students at the USFWS booth. (USFWS photo: Richard Posey)

Richard Posey speaks to a class at ECHS. (USFWS photo: Ivett Plascencia)

by Michael Woodbridge, Hopper Mountain NWRC

On November 17, 2008, Richard Posey, Wildlife Biologist, Ivett Plascencia, Office Automation Clerk and Marc Weitzel, Project Leader for Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (NWRC) attended the second annual Environmental Charter High School (ECHS) Environmental Awareness/Career Day.  Sponsored by the National Hispanic Environmental Council (NHEC), the event reaches out to students about career options in the environmental/conservation fields.

ECHS is a non-profit public charter school located in Los Angeles County, focused on making students lifelong stewards of their community.  NHEC is a national non-profit organization based in Washington, DC.  The Council is the only national Latino environmental organization in the country.

The Complex staff set up an informational booth in the school’s outdoor lunch area.  Other environmental groups also set up booths, including Angeles National Forest, Heal the Bay and Aquarium of the Pacific, among others. Approximately 12-18 conservation organizations set up booths at the event.  Students were able to browse the booths throughout the day.  Many excited students stopped by the Hopper Mountain NWRC booth, asking questions about what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) does and how they can start a career with the agency.

After lunch, refuge staff were assigned to three different classes to give presentations.  Ivett Plascencia spoke to students about all the career areas USFWS offers and shared her story as a student worker (STEP).  She also explained the two student programs USFWS offers (STEP and SCEP) and encouraged students to contact their local USFWS office to learn more about STEP and SCEP opportunities.  Richard Posey talked about his career as a California condor wildlife biologist and encouraged students to take courses in GIS.  “The ECHS Environmental Awareness/Career Day is an important event that creates future environmental leaders and has the potential to grow USFWS workforce diversity,” said Project Leader Marc Weitzel.