On May 7, 2010, DeSoto NWR Visitor Services Specialist Ashley Berkler represented the USFWS at the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) 7^th grade career day.  The invitation to take part in career fair came as a result of networking at an environmental education workshop in February. 

Students from OPS were exposed to a variety of careers during the day and it was nice to be able to represent the Department of the Interior and the USFWS.  Some of these students have very little contact with the outdoors living in the city and hopefully exposing them to different careers will help them see other career choices when they start to think about the future.  The career day was held at the Metro Community College South Campus in Omaha, NE. 

The 180 students who participated in the career day came from a variety of racial, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds.  By participating in the career day, DeSoto NWR is able to reach out to this audience and share about the National Wildlife Refuge System and the USFWS.  Outreach activities such as this help the USFWS recruit a service-wide workforce that reflects the diversity of the nation’s population. 

Career day coordinator LeeAnn Vaughan thanked the refuge for their participation and said “The teacher evaluations were very positive and the students showed great enthusiasm as they completed each of their sessions.”