10 Sep The New Outdoor Recreation and Community Access Specialist

Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

It’s September 1st, the first day of my new internship at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. My lunch? Packed. ETA? Ten minutes early. My supervisor leads me inside the visitor center; we pass the front desk and enter through the door labeled “Authorized Personnel Only.” Once through the door, my supervisor gestures to an open cubicle with an empty desk, on the wall above my new desk it says “Olivia Becker – EFTA Outdoor Recreation & Community Access Specialist”.

For the last two years, I’ve been building field experience on my resume by taking any outdoor job I could find. I worked as a Backcountry Field Guide for a wilderness therapy center, later moving on to become a Camp Host Manager in Big Cottonwood Canyon here in Utah. This spring I became a member of the Utah Conservation Corps, working 8-day hitches and 10-hour days doing everything from pulling weeds in the middle of a college town to thinning new tree growth in the Uintas. 

Before that, I worked for four years to earn my Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science and Sustainability, with an Emphasis in Sustainability Initiatives and a minor in Parks and Recreational Tourism. This internship was the logical next step in building my career. I’ve swapped my backpack and tent for a desk and computer, instead of executing plans and projects I get to create and manage them. It’s been one week, and I’m excited to see how this internship will push me and what I will learn throughout the year I’m here!

This is a picture I took of an American Bullfrog here at the refuge.