The Wildfire Career and Networking Panel, held on March 7 at the Northridge Center, provided students interested in agricultural or geographical career fields with networking opportunities with experts and community leaders.
The Institute for Sustainability partnered with the Geography and Environmental Studies Department (GES), CAL FIRE, Conservation Concierges, USU, California Climate Investments and The Soraya.
Sheila Steinberg, director of the Institute for Sustainability, said that although the early January wildfires were unfortunate, they presented an ideal opportunity for students to learn about new career paths they might not have considered.
“It’s about social change, and we want our students to feel inspired like, ‘Hey, I can make a difference. I might be studying economics or sociology or geography, but you know what? I’m gonna go after it and make a difference,’” said Sheila. “My hope today is that students will go out and network with these super organizations and learn to create great opportunities for themselves.”
With over 10 career booths at the event, students had the opportunity to learn how each organization and career opportunity has implemented its unique approach to change and the ongoing contributions it makes.
Derek Carlster, a forester from the Urban and Community Forestry for CAL Fire, helps maintain sustainable urban forests and increases the long-term benefits of the trees in California communities. The Urban Community Forestry offers multiple careers and opportunities for students who enjoy outdoor activities.
“We have environmental scientist’s positions. There’s a whole forester series, so if you have a degree in forestry or anything related to that, land management, that’s a good pathway to pursue for GIS [Geographic Information System] folks,” said Carlster.
In another booth, Elioros Agala works with Nature for All, a non-profit organization partnering with CAL Fire, to identify the trees that survived fire damage and can still thrive despite being severely burned. However, according to Agala, survived but burned trees are often mistaken for being dead.
“So right now, we’re going out and counting all of the trees that are alive so the army corps doesn’t come in and take them off,” said Agala.
Although not all students may be interested in pursuing careers in agriculture or geographical fields, California State Senator Henry Stern stated that individuals can take several roles to positively impact the environment.
“I have a whole team of people who work in advanced mapping, doing policy and data analysis, but also people [who] just want to get their hands dirty and help vulnerable seniors get their power back up or learn about electrical work. There’s a lot of jobs to be had so don’t feel powerless at this moment,” said Stern.
CSUN student Elizabeth Rose found the event highly informative, agreeing that the information shared was crucial and beneficial for preventing future wildfires.
“Notifying people about big things that they need to be aware of, like one of the resources here mentioned how unserious people are when it comes to a fire alarm going off. Some people are probably like, ‘yea, it’s nothing to worry about.’ You don’t want to assume anything in case of an emergency, so making sure people know that is a big thing,” said Rose.
To learn more about sustainability involvement, visit the Institute for Sustainability website.
