The Harbison State Forest Environmental Education Center played host July 8 to 21 high school students interested in entering natural resources, agriculture and other related careers.
Planned by Assistant Environmental Education Coordinator Leslie Wilson, the event showcased the different kinds of jobs available at the Forestry Commission to students from the Agriculture and Family and Consumer Sciences Academy (AgriFCS) at South Carolina State University.
AgriFCS’ goal is to prepare and support students entering the Food, Agriculture and Natural Science, Human Sciences (FANH) arena, increasing the number of professionals entering the USDA workforce.
Leslie lined up Forestry Commission staff representing a wide range of forestry and wildfire careers to talk about their jobs as well as the requisite education and experience for each. The SCFC employees listed below presented the unique job categories in which they work, discussing various aspects of their duties and responsibilities:
- Richland/Lexington Sector Fire Management Officer Sam St. Louis: Fire management
- Wildland Firefighter Tony Campbell: Dozer operations
- Invasive Species Coordinator Katie Biggert: Forest health and invasive species
- Richland/Lexington/Union Project Forester Jonathan Cantrell: Forest management and Forest Inventory & Analysis (FIA)
- Forest Protection Section Chief Darryl Jones: Forest protection
- FIA Coordinator Byron Rominger: Tree identification
Thank you very much to all the amazing employees who volunteered their time to make this special event happen!