Answering emails...

One of the favorite  parts of my job is answering questions from kids.   Over the weekend I got this email from a student here in Mt. Pleasant. 

Hi Mr. LeValley,

This is Hannah P., and I was wondering if I could ask you some questions. I am doing a project for my church youth group about someone I know and what their job is. I have chosen you because your job interests me a lot. If you could please answer the following questions for me, that would be great.

1.       What kind of responsibilities do you have?
2.       What training and/or education did you have to obtain?
3.       What contributions do you make to society in your work field?

Thanks!

Hannah P.

I know this young lady both from school programs and from several public programs that her family has attended.  Everyone in her family has a keen interest in science and nature and it has been a pleasure to talk with all of them at these public events.  If it is the path that she chooses to pursue, Hannah has a great future in the natural science.

Here is the reply that I sent:

Hi Hannah,

I am happy to answer your questions about my job.  The answers are a little long, but I wanted to be thorough.  If you have any other questions just let me know.



1.       What kind of responsibilities do you have?
My job consists of several areas of responsibility.  First, I am responsible for creating education programs and making sure that those programs meet State of Michigan education standards.  The state standards are undergoing a change right now so I have to make sure that my programs meet both the old and new standards.  Sometimes presentations don’t work out very well (too long, too hard to understand, too boring, etc.) and I have to find ways of changing them that will make them better.
Another aspect of my job is scheduling – I work with several dozen teachers at schools throughout the county and it takes some work to fit multiple programs into their schedules.  I have over 400 classroom programs scheduled for this school year.  Sometimes I am able to do the scheduling over the phone or through email, but it is often easier to meet face-to-face with teachers so we can look at my calendar and the school calendar simultaneously. 
I also have to be flexible with scheduling.  Schools often have last-minute events that make it necessary to reschedule.  Add in snow days (and the rare days that I take off due to illness) and my schedule can change quite a bit from what was originally set at the beginning of the school year.
Planning is another important aspect of my job.  Much of my summer is spent planning for the presentations that I will give during the school year.  This includes developing new materials and ordering supplies.  I also plan for our annual environmental education day.  Planning for this event takes several months.  I have to coordinate presenters; reserve the location; make arrangements for tents, tables, chairs, and other materials; order supplies; create a schedule; invite classrooms; and a make sure of a great number of other small details.
A fourth aspect of my job is the part that everyone sees – giving presentations.  Between school and public presentations, I will spend approximately 500 hours per year in front of people.  My goal is for everyone that sees me give a presentation to learn something new about nature or the environment. 
Because I give programs on a diverse variety of subjects, I need to have an almost encyclopedic knowledge.  I get asked questions all of the time by students and adults.  There are always questions that I don’t know the answer to so I am constantly doing research to increase my knowledge.  I do this both by reading lots of books and articles on the internet and by spending as much time in the field as possible to gain first-hand knowledge.  I also try to attend several professional conferences and workshops each year.  There is always something new to learn.
A final important responsibility that I have is securing funding for my program.  The environmental education program is 100% funded by grants.  Every year or two I have to write a proposal asking for more funding. 


2.       What training and/or education did you have to obtain?
A person looking for a job like mine typically needs a college degree in one of several fields: natural resources, education, environmental education, or outdoor recreation.  It normally requires course work in biology, ecology, and interpretation.  It is also helpful to have a background in earth science (geology, meteorology, astronomy) and even history.
Another possible path to a job like mine is through experience.  Many people gain experience and knowledge as an interpreter through either volunteering or internships.  A lot can be gained by studying and learning on your own.  It is also valuable to connect with other environmental education professionals at workshops and conferences.
Like many people in the environmental education field, I have a combination of formal and informal training.  I earned a teaching certificate through Central Michigan University.  I learned a lot about local plants and animals while working for the Mt. Pleasant Parks Department.  I also volunteered as a nature guide for several years at the Forest Hill Nature Area before being hired for my current job.

3.       What contributions do you make to society in your work field?
I hope that I am increasing both people’s knowledge of and their appreciation for nature.  It is hard to care about something if you know nothing about it.  By increasing knowledge, my goal is that students and adults will do something to help their local habitats (clean up litter, clear trails, donate money to conservation, plant native plants, etc.).  I hope that by increasing knowledge I am helping people make more informed decisions about how they treat the land and water, and the species that reside there. 
At the very least I want students (and adults) to come away from one of my presentations with a sense of wonder and excitement about science and nature.  Who knows, maybe this will start someone on a path towards a career in science or conservation!

 

Out! Out! Darned Spot!

The office that I work in is shared by two agencies: the Isabella Conservation District (that I work for) and the Natural Resources Conservation Service (a branch of the US Department of Agriculture).  Because both of these agencies have the word "Conservation" in their names, people are often confused by what we do - many people come into the office thinking they have found a branch of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.  One of the things that happens frequently is people will bring in plants or insects that they ask us to identify.  Or they bring in a part of a diseased plant (or a photo of the plant) and ask us both for identification of the problem and for a solution. 

My desk is the first one inside the door so I often end up seeing these things first - even if I'm not here they often end up on my desk with a name and phone number asking me to call.

One question that I answer on an annual basis is about this phenomenon:

Tar-spots on Norway Maple

What are those dark spots on the leaves of my maple tree?

Those dark spot are caused by a fungus in the genus Rhytisma.  They commonly appear on maples during the summer months.  Early in the season they will appear as small yellow dots.  As the season progresses and the fungus grows and matures, the dots become wider and darker.  At this stage they are commonly referred to as tar-spots or tar-spotting because of their resemblance to drops of tar dripped on the leaves.

Another Norway Maple leaf with tar-spotting

Will it kill the tree?

No, even though tar-spots are unattractive, they will not kill the tree.  By the time the fungus progresses to the tar-spot stage the leaves have begun to slow down they production of sugars and are preparing to drop from the tree.  In some cases of serious infection, the tree may drop its leaves earlier than it would if it were not infected.  The tree suffers no permanent harm.

Silver Maple with tar-spots

Is there anything that I can do?

This is the part where I have to be the bearer of bad news to concerned landowners.  There really is nothing you can do in the short run to stop tar-spotting once it has begun in your trees.  The only real thing that can be done is to try to stop the cycle and prevent it from recurring.  The fungus matures in the leaves once they fall from the tree and eventually releases millions of spores that can reinfect the tree.  To stop the cycle, you have to remove all fallen leaves from the site.  Even this is not 100% effective as spores will often blow back in from other nearby infected trees.

Questions?

Officially my title is Education Coordinator, but I am more often referred to as the "_____" Guy.  The Bug Guy.  The Tree Guy.  The Flower Guy.  And most often simply as The Science Guy.

In my job, I get asked lots of questions.  Questions from adults.  Questions from kids (more questions from kids than from adults).  This is the nature of my job - answering questions.

If I am not doing a presentation at a school, I am the first person that visitors to our office see.  If I see someone walking in with a leaf, or a jar, or a bucket, there is very good chance that they have a question.  Usually its along the lines of "What is this bug/tree/plant/etc.?" or 'What can I do about this bug/tree/plant/etc?".  Sometime I come back to the office to find a jar/leaf/branch/whole plant/etc. sitting on my desk with a note to "Please call so-and-so, they have a question."

More often, the questions I get are from kids.  I should get lost of questions from kids.  During the past 5 school years I have presented more than nine hundred fifty classroom presentation.  This year, I have nearly 400 presentations scheduled.  If I answer an average of  7 to 10 questions per program, this means that by June 2015 I will have answered somewhere between 10,000 and 13,000 questions from students over six school years.  This doesn't count presentations at libraries, public programs, etc..

Some of the are unique, but I get lots of repeat questions.  My favorite question of all is one of the repeats - "How do you know all this stuff/so much stuff/all of this?!"  I love this question because when I hear it I know that the student is really asking "How can I learn all of this stuff?!"

My answer to a kid student that wants to know "all of this stuff" is to read LOTS of books.  Read every book you can get your hands on.  (I also read a lot about science on the internet, but you have to be careful about the accuracy of your sources.  Go outside - much of what I know I learned from direct observation.  Listen to other people who know more about a subject than you do - if someone is giving a presentation about something that interests you, go to it.  Most importantly ask questions - there really is no such thing as a stupid question if you don't know the answer.

So, are there any questions?