TEACHER/NATURALIST

Jenny Case, community outreach coordinator for the Nature Conservancy

HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED IN WORKING WITH NATURE?

Nature is where my heart lies. My first interest was plants. I studied some biology and worked in greenhouses and fruit and dairy farms. We see a lot of birds and many plant varieties on our nature walks, and my background in identifying different plants has been helpful.

When I began my job search, I had two small children and needed something with flexible hours. When I saw the ad for this job with the Nature Conservancy, I was thrilled.

IS THIS YOUR FIRST EXPERIENCE WORKING
WITH NATURE?

No. In fact, because I was already active in the outdoors and knew about planning trips from working in the recreation industry, I was a good match for this job.

WHY DOES THE NATURE CONSERVANCY DO
COMMUNITY OUTREACH?

As an organization, we are looking for compatible ways to conserve natural resources and land. We were losing land and species at an alarming rate, and in order to accomplish our mission, we needed to do more outreach and education for the public.

DESCRIBE YOUR NORMAL DAY.

There is no one type of day for me! That's what I love. I have a lot of variety in my job. But in general I plan seasonal schedules. For instance, I will plot out three months at a time by supplementing our old standby activities, like hiking to the waterfall, with newer ideas. Some of the other activities I'm excited about are stargazing evenings, a summer solstice event hosted by a Native American couple, and book readings by famous naturalists and authors. That kind of thing.