Graduate Position In Restoration Education

Children explore what lives in the streams at Crossroads at Big Creek. Submitted.

Crossroads at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay is working in conjunction with the Environmental Science & Policy Program at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay (UWGB) to hire a graduate student to research and create a community-based ecological restoration education program. 

In 2020, Crossroads began a full-scale land restoration effort with funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Fund for Lake Michigan. In 2021, it hosted the inaugural Land Restoration School, an immersive program that trains restoration professionals. In 2022, Crossroads was recommended for inclusion in the Bay of Green Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). 

“These events led us to ask ourselves how we can work with the community – landowners, other conservation agencies and students – to advance restoration efforts in Door County,” said Jim Stawicki, Crossroads board president. “A generous grant from the 1923 Fund, and expertise from UWGB, is allowing us to offer this position and hopefully partner with a graduate student interested in ecology and community engagement.”

The paid position, offered in conjunction with the UWGB Environmental Science and Policy Program, is expected to start in the spring of 2024 and may extend over two summers. The application review will begin Dec. 1. For a full position description and instructions on applying, go to crossroadsatbigcreek.org/employment/.

“Crossroads is interested in creating a restoration education program that is collaborative with other conservation entities, leverages landowner interest and works with students,” said Samantha Koyen, executive director of Crossroads at Big Creek. “This begins with having conversations and assessing needs, and that’s where this graduation position comes in.”

For more information, contact Koyen at [email protected].