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Natural Resource Recruitment Program

Teens challenge themselves with a first-time backpacking experience.

(13 - 18 year olds - no public enrollment)

In partnership with local youth organizations, the Natural Resource Recruitment program provides an exciting opportunity for under-served students to expand their horizons. Designed to teach young adults the value of conservation and community service, the program consists of six 6-hour workshops where students take a close look at a variety of professions related to conservation. In addition to experiencing a different career during each workshop, participants learn how local actions can have global effects. This year four series of workshops will be offered to s

tudents in the Monterey County Probation Department Youth Center.

The Natural Resource Recruitment (NRR) program provides an exciting opportunity for under-served students to expand their horizons. This science-based program is designed to teach young adults the value of conservation and community service. Participants learn that their local actions can have global effects.

The NRR program consists of six 6-hour workshops where students take a close look at a variety of local conservation organizations. Each program includes a pre-workshop orientation, a presentation given by host organizations on the nature of their role in the community as well as the nature of their work, hands-on community service tasks and a period of reflection and discussion on what was learned for that day. While each workshop introduces youth to a different career in the natural resources, the series of six tie together the main theme of conservation and the different approaches individuals can take to caring for the local watershed and environment.

Workshop Series
Organic Farming - Homeless Garden Organic Farm, Santa Cruz
Students will learn the value of organic farming as they get their hands in the dirt. They will also learn the effects that pesticides and fertilizers have on the watershed and challenges that face the local homeless.

Habitat Restoration - Return of the Natives
Students will plant native vegetation to help turn an inner-city wasteland into a haven for people, plants and wildlife while also learning about the ecology of the Salinas creek system and its role in the greater Salinas watershed.

Population Assessment - LIMPET, Monterey Marine Sanctuary
Sand crabs are a very important indicator species to the health of the larger surf and ocean systems. Students will collect sand crabs in order to gather data that will help the LIMPET program determine the current health status of the Monterey Bay shoreline.

Song Bird Migration Monitoring - VWS, Big Sur Ornithology Lab
Students will get a hands-on, up-close look at a variety of birds and will learn not only about migration patterns but how song bird populations indicate the health of a Riparian habitat and watershed.

Organic Cooking - Whole Foods Market
Students will visit the Whole Foods Market in Monterey and learn that cooking with all natural ingredients is not only good for their own health but for the health of the environment. They will also be able to eat their creations.

Public Service Announcement - Access Monterey Peninsula Public Television
Students will learn the value and effect that Public Service Announcements have and the creative process that makes it all happen. Students will put together a conservation-based PSA focused on the valuable lessons that they learned throughout the entire NRR program that will then be presented to the community on any one of three public access television channels.

The Ventana Wildlife Society's Natural Resource Recruitment Program gives under-served teens a chance to take a look at some unusual local career possibilities that are tangible and help the environment. It is our hope that the students of the NRR program will develop a deeper connection with the natural world. We also hope to present students with employment opportunities in the field of conservation and to teach them leadership skills that will guide them into roles as stewards for their community environment.

The NRR program serves students from the Monterey County Probation Department's Youth Center and is not currently open to the general public. Support for the program comes from NOAA B-WET, David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Robert Brownlee Foundation, Harden Foundation, Community Foundation of Monterey and others.