Green Teens Information
Volunteer with Greening
Conservation Careers
Environmental Profesionals
Volunteer with Great River Greening
Great River Greening relies on volunteers to help make the environment a healthier and better place. Since 1995, Great River Greening has worked with 20,000 volunteers to restore endangered and unhealthy green spaces in the Twin Cities. By working together we have been able to accomplish a lot, but we still need your help in order to continue improving the environment!
Why YOU Should Volunteer
Volunteering with Great River Greening is a fun and effective way to help out the environment. By volunteering you not only improve the environment, you also develop new skills, experience a sense of accomp lishment, and meet others who are as committed to the environment as you are. No prior experience is necessary and all ages and abilities are welcome. Join Great River Greening’s effort and sign up to volunteer!
To get more information on Great River Greening volunteer opportunities, click here.
Great River Greening Volunteer Projects
There are many volunteer opportunities at Great River Greening. Check out our events calendar to see how you can get involved.
Interested in doing more? You can become a teen volunteer supervisor and increase your leadership skills while giving back to the environment! What does this involve?
- Teen Supervisors will lead groups of 8-10 volunteers at Greening events
- Events involve working to plant trees and seedlings, spread native seeds, and remove invasive species like buckthorn at sites throughout the Twin Cities
- There will be a training session held throughout the year to prepare you for becoming a supervisor. Call or email Mark Turbak at 651.665.9500 × 11 or mturbak@greatrivergreening.org for more information or to sign up for the teen supervisor training
- If there are no upcoming teen supervisor trainings, you can sign up for one of the supervisor trainings open to all age groups
Your Projects
Now it’s your turn! Below are three sample conservation project ideas to give you a starting point for designing your own. 
Where there are ideas, there is funding. There are a lot of awesome opportunities to get support for your next big project!
There are many different careers that can be applied to the field of conservation. If you are interested in conservation, you don’t necessarily have to be a scientist to get involved. For example, all conservation organizations need executive directors, business and finance managers, and marketing directors to keep the organization running and to allow others to focus on the scientific aspect. However, if science is your passion, there are numerous careers for you!
Here are a few examples of different careers that can relate to conservation:
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Environmental Engineer |
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Accountant |
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Landscape Architect |
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Marketing Director |
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Environmental Consultant |
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Marine/Wildlife Biology |
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Ranger |
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These are just a few, but there are many more options!
Don’t be afraid to do your research!
Below are the profiles of three people who currently work in the environmental field and their responses to our questions about their work. These people can offer you some insight into what it’s like to live and work in the environmental field.
Gina Bonsignore,
Landscape Architect
What are your roles and responsibilities?
“I design site concept plans for a variety of projects. These projects include community, neighborhood, and urban designs. In designing these sites I locate the best site for rain gardens, decide where to plant different species of plants, and make sure the landscape meets water management guidelines. I also work with environmental groups. I help them do outreach planning and environmental education to public officials and to the general public about open spaces.”
How did you get into the environmental field?
“I began my career in the environmental field working as a truck farmer growing vegetables. I was interested in working outdoors and working with plants so I decided to go to graduate school to get a degree in landscape architecture.”
What advice would you give to young people entering the field?
“Get into [the environmental field] in the first place because it’s a great profession. You can have an undergrad degree in anything and get a graduate degree in landscape architecture. If you are interested in getting a degree in landscape architecture you will probably want to get a bachelors degree in environmental design and then get a degree from an accredited landscape architecture design school. You should also talk to landscape architects about what they do because it is such a broad field and there are so many different types of landscape architecture you can do, www.masla.org is a good source to look at for career information.”
Rusty Schmidt,
Natural Resource Specialist/ Landscape Ecologist
What are your roles and responsibilities?
“I run and design storm water best management practices for the watershed districts within Washington County.”
How did you get into the environmental field?
“I first went to school at the University of Minnesota Duluth and received degrees in wildlife, biology, chemistry, and art. Once I was out of school I worked for the Department of Natural Resources as a biologist for eight years or so. I then went back to school for a masters in landscape architecture to make my career more sustainable and fulfilling. While I was at school I started working on alternative storm water technique projects. In 2003 I wrote a book with Dan Shaw called Plants for Stormwater Design. We then wrote two other books Plants for Stormwater Design Volume II and Blue Thumb Guide to Raingardens. During this time I started becoming a national leader in rain water design and education and I began helping large programs like the 10,000 Rain Garden Initiative in Kansas City.”
What advice would you give to young people entering the field?
“Anytime you can improve your resume take the opportunity to do so. Don’t always go for the job that pays well. Go for the job that improves your resume and you’ll get further in the long run. Also don’t get discouraged!”
Joe Walton,
Conservation Ecologist
What are your roles and responsibilities?
“I am responsible for managing projects as they are assigned to me, as well as pursuing new projects on my own. The focus of projects consists primarily on ecological restoration of native plant communities. My tasks include managing all aspects of projects, from inception through planning and implementation. I coordinate all activities that occur on the projects sites, including site design, site preparation, planting, and maintenance/follow-up. I have to contact the partners/clients and develop relationships with them, and maintain good communication with them throughout the project duration. I have to communicate with our crew to explain to them what they need to do and what is expected of them. I need to monitor the site during and after the installation. I also need to understand many technical aspects of each project, for example: what plant community should we target to restore on a given site? What is the best way to proceed with the restoration process? How do we implement the restoration efficiently and effectively? How can we get the community involved with the restoration? I also do other types of projects including: water quality assessments, best management practices research and implementation, write natural resource management plans, map creation, GIS work, etc. I get a good mix of outdoor and indoor work, which is nice.”
How did you get into the environmental field?
“I was always interested in the environment, and I gravitated to a position where I could get a mix of outdoor and indoor work. I have a strong interest in the sciences, especially with regard to native plant communities, geology, ecology, biology, forestry, wetlands, and limnology. As a college student, I was a Teaching Assistant and also worked for the U of MN Landcare Dept. Since college, I have worked as a Research Associate for Badgersett Corporation in Southeastern Minnesota for one year, a consultant/project manager for Kunde Company, Inc. for five years, and Division Manager for Urban Ecology at S&S Tree for one year. I have been in my position here at Greening since February, 2008.”
What advice would you give to young people entering the field?
“Follow your interests; get as broad an education as you can; set your sites but remain flexible; stick to your commitments; make the most out of every job you do; keep a positive attitude; take advantage of every opportunity as it arises. One of the keys to success is to give more to a task/organization/relationship than you expect to be given to you. Be passionate. Never stop learning. Have fun.”
To ask a question about careers in ecology, click here.
Your Voice Matters
We want to know what matters to you when it comes to the environment. Tell us what you think of our website, our projects, and ways we could improve our efforts to reach
out to the community.
We also want to hear from you about your thoughts on our teen webpage! Is the information helpful? Is there anything we are missing?
Click here to let us know what you think!
Clean Air and Global Warming
Clean air is hard to come by these days especially if you live in the city. It is critical that we reduce our air pollution and clean up the air around us. One way to do this is through the use of trees because trees are natural air purifiers.
How Trees Clean the Air:
Trees take in carbon dioxide and other chemicals and through photosynthesis and evapotranspiration convert these chemicals to oxygen. This oxygen is cleaner and colder once it leaves the tree.
Colder oxygen entering the air decreases the average surface temperature.
Leaves also collect dust which decreases the amount of particles entering the air.
Fewer particles in the air reduce the effects of global warming and the urban heat island effect.
As you can see trees provide clear benefits to the environment. So get out there and plant some trees or volunteer with Great River Greening and do some planting with other environmental enthusiasts!
Click here for an information on Great River Greening and Global Warming.Fall Colors photo © Susan Troha