(Describer) Title: "Career Callouts." A white man in a plaid shirt and glasses appears.

[gentle upbeat music]

Hi, I am Nick Mikash. I'm the Natural Resources Manager at the Nature Center at Shaker Lakes. So let's answer your questions about careers in environmental science. Leila from Groveport Elementary in Grove City starts off with, "What do you do every day at your job?" That is never the same. My job changes with the seasons. I'm often working outdoors, so some days, I might be working with a school group or a volunteer group. I might also come in and find a tree has fallen that has to be removed or I know we have storms. Sometimes, we have flood damage. So I have to kind of roll with punches and change on a daily basis what is dictated for my job. Guin from Summit Elementary in Cincinnati wants to know, "What's causing pollution "and what do other places with less pollution have that places with more pollution don't?" And typically, the answer to that question is more people. When you have more people, you tend to have more pollution, you have more in industry, more condensed development. And with people comes a lot of pollution. Benjamin from Fayetteville Middle School in Fayetteville wants to know, "What type of tools do I use "and what are their names? 'Cause I think that would be cool to learn." Tools I use the most at this job would be, a lot of the times, I'm using hand tools. So I do a lot of out in nature. We might be planting or removing invasive species. So I'm using tools, like shovels, rakes, cutting tools, so sometimes, chainsaws and hand saws and pruners. Joslynn from Frank Elementary School in Perrysburg asks, "How many times do you mess up "to get something right?" And that is one of the beautiful things about science. You can make a mistake and you can, you know, run an experiment or have a guess at how something might work and you turn out to be wrong. And that is still useful information. So, you know, sometimes, I make the wrong decision and I figure out it wasn't the right way to go, but that helps point me in the right direction. Liam from Harding Middle School in Lakewood sent this question, "How old were you when you first thought "about being an environmental scientist and what made you interested in that type of job?" And I would say, I was probably just a child and my favorite books were field guides. I can remember having, like, a little tree field guide and I was probably in elementary school and I had no idea what environmental scientists did at the time. I just knew it was something I was interested in. And then, I would say, probably, in high school, I started thinking more seriously about biology and science as a career. Just some parting advice is, you know, find something you're passionate about in life and follow that as a career. You know, there's a saying where, "If you're doing something you love, you'll never work a day in your life." And while it's not true, there are some days that I feel like are a lot of hard work, I'm always passionate about it and I always enjoy what I'm doing. So that would be my best piece of advice for you.

(Describer) Nick smiles. Logo: N D, Earth bounces away.

[air whooshing]

[ball bouncing]

(Describer) Funding for Career Callouts comes from: Ohio Broadcast Educational Media Commission in consultation with Ohio Department of Education. Accessibility provided by the US Department of Education.

Accessibility provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

[gentle upbeat music]