Diversifying Involvement in the Natural Resources Community
Minnesota’s natural resource professional workforce is much less diverse than its citizenry and many other professional fields. The benefits of a more diverse workforce are many, including the ability of organizations to increase innovation and creativity, attract higher qualified candidate pools, and ensure services that meet the diverse interests and needs of all citizens. The Department of Natural Resources and the University of Minnesota are using this appropriation to engage diverse urban youth, under-represented in the natural resources community, in natural resources education and developing outdoor recreational skills. Project efforts include connecting youth with close-to-home natural resource recreation and protection issues, a recruitment and retention program to introduce potential career opportunities, support and mentoring for those interested in pursuing natural resources college education and careers, and introductory experiences and internships in natural resources jobs.
$416,000 the second year is from the trust fund to the commissioner of natural resources and $84,000 is to the Board of Regents of the University of Minnesota to increase participation of under-represented communities in the natural resource professions and in outdoor recreation by means of targeted urban outreach and stronger linkages between Department of Natural Resources programs and academic offerings. This initiative must be coordinated with other environmental education appropriations in this subdivision. This appropriation is available until June 30, 2017, by which time the project must be completed and final products delivered.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.
Click on Work Plan under Project Details.