NEWBURYPORT — Local high school students Tuesday got to cradle local marine life while learning about sustainability-related jobs, during the third annual Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards’ Environmental Career Open House.
The Alliance of Climate and Environmental Stewards or ACES for short, is a network of organizations and individuals dedicated to climate and environmental health. The local nonprofit organization set up 21 tables in the NHS cafeteria where students learned about jobs and internships that support the environment.
The critters came courtesy Mass Audubon Joppa Flats Education Center’s Lisa Hutchings who brought along a traveling touch tank filled with Jonah and hermit crabs, as well as moon snails and sea urchins.
“It has been wonderful here, so far,” Hutchings said. “We have had a steady trickle of kids and they really seem interested.”
Junior Katja Hromadka held a small crab in the palm of her right hand.
She said she had no idea she’d be doing something like that when she walked in the door that morning.
“This is great,” she said. “It’s moving around and is super cute.”
Sophomore Noah Mitchell held a small bluish-white moon snail in one hand.
“I don’t really get a chance to do this,” he said. “He will probably just sit here. But he’s really cold and slimy. Maybe he’ll move around a little bit.”
Hutchings said the marine life encounters were designed to show students the type of animals they might be handling if they interned at the local education center. She also informed students about upcoming paid camp counselor positions at the Ipswich River Nature camp.
Seated behind another table, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge Manager Matt Hillman kept busy during the open house saying junior refuge ranger badges were moving like hotcakes.
“That’s a hot ticket item here today,” he said.
Hillman said plenty of high school students were asking him about internship opportunities at the wildlife refuge, as well as broader career opportunities in the federal government.
“They want to know what they can do in conservation. Some of them are interested in summer jobs. We have to hire about five or six folks as interns every summer,” he said. “So, this is a great event.”
Maple Crest Farm owner John Elwell was spotted letting students know about his own internship opportunities in West Newbury.
“I had two students from Gordon College two years ago — one of them researched strawberries and the other planted about 300 trees,” he said.
School Committee Vice Chair Sarah Hall was at the open house in her role as a field teacher for the Mass Audubon Joppa Flats Education Center. She said it was good having different organizations relay important information to local students.
“The kids don’t always know what’s out there,” she said. “I think a lot of them are at that point where they do care about the environment and maybe have some worries about the climate.”
The afternoon began with a brief assembly that included a speech from energy efficiency and sustainability engineer Frank Arena. He told students about over 25 different career paths, including software development as well as finances and sales that offer a sustainability element.
“People think that to have a career in sustainability you need to go into the sciences or engineering. But that’s not true,” he said. “Sustainability pretty much creeps into every career that’s available.”
ACES President Art Currier said the afternoon was an excellent experience for just about everyone involved.
“This was a great opportunity for the students to understand how far reaching sustainable-based internships, jobs and careers are,” he said.
Staff writer Jim Sullivan covers Newburyport for The Daily News. He can be reached via email at jsullivan@newburyportnews.com or by phone at 978-961-3145. Follow him on Twitter @ndnsully.