nature lover turns conservation INTO A CAREER

Sarah Hewitt grew up in the country with parents who valued the outdoors and encouraged spending time exploring nature. This mentality and upbringing sparked a passion for Hewitt, which would eventually lead to a career as conservation programs manager for Audubon Dakota.

“Our environment is the base of all life,” she says. “Nothing is more important to the survival of humans, wildlife or earth’s biodiversity than to be an active participant in protecting and conserving our natural resources.”

Hewitt prepared for her career by earning a master’s degree in natural resource management from North Dakota State University. Soon after starting her program, she recognized the immense number of opportunities for students in the program. A graduate degree was not required for her career, but it gave her a competitive advantage in her job search and helped build the technical skills necessary to grow conservation programs in a deliberate fashion.

Program leader Shawn DeKeyser explains that NDSU students conduct research on a daily basis, take classes related to natural resources, connect with professionals in the field, and keep upto-date on the latest challenges — all of which makes them work-ready.

After graduation, Hewitt sought a career that aligned with her passion for grasslands from an organization that would take an innovative approach to conservation. After searching and trying alternative opportunities, she landed her dream job with her current employer, Audubon Dakota. “At the time, Audubon Dakota was a small office that had huge dreams of revolutionizing grassland conservation through market-based conservation, urban restoration, and migration habitat protection,” Hewitt says. Despite being a new graduate and a millennial woman in a traditionally male-dominated field, Hewitt was often able to lead the development of these innovative programs. She knew she was in the right place.

Hewitt recognized the opportunity for women to be influential in the field and developed the Dakota Women in Conservation group. Its purpose is to bring female conservationists and students together for professional support and guidance with the goal of helping members gain resume-building skills and find the confidence to assert their knowledge. DeKeyser has noticed more woman are interested in the field, with approximately half of NDSU’s enrollment in the program, and more recently even higher, being women.

Hewitt’s responsibilities in her current role include development and management of the organization’s many projects across the Dakotas, such as the Urban Woods Prairies Initiative, the Audubon Conservation Ranching Program, and the Prairie Management Toolbox. In addition, she often leads the grant writing efforts aimed to fund on the ground conservation.