The NREM department provides hands-on experiences for students with the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation. Colt Holly (left), Abbey Smith and Matt Pallett enjoy a day sampling paddlefish with ODWC. Photo courtesy of Dan Shoup.
Catching a future in
P
icture a career where the outdoors is your office and fishing is your 2 o’clock appointment. For some alumni of the Oklahoma State University Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, this fantasy is a reality. With more than 650,000 fishing licenses in Oklahoma, recreational fishing offers students pursuing a degree in natural resource ecology and management with a fisheries and aquatic ecology option an opportunity to pursue a career in the field. Dan Shoup, NREM associate professor, has helped his students explore the wide world of fisheries for more than 17 years. He has watched students
Fisheries NREM PROVIDES UNIQUE JOB OPPORTUNITIES IN AGRICULTURE leave the classrooms of OSU to fill vastly different, productive and imperative roles in society and agriculture, he said. Students interested in fisheries can have a career in the industry, Shoup said, whether they are interested in the preservation of water, instruction of individuals about pond management, sport fishing management, aquaculture, or work at an aquarium or a zoo. “Students pursuing a fisheries management option for sport fish comprise the biggest group of our students,” Shoup said. “Most people don’t think about the really high number of students who are interested in marine biology after graduation.”
The fisheries and aquatic ecology option at OSU is the reason NREM senior Katy Brennan decided to come to Stillwater, she said. “As a freshman, I wanted to focus on marine biology, and being from Oklahoma, there weren’t many options in marine biology close to home,” she said. “It was nice that OSU had a fisheries option and opened my eyes to the opportunities of managing and researching freshwater ecosystems.” As the aquatic industry evolves, more career opportunities become available, Shoup added. “We also have a good number of students who just have general ecosystem health and conservation interests,”
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