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<\/blockquote>\nWe are excited to announce that Cait Williamson, NRF Director of Conservation Programs, is a recipient of the 2023 Rising Star Alumni Award from the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies! This blog post recognizing her work was originally published on the Nelson Institute’s blog<\/a>, written by Chelsea Rademacher.<\/em><\/p>\n
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In her work at the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin, Caitlin Williamson makes sure that the Wisconsin conservation show goes on.<\/p>\n
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Pretend, for a moment, that you\u2019re in the audience for Taylor Swift\u2019s highly talked about Eras Tour. There\u2019s state-of-the-art videos playing on enormous screens around the stadium, perfectly timed to the perfectly balanced audio. There\u2019s choreography. There are costume changes. And somewhere in the stadium \u2014 behind the stage, or perhaps beneath it \u2014 there\u2019s the stage manager, making sure that all of the pieces are working together, and that everything goes off without a hitch. In the equally complex and impressive arena of Wisconsin conservation, that person is Caitlin Williamson. \u201cStage manager?\u201d Williamson asks. \u201cYeah, I\u2019ll take that!\u201d she says with a smile.<\/p>\n
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Caitlin Williamson. Photo by Shelly Torkelson<\/em><\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a timely metaphor: Williamson, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin\u2019s director of conservation programs, had just gotten back from a road trip to Kansas City, Missouri, for Swift\u2019s concert. A long drive from Madison, to be sure, but it was a short trek from Williamson\u2019s hometown of Omaha. The Nebraskan metropolis is where Williamson first developed an interest in nature. Her parents weren\u2019t the most outdoorsy folks, Williamson recalls, but recognizing her love for animals and nature, they signed her up for nature day camps at Fontenelle Forest every summer. When she aged out of camp in high school, she went from camper to counselor \u2014 a role she continued throughout college. \u201cThat was a huge part of my life, and also part of why environmental education is a really special and important part of the work I do,\u201d Williamson says. \u201cI\u2019ve grown into my career because of those experiences I had as a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Williamson with the 2023 cohort of the Diversity in Conservation Internship Program. Photo by Tim Van Deelen<\/em><\/p>\n
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When Williamson left Nebraska, it was to study biology and environmental studies at Lawrence University in Appleton, Wisconsin. \u201cFor a long time, I thought I wanted to be a wildlife biologist and do field work,\u201d she says. While in college, she interned with the wolf management team at the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (DNR). She loved making a difference for the animals \u2026 but realized she missed working with people. That\u2019s one of her superpowers, she says: networking and making connections. The realization helped her look at the field of conservation differently. \u201cThere are other types of conservation work that support wildlife in our lands and waters in different ways [than] being in the field all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking for her next step, she came to Madison and started working as a research assistant for Erik Olson, a PhD candidate in the Nelson Institute\u2019s environment and resources program. Through that, she met Nathan Schulfer, the institute\u2019s current director of international and professional programs. This was around 2012, and Schulfer \u2014 then a teaching and program assistant \u2014 was helping to create a brand-new Nelson program: environmental conservation, a fast-track, professionally focused master\u2019s program that would take the place of the now-former conservation biology and sustainable development master\u2019s program. \u201cThat sounds exactly like what I\u2019m looking for,\u201d Williamson said when Schulfer told her of the program that was starting the following year. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to do the traditional research route. I wanted to build off the skills I had in my first job with more professional experience.\u201d Williamson applied, was accepted, and joined UW\u2013Madison\u2019s first cohort of environmental conservation students. She\u2019d always planned on going back for a master\u2019s degree, but like her preconceptions of what conservation work looked like, she thought she\u2019d end up in a traditional wildlife or natural resources master\u2019s program. \u201cThe professional program was way more aligned with my interest, my passion, and doing direct actionable work,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
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During her first week as a Nelson student, Williamson flexed her networking superpower at the program\u2019s welcome reception. There, she met Ruth Oppedahl \u2014 the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin (NRF)\u2019s then-director. From that encounter, she nabbed a part-time position at the NRF. \u201cVery serendipitous, I suppose,\u201d she reflects. Or perhaps not, considering her superpower. It\u2019s how she got the research assistant job (\u201cI knew it\u2019d be important to build some connections, especially in a new city,\u201d she says of moving to Madison). It\u2019s how she met Schulfer and became one of the first graduates of the environmental conservation program. And it\u2019s how she got her foot in the door at the NRF, where she\u2019s now been for nearly a decade.<\/p>\n
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Williamson holds a group \u2013 or a bale \u2013 of ornate box turtles, a state endangered animal, during an NRF project site visit. Photo by Rori Paloski<\/em><\/p>\n
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Formed in 1986, the NRF is a statewide nonprofit that, through funding, partnerships, and education, helps protect the state of Wisconsin\u2019s lands, waters, and wildlife. Williamson joined during her master\u2019s studies as a part-time program and development coordinator, which grew into a full-time position after graduation. In 2017, she was named the foundation\u2019s director of conservation programs. It\u2019s her dream job, even though she didn\u2019t always know this type of conservation work was possible. \u201cA lot of my work is, by its nature, partnership building,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s surprisingly been a big piece of my job that I love the most. Yeah, it\u2019s benefiting so many amazing critters, but getting to support the people who support those wildlife species is really amazing, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Enter Williamson, Wisconsin conservation stage manager. She finds the bigger picture and makes sure all the pieces fit. Take, for example, Wisconsin\u2019s Rush Creek State Natural Area, nearly 3,000 acres of land along the Mississippi River. It\u2019s home to rare and migratory birds, a trout stream, and some of the last remaining goat prairies in the state. The DNR has managed the property for decades with a small but mighty crew. Williamson helped build and support partnerships with the NRF, the Northern Institute of Applied Climate Science, the Wisconsin Initiative on Climate Change Impacts (a Nelson Institute partner organization) \u2014 and a $300,000 grant from the Wisconsin Conservation Society to create Wisconsin\u2019s first climate adaptation site. \u201cWe have so much science and knowledge, but there\u2019s a lack of connecting that to what the people on the ground can actually do to make a difference,\u201d Williamson says. \u201cI help to support Wisconsin\u2019s conservation field and catalyze that work. [Rush Creek] is an example of a project that\u2019s going to have a really big impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Williamson searches for salamanders on an NRF Field Trip to Red Banks Alvar State Natural Area near Green Bay, Wis.<\/em><\/p>\n
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When it comes to producing the future of the state\u2019s conservation efforts, Williamson doesn\u2019t only look at land, water, and wildlife resources \u2014 she looks at people. More specifically, she empowers the next generation of conservationists. Over the summer, she\u2019s been hard at work managing and coordinating the third cohort of the NRF\u2019s diversity in conservation internship program for college students. Interns are paired with a specific NRF partner organization, where they work throughout the week. Then on Fridays, the cohort comes together for programming at the NRF. Williamson leads these Friday activities, which range from field trips to Milwaukee to learn about environmental justice and urban conservation to tours of the former Badger Army Ammunition Plant and the Ho-Chunk Sacred Earth Reservation to Williamson\u2019s own area of expertise, networking.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThat\u2019s something that we really designed this internship program to help with \u2026 whether it\u2019s networking or creating your resume or how we communicate. I think those are equally, if not more important than the actual expertise in ecology or wildlife,\u201d Williamson says. \u201cSo many of us get into [conservation] because we love wildlife. But it all comes back to people and bringing people together towards a common vision for how we can help care for what we love about the state.\u201d<\/p>\n
Caitlin Williamson is one of six Nelson Institute alumni award winners<\/a>. Their stories are featured throughout the Commons magazine<\/a> and online.<\/p>\n
Congratulations, Cait!<\/p>\n
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Originally published on the Nelson Institute of Environmental Studies blog<\/a> by Chelsea Rademacher<\/em><\/p>\n
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