We asked WRFI alumni across 30 years of courses whether their WRFI experience helped turn their life path toward conservation leadership. Here's some of what they told us:
WRFI really pushed me into what conservation leaders and environmental stewards could look like. I had the passion and interest in me, but WRFI definitely helped create a solid foundation I could build off of.
-- Anna Cline, Conservation Across Boundaries, 2021
WRFI taught me the power of listening to and observing the social and natural world deeply and with compassion...I remember talking to a guy who worked at an oil refinery for his livelihood, but he was also an avid outdoorsman who, as a father, spent his free time working to bring his kids into nature as much as possible.
-- Catie DeMets, Montana Afoot and Afloat, 2012
WRFI inspired me to get an environmental studies degree and work for the Forest Service to help manage and conserve public land.
-- Rae Fitzpatrick, Montana Afoot and Afloat, 2012
I enrolled in WRFI right after I changed my major from computer science to environmental science and biology....My experience with WRFI really reaffirmed that this was the right decision for me. After my program...I got a much clearer picture of all the different career pathways and options I had. I now work for an organization that I met during my Restoration Ecology course.
-- Anna Haight, Restoration Ecology, 2021
[Conservation Across Boundaries] set realistic expectations for how long and slow the work is and showed me examples of how the alignment of little people with big dreams make change over time through cooperation and countless little projects.
-- Caden Gallagher, Conservation Across Boundaries, 2021
