Last night I had the privilege of attending President Obama’s State of the Union speech.  In it, he laid out some of the challenges America faces moving forward as we compete with nations across the globe to win the future.

The President’s vision is simple.  We need to be a nation that makes, creates and innovates so that we can expand the middle class and ensure that we pass along to our children the types of freedoms, opportunities and experiences that we have enjoyed. Read more »

SWR FNS employees (left to right) Patricia Mancha, Edward Mekeel and Lupe Gomez clear out gardening plots in B.H. Macon Elementary School’s People’s Garden.

It’s that time of year again. As summer begins to wind down (though you couldn’t tell by the Texas heat), parents are preparing for their children’s eventual return to school. As we all shift gears back into the school year, we at FNS remember our many partnerships throughout the region, especially those within the Dallas Independent School District. One in particular I’ve had the pleasure to take part in is the People’s Garden at B.H. Macon Elementary in South Dallas. Read more »

Tyler Brune’s work ethic not only allowed him to help his father maintain cattle, but also allowed him to build his own herd while studying full-time at Southeast Missouri State University.

Tyler Brune, of Sedgewickville, Mo., dreams of being a farmer some day, and Missouri Farm Service Agency (FSA) is helping to make his dream a reality through the Farm Loan Program and the America Recovery and Reinvestment Act (Recovery Act). Read more »

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from the USDA’s rich science and research portfolio.

By Greg Smith, National Program Leader, USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture

In what is sure to be good news for college students worried about finding a job after graduation in today’s economic climate, employment opportunities for U.S. college graduates with expertise in the food, agricultural, and natural resources and related science sectors are expected to remain strong during the next five years. This news comes from the recently released report, Employment Opportunities for College Graduates in the U.S. Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resources System, the seventh 5-year employment opportunities projections study initiated by USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA).

My colleagues and I at NIFA worked with Purdue University to produce this report, which covers the years 2010 through 2015.  We are expecting to see a greater need for professionals in agriculture and food systems, renewable energy and the environment as there will be an estimated 54,000 job openings annually. In fact, compared to 2005-2010, the workforce will demand 5 percent more graduates in 2010-2015. More than enough graduates will likely be available during the next couple of years in some occupations, but we foresee a shortfall of new graduates with preparation in priority business and science specialties in the latter half of the period.

Four major factors will shape the market for graduates in the next five years: macroeconomic conditions and retirements; consumer preferences for nutritious and safe foods; food, energy and environment public policy choices; and global market shifts in population, income, food and energy.

In the report, we identified the strengths graduates will need to compete for jobs in the areas of management and business; science and engineering; agricultural and forestry production; and education, communication and government services. The strongest demand is anticipated for graduates with college degrees and related work experience in business and management.

The projected growth in these occupations will be welcomed as the United States addresses the growing challenges related to food safety and security, climate change, and sustainable energy. We will need the talents, skills and knowledge of these professionals to help us solve these pressing issues and secure our future.

College graduates, such as these Rutgers University soil science students, can expect to see an increase in the number of job opportunities available in the next five years.

For working parents in isolated rural communities, quality child care is a lifeline that allows them an opportunity to obtain employment so they can provide for their families. Read more »

By Phil Sammon

While many of their contemporaries across the country may have had their hands on game controllers this week, 1,700 junior high school students from Great Falls, Montana public schools had their hands on caddisfly and mayfly larvae, crayfish, snails, clams, plus a wide range of plants, seeds, and soil types – all in the name of conservation education and science.

These students all took part in a series of scientific experimentation and exploration stations at the Lewis & Clark National Forest’s Interpretive Center adjacent to Great Falls, along the Lewis & Clark National Trail and the banks of the Missouri River. The 12-day program puts students in touch with nature at six different field investigation sites, all supporting science-based curriculum and classroom preparation.

The program is a partnership with the public school system, which along with the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center staff received a grant from the Department of the Interior. The Center’s location makes it an ideal local setting for students to study, observe, experiment and make scientific conclusions based upon their findings at the six different stations. Forest Service staff, Center volunteers and teachers from the public school system, all pitch in to conduct, monitor and assist the student in their field work.

This exceptional example of conservation education in the Forest Service is a direct reflection on the national program efforts to get more kids outdoors, put more kids in the woods, and inspire students to know, experience, and want to work with the natural resources as part of their lives, to meet the needs of present and future generations.

The students rotated through each of the six stations: water, fire, botany, hydrology, ornithology, and macroinvertebrates. Special demonstrations as well as necessary scientific equipment and supplies at each gave students the right equipment for their work. At the water station, for example, students would assess water quality by testing acidity, dissolved oxygen, and phosphate/nitrate levels. At the ornithology stations, they discovered and noted that migratory birds return at different times, and learned the variance between cavity and woven nest builders.

The students, many of whom had likely never spent more than a couple hours at a time in the outdoors, spent upwards of six hours a day going from station to station. Their enthusiasm and excitement was proof to the educators and Forest Service staff that this Field Investigations Partnership was worth the effort and investment.

Jane Weber, Director of the Interpretive Center explained, “We are excited to have the students experience place-based science within their community.  It’s surprising how few have spent an entire day outdoors in their young lives. As an added benefit, the children monitor our environmental conditions over time.” Tom Moore, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education for Great Falls Public Schools agreed, “I have seen citizen science implemented successfully in other school districts and am pleased to see our educators build this experience into our science curriculum.

Jay Russell, Executive Director of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center Foundation, whose organization wrote and received the grant summed the program up this way: “These children will act as our modern-day explorers. Who knows, this experience may inspire a child to explore a future academic pursuit in natural sciences.”