Preserving Wildlife in
New Hampshire
Sam Goldberg
I had the fortunate opportunity of meeting with my uncle, Ryan Jacobs, for a couple hours on this last Thursday evening. My uncle is a wildlife preservationist who spends his days making sure we have a stable and thriving ecosystem that’s teeming with plant and animal life. Getting in contact with him obviously wasn’t very hard at all considering he is my uncle. As you can imagine, there was a pretty laid back feel for the interview overall.
How are you today?
“I am good, Sam, how are you?”
“Great, thanks.”
How long have you been working as a wildlife preservationist?
“I have been a wildlife preservationist for 10 years now.”
What is your favorite part of the job?
“Waking up every day and going out into the woods to do my job.”
How big of a part does your job setting play in your overall happiness?
“It’s the biggest part because being outside means so much to me opposed to being cooped up in an office all day. I’d go nuts in an office.”
What are you currently working on?
“We are currently working on getting rid of invasive species because that has consistently been posing as a problem.”
What’s your role in this?
“Collecting data, observing, cleaning areas that could pose as problems.”
Do you like your job?
“Yes, I wake up with a smile on my face every day because I know I’m just so lucky.”
Do you see yourself stopping or switching careers anytime soon?
“To be completely honest I have no intentions of ever quitting this occupation or switching careers.”
We talked a little longer, then I thanked him for his time and extensive knowledge, and he went on his way only stopping to ask to meet for lunch next week; I happily accepted. One thing he said that really stuck with me was, “Sam, you’re a lot like me. Sitting in an office won’t be your thing. I wake up every day eager to go to work. I’m not saying you have to do what I do, I just want you to make sure you’re happy at your place of work, and not cooped up with cabin fever.”
I thought for a while about what he said and decided that his field was definitely something I could lean towards. I thoroughly enjoyed my time with my Uncle Ryan and even more enjoyed what he had to say.