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Senior Vanessa Mckinney is passionate about forestry, natural resources and conservation.<\/p>\nSenior Vanessa Mckinney is passionate about forestry, natural resources and conservation.<\/p>\n
The Eureka, California, native came to Oregon State to study forest management<\/a>, but after participating in field school decided \u2013 with the help of an advisor \u2013 that the natural resources<\/a> major would be a better fit.<\/p>\n \u201cComing to Oregon felt like a new opportunity for me,\u201d Mckinney said. \u201cHere at Oregon State, and in the state of Oregon in general, everyone encourages students to get out into the woods and into the field and find out how we can make a change for the better.\u201d<\/p>\n Mckinney stays as active as she can, participating in a variety of hands-on learning opportunities.<\/p>\n During summer 2018, Mckinney worked with a graduate student to reopen the greenhouse at the Oak Creek building on the Oregon State campus. The neglected space is now an active research facility again.<\/p>\n \u201cI helped graduate students get seedlings going,\u201d Mckinney says. \u201cIt was really rewarding to make that area a productive space for research again.\u201d<\/p>\n Mckinney also participated in the Mentored Employment Program (MEP), which provides College of Forestry undergraduate students paid opportunities to work with faculty members on research projects or to gain field experience.<\/p>\n Mckinney worked with Carlos Gonzalez-Benecke<\/a>, assistant professor, and Maxwell Wightman, faculty research assistant, on a project for the Vegetation Management Research Cooperative (VMRC)<\/a>. She said that before working with the VMRC, she began to question her future and interest in natural resources and forest management.<\/p>\n \u201cI was wondering if I really wanted to be here,\u201d she says. \u201cBut getting\u00a0 into the field with the VMRC gave me a new sense of confidence. I gained real experience with real data that I knew was going to be applied. This added to my OSU experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Mckinney\u2019s data ended up in the lab, and will eventually have real applications for land managers and other scientists.<\/p>\n \u201cWorking with her as a mentor through the program was a wonderful experience,\u201d Wightman says. \u201cI worked closely with her in the field and saw her grow in skill and confidence. Her work with the VMRC was so exceptional that we immediately hired her as a student employee once her time with MEP ended.\u201d<\/p>\n In her spare time, Mckinney also volunteers with Oregon State Community Service and has participated in the Polar Plunge event for the Special Olympics. She plans to attend graduate school and eventually hopes to work with children and youth, teaching them about forestry, natural resources and conservation.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a child, I was captivated by the outdoors at an early age,\u201d Mckinney says. \u201cIf we captivate children at an early age, they can become leaders in managing and protecting our natural resources for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n A version of this story appeared in the spring 2019 issue of <\/i>Focus on Forestry, the alumni magazine of the Oregon State University College of Forestry. Learn more about our undergraduate programs here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Senior Vanessa Mckinney is passionate about forestry, natural resources and conservation. The Eureka, California, native came to Oregon State to study forest management, but after participating in field school decided \u2013 with the help of an advisor \u2013 that the natural resources major would be a better fit. \u201cComing to Oregon felt like a new… Continue reading