KAMLOOPS-A love of animals steered Dana Pick into volunteer work as a docent at the BC Wildlife Park while completing her honours degree in Animal Biology at UCC. Now she’s there full time as project intern for the park’s education & volunteer department and coordinator for the park’s volunteer docent program.
A pet project she’s got going right now is the Environmental Expo, a showcase of products and services by environmentally based organizations and businesses in the Kamloops area.
“It’s a great way for environmentally friendly entrepreneurs and organizations to increase their public exposure,” she said.
The event, originally slated for May 28th and 29th, has been moved up to May 24th, to coincide with the park’s Victoria Day celebrations.
We thought it would be good to combine the two events for a couple of reasons,” she explained. Increased exposure’s a big one, because about 1000 people usually come through the park on Victoria Day each year. The other reason is that the two events mesh well. While the kids are playing in the bouncy castle, riding the train, or trying out the horizontal bungee, their parents can be checking out the Enviro Expo.”
The Expo, which will be located inside a tent located on the parking lot in front of the park, still has spots left for local entrepreneurs and organizations.
“Not only is it great visibility,” said Pick, “but admission is free to the public, and spots are really inexpensive. Non-profit groups can rent a booth for only $30, while businesses can choose between $150 and $200 booths. People who want a booth can call me at 573-3242 extension 228, and sign up.”
An additional perk of the event is an environmental contact directory Pick hopes to complete after the show is over.
It all sounds like a lot of work for someone whose degree is just a year old, but Pick is up to the challenge. While carrying a full honours course load and working as a volunteer docent, she managed to keep her marks so high she was awarded a prestigious Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA) through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) of Canada, enabling her to spend a summer working at the Bamfield Marine Science Centre in Bamfield B.C.
Her current career goal is to teach science courses at the university level as well as work on research interests and she hopes to follow up her internship, which ends soon, with a position that will allow her to gain more experience in either research or teaching.
For more information please contact Dana Pick at 573-3242 extension 228.
