Cece Hogan (BS ‘24, Environmental Studies and Sustainability, Biology minor) has been hired at The Aldo Leopold Foundation in Baraboo, Wisconsin, as a Land Stewardship Fellow. She was drawn to The Foundation by the professional development and hands-on stewardship opportunities available for her to develop her career in environmental education and interpretation. In her role as a Land Stewardship Fellow, Cece spends time out in the field every week working to restore the lands of Southern Wisconsin to their original form through land management practices such as using brush saws to manage habitats, prescribed burning, removing invasive species, and collecting native seeds for future planting. Currently, the stewardship team is gearing up for the upcoming prescribed burn season by building firebreaks around the Aldo Leopold Foundation property. These restoration practices allow the land stewardship fellows to learn about healthy land management as well as how to balance the dynamics between private land owners, not-for-profit groups, and government entities involved in these practices. When the fellows are not working outside, they are attending professional development events, creating social media content, or working on independent projects. This year, Cece is working on updating the Green Building Tour for The Foundation’s Legacy Center. Her goal is to transform the current tour into an inclusive interpretation that utilizes story-based information instead of relying primarily on statistics.
Out of the many powerful and pertinent quotes of Aldo Leopold, Cece was able to narrow down the list and share one of her favorite quotes from A Sand County Almanac: “Our tools are better than we are, and grow faster than we do. They suffice to crack the atom, to command the tides, but they do not suffice for the oldest task in human history, to live on a piece of land without spoiling it."
Since starting her fellowship with the Aldo Leopold Foundation, Cece has learned that even though Aldo Leopold was a conservationist ahead of his time, he too was continually learning and changing his way of thinking on land and wildlife management. Leopold is a great example that as conservationists, stewards of the land, students, and educators, we don’t need to be perfect or know everything right away. He is a reminder that the greatest minds we learn from today had to learn first.
Cece would like to share information on The Great Midwest Crane Fest, an upcoming event being held by The Aldo Leopold Foundation on November 14th through the 15th. The Foundation will be hosting guided tours of the property, nature walks, workshops, crane viewing tours at the International Crane Foundation, and more.