Forestry Student Spotlight – Riley Watts
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EmailRiley Watts shares how they chose MSU Forestry to blend their passion for the outdoors into helping the Earth and how they hope to settle into state work after graduating.
Forestry undergraduate student Riley Watts came to MSU from Highland, Michigan. Riley loves to read, crochet, and ski in their free time.
Interesting Experience in Forestry
On a conservation crew over the summer, we were moving from one project to another over the weekend and decided to cowboy camp that night. This is when you sleep on a tarp with no tent above you. We had no service, so we could not see that it was going to rain. We all woke up at 3 am to pouring rain, threw our sleeping bags in the truck bed, and slept in the truck the rest of the night. There were five of us sleeping in the two rows of a Ford F-250, very uncomfortable. It was a bonding experience though, and we always checked the weather before losing service after that.
Why did you choose Forestry?
It felt like the perfect way to blend my passion for the outdoors into a practical way to help the Earth. Growing up with a changing climate, it is scary. This is my way of putting a dent in the system.
What are your career goals?
I love conservation work and hope to do more of it. I want to eventually settle into state work in the MI DNR or other Midwest states.
Do you have any advice for new forestry students?
Work to be a part of the forestry community at MSU. You have a gift of smaller classes to really get to know your classmates. Talk to your peers, help each other, and learn together.
