Student and Early Career Professionals

Student and Early Career Professionals Affairs Committee (SECPAC)

Committee Mission Statement

The mission of SECPAC is to engage with, and promote AFS involvement of, students and early career professionals throughout the North Central Division. The committee focuses on the following objectives to support our mission:

  • Provide virtual and in-person networking and professional development opportunities.
  • Distribute employment, internship, and scholarship opportunities.
  • Create informal mentoring networks among students and early career professionals throughout the Division.
  • Facilitate communication with Division leadership regarding the needs and concerns of student and early career members.

Committee Members

CHAIRS AND SUBCOMMITTEES

Co-Chairs: Hannah Mulligan & April Simmons 

Communications Committee: Brooke Novinger

Continuing Education Committee: Matt Kvam & Madalyn Siller

Membership Committee: Kayla Reed, Levi Suchla

CHAPTER REPRESENTATIVES

Dakotas: Jeston Hassler

Minnesota: Levi Suchla

Illinois: Tanya Fendler

Missouri: Ashley Hrdina

Indiana: Noah Haas

Nebraska: Lauren Allex

Iowa: Joshua Goff

Ontario: Alyssa Goodenough

Kansas: Shelby Kuck

Ohio: Steven Gratz

Michigan: Madison Haddock

Wisconsin: Logan Cutler

Mid-Canada:  Imogen Bellinger

 

Join SECPAC!
SECPAC has several subcommittee and chapter rep positions that are currently vacant, and any students or early career professionals throughout the North Central Division are welcome to join as members at-large. For more information on roles and responsibilities, contact the current co-chairs. To be added to our email lists, click HERE.


New Presenters Symposia
SECPAC organized special symposia at the Midwest Fish and Wildlife Conferences in 2023 and 2024 to provide new presenters a chance to practice and receive constructive feedback from audience members. At the end of the 2023 session, we hosted a panel discussion with academics and professionals in both fisheries and wildlife to give recommendations for effective presentations and answer questions from the audience. At the end of the 2024 session, we facilitated a one-hour workshop on best practices for effective presentations which included tips and tricks from members of the AFS Climate Ambassador Program and group discussion on how to improve presentation slides.  We recorded the 2023 panel discussion and created a handout of the presentation tips and tricks provided in 2024 for folks to reference as they prepare for future presentations!

The link to the 2023 Panel Discussion handout is available HERE as a video.

2024 Best Practices for Effective Presentations: HERE


 

Student Conclave

SECPAC organized and hosted a student conclave at the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area just outside St. Louis, Missouri in 2025 with assistance from the Missouri Department of Conservation and Michigan AFS. The event consisted of fisheries gear demos, workshops on fish identification and age estimation, and a fun competition that tested skills learned throughout the day. We plan to host another student conclave in 2026 with various workshops, so stay tuned for updates!