Lindsey Craig accepted the Naturalist position with O’Brien County Conservation. Craig is a native of Minnesota near the border with Wisconsin and north of the twin cities. She came to northwest Iowa to attend Northwestern.
Craig is a 2022 Northwester graduate. She did her internship at Oak Grove Park near Hawarden to complete graduation requirements. She filled in for the Sioux County Naturalist during her maternity leave. The experience to the job of Naturalist in northwest Iowa is just beginning, but she is familiar with the area. As her substitution time was coming to a close, the O’Brien County job became available. She applied and here she is!
When comparing her activity at Oak Grove with her expectations in O’Brien County she showcases the environment at Oak Grove with the pond and a water ecosystem. At the same time she acknowledges she is getting familiar with the history of O’Brien County, particularly eastern O’Brien. The Bison are new for her adding, “That’s kind of fun.” Although both counties do have prairie and grasslands, she says she is learning more and refreshing herself on the unique varieties in O’Brien County, and particularly she is studying the area’s history.
She anticipates the programming to be “very prairie-based and a lot of history as far as people coming out to the nature center.” Craig is looking forward to doing a lot more school programs. Her early days are being spent with Director Travis Scott getting to know the area and the people and teachers. “Community members in both counties have just been amazing to work with and a lot of fun to get to know. So I’m excited to see more of that around here.”
As the naturalist she is looking forward to getting into the (county’s) parks. After getting a quick tour and outline from the director of each park she is developing her own ideas of how she feels she can best use the resources at each park. For example, holding water activities at parks with large water bodies and do different water activities is part her planning. She is yet to get acquainted with trails in O’Brien County. She is planning to get started on summer programs and “go from there.” She states that she feels it would be real rewarding to reach across all age groups, citing schools and nursing homes for various programs. She looks forward to getting out into the communities.
When asked for specific plans for program development she recognizes that it’s pretty soon to say. “I plan to spend this year getting to know the area and resources,” she said.
Wedding bells are beginning to ring for Lindsey Craig. Her fiancé is a Sheldon native and the wedding date is in June. The future will be where the “Good Lord takes us.” She currently resides in Hospers and will be moving to Paullina.