“Before discovering FIeld Atlas, I had often felt as if my only career options were the traditional academic routes such as research, going to graduate school, and becoming a professor,” says Katherine Urasky, a current junior studying Environmental Science and minoring in Sustainability when talking about her career options. Notre Dame works hard to expose its students to every possible career path for every major, but still students are unaware of certain job sectors out there. For example, the agbioscience sector, one Katherine didn’t know about until last semester.
Agbioscience was a foreign term to her then, as much as it probably is to anyone now. It refers to the intersection of food, science, technology, and agriculture, where traditional agriculture is connected to new innovation-driven careers. Agbioscience is a term that was coined by AgriNovus Indiana, the state’s initiative to drive Indiana’s economy through the agbiosciences. They have created a career exploration site, Field Atlas, to tailor agbioscience careers specifically to those college students interested. Through their Field Atlas ambassadors, they are able to spread the word about the agbiosciences across college campuses in Indiana. Katherine found out about this new, exciting market through a previous Field Atlas ambassador, Kyle Walker, who says, “I really enjoyed my time as a campus ambassador for Field Atlas at Notre Dame because I was able to spread the word about truly exciting career opportunities in the agbiosciences to my peers in environmental sciences, sustainability, and other fields that are looking to make a difference in the world after graduation.”
This semester, with the same excitement for Field Atlas as Kyle, Katherine is working as a Field Atlas ambassador and is eager to share the word with other students. When asked why she applied for her Field Atlas position she said, “I want other students to know that these opportunities are out there. So many students have no idea they exist, but there are amazing opportunities in this field that they should check out.” These opportunities on Field Atlas include over 150 careers, information on employers, stories from those working in the careers today, and more.
And Field Altas is only growing as it opens the eyes of college students across campuses. So many students have already found insight through Field Altas and in the agbiosciences for their career discernment. Another ambassador from Bulter University, Samantha Worden, says, “Field Atlas has been a great tool in exploring the vast amount of opportunities in the agbioscience field. It has opened my eyes to many career opportunities that align with my passion of protecting the planet and achieving sustainability!” If you're an underclassmen just starting your career discernment, or a senior wondering what they’re going to do after
graduation, Katherine says, “consider using Field Atlas. Even if you’re not sure, give it a try. I found myself pleasantly surprised when I first looked into the agbiosciences and I think you would be too.” Field Atlas is an up and coming career exploration site for anyone and everyone interested in finding a meaningful, empowering career in the agbiosciences and it is gaining more traction everyday.
If you have further questions, feel free to reach out to Katherine Urasky at kurasky@agrinovusindiana.com and come to the Sustainability minor Field Atlas presentation on April 14th at 9pm. Register here to receive the Zoom link.