CEMML Early-Career Development Program participant Desirae Minns collects water depth data at Hurlburt Field, Florida. Photo courtesy of David Seay. BY JODI PETERSON
Counting salamanders. Keeping black bears out of dumpsters. Surveying woodpecker nests. Even rescuing a squirrel trapped inside a hospital. CEMML Natural Resource Technician Desirae Minns has done all these things and more during her stint at Hurlburt Field Air Force Base on the Florida Panhandle. “I have lots of projects and my plate is always full,” said Minns with a laugh, noting that the installation currently has no other biologists on staff.
Minns is a participant in CEMML’s Early-career Development Program. The ECDP offers college students and recent graduates a chance to work on federal and public lands and get paid as they gain first-hand experience in natural or cultural resources management. To date, 170 participants have worked on installations in Alaska, Hawaii, California, New Mexico, Louisiana, and many other states, supporting the military mission while learning.
Minns grew up in upstate New York and southern Florida, and was always interested in the outdoors. “My mom cleaned the gator pits and drove swamp buggies at a wildlife safari park in the Everglades,” she said, recalling her early exposure to wild animals. “I was always out catching critters and bugs, and wanted to be a gator wrestler as a kid.”
After high school, Minns attended Jamestown Community College in New York and received an associate’s degree in math and biological sciences. A growing interest in amphibians led her to pitch in on a project tracking spotted salamanders during migration. At the State University of New York at Oswego, she earned a bachelor’s degree in biology with a zoology focus. Helping with research into amphibian diseases and with salamander surveys showed her that she “genuinely loved working with amphibians and was good at this kind of work.” Other activities included a canal restoration project, campus tours, and student government. “My mentality was ‘do everything you can, you will learn something from it’,” she said.
She had long hoped to go back to Florida, and after graduating in 2024, she got her chance. Her best friend moved to Fort Walton Beach and Minns came along, returning to the land of sunshine, swamps, and gators. Her love of public outreach and learning led her to work as an educator at a children’s science museum. Then she saw the posting for the ECDP position at Hurlburt Field AFB, just 20 minutes away. The job description emphasized amphibian management, and she felt that the position was perfect for her.
Minns began working on the installation in February 2025 on a six-month contract, which was extended for another year thanks to her skills and enthusiasm. On some projects, such as surveying the federally protected reticulated flatwoods salamander, she collaborated with staff from nearby Eglin Air Force Base. Another of her responsibilities drew on her public outreach skills: reducing black bear-human conflicts by teaching installation residents to secure their trash. “Desirae has done exceptionally well in her role as an environmental educator to the Hurlburt Field community,” said Nate Kettle, Minn’s supervisor at CEMML. “She even received a thank-you letter from the commander of the 1st Special Operations Wing, commending her dedication and professionalism.” Other projects Minns undertook, such as surveying tree cavities for nests of the rare red-cockaded woodpecker, continued multi-year efforts at the installation.
As if all that weren’t enough, she also oversaw invasive species management at Hurlburt Field, which included control of the island apple snail, a South American mollusk wreaking havoc on both ecosystems and agriculture. “For an early career professional, overseeing such a large program is a daunting task deserving of extremely high praise,” noted Kettle. At this year’s annual conference of the National Military Fish and Wildlife Association, she presented a poster about the installation’s snail control methods.
In July 2026, Minns will start a contract position at Hurlburt through CEMML, as a liaison with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service providing wildlife management support. She’s beyond excited about the job, she said: “These ecosystems are beautiful and unlike anywhere else I have ever been.” With a laugh, she added, “That little girl who wanted to wrestle gators, caught snakes and critters, and kept frogs in her pockets was perhaps always meant to end up here.”