Jake on the left.

Alumni Spotlight – with Jake Kulyniak

Hello, my name is Jacob Kulyniak. I am originally from Greenport, NY, located outside of the city of Hudson. Growing up I spent as much time as I could outdoors hunting, fishing, and hiking. I found out at a very young age that I had a love for wildlife and the environment and quickly learned that I never wanted to have a job where I would be stuck inside for long periods of time. My first job was working for Greenagers during the summer as a crew member.

I did this from July 2014 to August 2017. Working for Greenagers, I learned how to create and maintain trails using hands-on conservation techniques. In the spring of 2017, I graduated from Columbia Greene Community College with an Associate’s Degree in Science. In July 2018 I became a crew leader for Greenagers and held this position for two summers. In 2018 I was accepted into SUNY Cobleskill for their Wildlife Management program. Cobleskill gave me lots of hands-on experiences in the field and only further increased my passion for wildlife. I was also given the opportunity to travel to Panama for two weeks in 2020 to study the land’s biodiversity. To complete my degree at Cobleskill I wanted to do an internship. However, with the outbreak of Covid-19 it was difficult to find an internship in my field. So, in June 2020 I worked at Kline Kill Fruit Farm, where I learned various agricultural skills and how to operate heavy machinery. In April 2021 I accepted an internship working as a research assistant for Cary Institute of Ecosystem studies. Here, I worked with a small team on The Tick Project. At Cary I learned how to identify and collect data that is important for a county wide project that has been ongoing for five years. In May 2021, with my internship complete, I graduated from Cobleskill with a Bachelor’s Degree of Technology in Wildlife Management. On January 3rd 2022 I am set to begin my full time position as an Assistant Farm Manager for Klocke Estate: a fully organic farm which produces various types of brandy and wine. I am excited to take the next steps in my career and will always be grateful for the people that have helped me get to this point.