Kamille Monosiet Wins a HydraPak, Talks Green Jobs and Careers

October 18, 2019

“I like talking about green jobs because a lot of people my age around here think working in Tim Horton’s or McDonald’s are the only main options for a summer job. I hope filling out the survey describing my summer helps spread the word about green jobs,” Kamille says. “Winning a HydraPak was a really nice extra.”

Kamille is looking forward to using her new HydraPak to avoid lugging water bottles around on her next hike in the woods. The three-litre HydraPak will fit nicely in her backpack and give her easy access to a drinking tube when she is on the go.

Kamille, a first-year medical student at Université Laval in Quebec City, was on the go most of the summer. She worked as a Service Visitor Attendant in Parc national du Lac-Témiscouata in Quebec’s Bas-Saint-Laurent region, about 280 km north of Quebec City. She grew up just outside the park, and her green job was a great way to help people understand how to make the most of their time in the region.

“Growing up in a rural place makes me more interested in nature,” she says. “We live nature every day, so when you see a moose or something else interesting, you know what to do. You don’t panic. It’s not the same as for people in the city.” 

She helped visitors from around the world understand how to enjoy the park while respecting its natural heritage. Fishing is a particular draw, and Kamille helped conservation officers as they made presentations to visitors so they understood the do’s and don’ts related to different species.

“My English really improved. Lots of European, Australian and Asian visitors didn’t speak French, so I explained things in English, although sometimes we had to use sign language,” she jokes. “I also helped check visitors in for camping and had to make sure they understood things like fire bans.”

On some occasions, Kamille had to put her fire-starting skills to use.

“A woman and her four-year-old who came to camp for the first time didn’t know how to start a fire, so I showed the mom and also taught her son about fire safety at the same time. It was good that the mom thought it was important to show her son nature even though she was only learning to camp herself,” Kamille says.

Working with children and helping them understand how to interact safely and respectfully with nature is one of the things Kamille enjoyed about her summer. She sees children and youth as “the key to a green life” for everyone.

“I would tell them when it comes to a green job, you don’t have to be big at first, but you want to think big, and you never know how far you can go when you start working in the forest.”

PLT Canada’s Green Jobs program is supported in large part by our employer networks at the Canadian Parks Council and Sustainable Forestry Initiative.