Volunteer Spotlight - Kate DePietro

If her last name looks familiar to you, it should. Kate is the daughter of NRCS Civil Engineer Dan DePietro, and the niece of retired Contracting Specialist Bob DePietro.

Like a lot of her family, Kate has an interest in natural resources. So much so, that she is a Natural Resources major, with a concentration in wildlife, at the University of Connecticut.

Kate loves animals and is concerned about the endangerment and extinction of wildlife; particularly the Amur Leopard of which there are only 35 individuals left in the wild, and only about 12 purebreds in captivity. DePietro has been a member of the Wildlife Society, UConn Chapter for a year.

Kate hopes to work in New York for the Wolf Conservation Center (www.nywolf.org) with captive breeding and the reintroduction of Red wolves – once extinct in the wild. She also dreams of continuing her natural resources work in Alaska.

In the meantime, Kate has been harnessing some of her passion for the environment by volunteering for NRCS where she has provided assistance on a survey for a covered heavy use area that included animal waste storage.

“Her enthusiasm and professionalism make her a great addition to the Earth Team in Connecticut,” said State Volunteer Coordinator Carol Donzella.

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