David Mizejewski

Green screen: promoting environmentalism through the power of TV

ENVS staff member Carrie Keogh interviewed alumnus David Mizejewski during Fall 2007 about his work in television and print media promoting the environment, and doing what he loves. Here is what David had to say:

Most of the time I’ve been at the National Wildlife Federation (NWF), I’ve been running the backyard wildlife program and we’ve been able to expanded the program exponentially.  And that was partially due to the organization's wishes, and partially due to a lot of the efforts I was making. That takes us up almost to present time.

In 2003 I had the opportunity to write a book based on this whole idea of gardening for wildlife.  It was called National Wildlife Federation's Wildlife Habitat Planning Guide for Backyards and Beyond. It came out in winter 2004 for the spring gardening season, so I ended up having money to promote it and I had some time on local TV and talk shows and radio shows.  At some point, someone at Discovery Communications, Inc., got a copy of my book and decided they wanted to turn its concept into a show. I think they saw an opportunity to jump on that really successful formula for makeover shows that were beginning to "bloom" at that time.  I met with them to talk about the possibilities of making a show based on my book, and they basically hired me on the spot for that as a screen host.

With the television show we traveled across the country and designed landscapes or gardens, planning them or re-envisioning them based on the wildlife needs of species living in the area. We covered everything from how to build a nesting box for bluebirds, to how to live with deer that are munching everything, to bears. It was very family oriented, and the goal was to get people involved in doing these pursuits in real life.  We got at least 5,000-6,000 people doing that based on applications they filled out through the show. These things take on a life of their own. Last spring I did something with Cousteau, I’ve been on Good Morning America and the Today Show and I-Village, and I do tons of radio interviews. So my job now at NWF has evolved into being more of a media spokesperson, and right now I’m really fascinated with this idea of using the entertainment media to promote "green" ideas.  I was on with Martha Stewart last week (November 6, 2007), and we had a bunch of kids and creepy crawly insects and hands-on stuff with these kids, and it was all about getting a conservation lesson out in an entertaining way.

NWF now has a new program called Green Hour to get kids, in particular, outside again.  There's this whole concept of nature deficit disorder -- of people not getting outdoors enough. Largely parents are not willing to let their children roam freely outside because in a lot of communities it’s not always safe. "Green Hour" is a resource to help caregivers find ways to get their families outside. The producer loved it, we got great feedback, and in one hour on that show we exposed millions of people to our messages.

Class acts: how a degree at Emory University got him on his way

By the end of my first semester senior year, I concluded that Poli Sci, which was my major, wasn't what I wanted to pursue. I got a summer position to figure out what I was actually going to do in terms of a “real job.” I worked at the Chattahoochee Wildlife Center there in Atlanta and it was in the nature/environmental education realm. I ended up having such a blast with that, I knew doing advocacy/hard core lobbying, what I call the Poli Sci thing, wasn’t really for me. Running around the woods with a pack of kids, getting them excited about wildlife and ecology, and sharing my knowledge and experience with them was what I was really good at and enjoyed doing.  That sort of set me on the path to where I am today. I ended up graduating in the Human and Natural Ecology (HNE) Program, which later became the Department of Environmental Studies. When I was there, HNE wasn't a major, but a co-major -- so it was more than a minor but less than a double major. That's how I explain it to people. One of my big messages now is that conservation work is defined too narrowly. There is this sentiment out there that if it’s not lobbying or campaigning, then it's not conservation. Absolutely, we need people organizing and lobbying – but, if that’s not for you, that doesn't by any stretch of the imagination mean that you can’t have a big impact on conservation issues. Working face to face with people and educating them, or being a graphic designer, or working in fine arts, we need people with those creative skill sets.  Nor do you need to have a bio background to work in the field of conservation either. My advice is to think broadly when you’re thinking about what conservation is and don’t listen to people who tell you conservation is only one thing.

If you’re looking to make a career jump or get involved, it doesn’t really matter what your background is.  I mean I graduated with a Political Science and HNE (Environmental Studies) degree, but then I gained experience by volunteering and taking opportunities to meet people. It’s all about putting yourself out there, taking advantage of opportunities, networking, and then working really hard.

Betwixt and Between: after college and before NWF

I moved to Washington, D.C., in August 1997 because I felt like there was a lot more opportunity for environmental work because all of the big non-profits are here, the government agencies are here, etc.
I felt like I was ready to strike out and try somewhere else, and I thought with my Emory degree and decent GPA, getting set up with a job would be a breeze.  Not the case.

I applied for 30-40 jobs for which I thought I was qualified based on the requirements, and I didn’t get a single call back. So I began looking for something to do to pay the bills until I could find a “real” job. I got a job as an animal keeper/public educator at a local zoo. It’s not a real glamorous job -  you spend a lot of time just scooping poop, but I got a lot of hands-on experience with different animals and spent time working in public education. I still wasn’t getting interviews at any of the “real jobs” I had applied for, so that was kind of a reality check. I decided at that point with not getting calls back at these entry-level positions that maybe I needed to start off at a lower level to get more experience, so I lowered my sights and started applying for internships and part-time gigs. One of the interviews I got was with the National Tree Trust, a grant-awards group in urban forestry. I also applied for an internship at NWF in their backyard habitat program – that whole topic was something I was really interested in during high school, and my Georgia wildlife internship in college was affiliated with the NWF program. I applied for the NWF internship, also for a National Tree Trust administrative assistant position, and a weekend naturalist position at a nature center just outside Arlington, Va. The nature center job was something where they needed someone to cover things on the weekend. I went in and said, “I wanted to turn this in personally,” and the guys said, “OK, yeah, this looks good, I’ll let you know when someone dies ...” – what he was getting across was that those kinds of full-time jobs, especially in that area where they pay really well, are rare and people keep them for a long time. I got rejected for the 6-month paid internship at the backyard habitat position at NWF because I didn’t have enough experience.  It’s true what they say -- that these positions are really competitive. Sometimes even if you do have experience it’s not enough even for a paid internship. So I took the Tree Trust job and the weekend job and I busted my butt seven days a week. I was learning about urban forestry, and I was getting professional development and getting introduced to the D.C. non-profit culture. Meanwhile, on the weekends, I was networking and getting more hands-on experience and getting to know a lot about the local ecosystems.

Because the Tree Trust was such a small office, in the three years I was working there I got to move up in the organization faster than I would have thought. I got promoted after a year to a program director position, and then a few months later to running their largest grants program. I feel that if I had been in a larger organization, I wouldn’t have experienced that pace of advancement.

The job with NWF: how it hatched

That (working with the Tree Trust) lasted for three years, so I sort of paid my dues in terms of gaining experience in that period, and I kept in touch with the people at NWF.  I did simple things like making a point of going by and saying “hi” if I were to see them at local events and things. I got a call from the program backer with whom I had interviewed previously, and she was looking for someone to run their backyard habitat program, the internship that I had applied for but hadn't landed.

So, it’s what you know.  But it also really is who you know.

I went on from being not good enough to have an internship with NWF to getting asked, without an interview, to run the entire program.  It really comes down to relationships. It’s really important not just to be doing your 9-5 gigs - you have to participate and find social networks and events and meet people. There’s always something going on, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be business events or organized events either.  A lot of people do something here in Washington, D.C., called eco-happy hours.  It's totally social, but it's also valuable social networking.  At the time it didn’t feel like I was moving  quickly, but in hindsight it was really quick for me to go from point A to point Z and be working at my dream job.