Natalie Michelle

Hughes

Honours Bachelor of Science in Forestry
Scarborough, ON

I was born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, with the dream of escaping to a northern locale with more ‘breathing room’.  After completing my Bachelor of Commerce at McMaster University in 2006, I enrolled in the Honours Bachelor of Science in Forestry (HBScF) program at Lakehead University.  I graduated from the HBScF program in 2010 and took an internship position with a small, non-profit organization: The Northwestern Ontario Bio-Economy Corporation (NOBEC).  After my yearlong position with NOBEC I decided to pursue a Master of Science in Forestry (MScF), which I completed in 2014.  I chose Lakehead to further my academic career because of its excellent reputation, small Faculty of Forestry (now the Faculty of Natural Resources Management), and proximity to the great outdoors.  I particularly enjoyed the fact that the professors and technicians in the Natural Resources faculty actually took the time to get to know their students as individuals, and treated them as equals, instead of just nameless student numbers.  Speaking directly from my personal experiences, they care and they sincerely try to help students achieve their best.  Even though I took some extra time to finish my master’s, my supervisors were extremely supportive and nurturing of my capabilities.  During the final months of my MScF, I was hired as a Forest Economics Intern with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry.  After about a year, I moved on to become a Northern Development Advisor with the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines.  I am currently nearing the end of this contract position and have decided to pursue a career in the private sector.  I was recently hired as an Impact Analyst for a virtual company called The Evidence Network, and also work as a freelance editor for another virtual company called Kibin.  Life has taken me in some interesting directions, but I would never have discovered my true strengths and passions without my time at Lakehead. Thank you.