EXAMPLE PAGE - SCHOOL BROCHURE - UNBOUNCE - Purdue University - Flipbook - Page 27
MOST MORNINGS,
DON CARLSON (A’95)
RISES BEFORE THE SUN.
HE LOADS UP HIS TRUCK AND HEADS TO THE WOODS,
where he traverses the forest terrain with
sure-footedness. As property manager for
16 different woodlands scattered throughout Indiana, the forester and avid outdoorsman reckons he spends about 75–80% of his
time in the woods. And half of that time is
spent alone.
“I’m at home when I’m in the woods,” Carlson
says. “I can relax when I’m in the woods. I’m
blessed to be working in this position—to get
paid for spending time in the woods that I love.
I am much more effective in the woods doing the
things I enjoy and have a passion for.”
PURDUEFORLIFE .ORG
His passion for the outdoors was cultivated
as a teenager, roaming his family’s six acres—
“and everybody else’s, too”—in Lake County.
His family also had a cabin in Wisconsin where
they spent summers. Like many boys growing
up, Carlson saw his older brother as his hero.
Carlson credits his brother for instilling a deep
respect for the woods and has fond memories
of fishing, hunting, and trapping with his brother
and their father. That older brother ended up
working in building construction in Chicago,
but Carlson knew city life was not for him. He
wanted a career spent in nature, but forester
wasn’t an occupation Carlson considered before
he enrolled at Purdue. He initially planned to
major in wildlife.
“As a forester, I do a ton of wildlife management—it’s just all in the name of forestry,” he
says. “A forester is always looking at the bigger picture of natural resource management.
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