Today at the career fair at Volusia Pines Elementary I saw David Griffis there. Well, I knew there was a good chance he would be there, because last year I had suggested him as one of the possible career contacts to invite. When I arrived this morning I was looking forward to seeing if David would be back again, and sure enough, he was there teaching kids about having a career as a naturalist.

David Griffis is someone in our community who does an awesome job, even though it sounds like he may be retiring next year. He is the director of the University of Florida IFAS Extension, which is located next to the Volusia County Fairgrounds. He is someone who does a lot of work around the county, including running the Florida Master Naturalist program.

I completed the Florida Master Naturalist program (yes, I'm a Florida Master Naturalist) a couple of years ago, with him as my teacher throughout the whole thing. What an awesome experience! In the program I spent quite a few days learning a plethora of things about nature in the classroom and on a variety of field trips, which included kayaking, hiking, and more. 

David is so filled with an amazing amount of information about nature. You can learn so much just from being around him. He also led my family nature club out on a beach expedition, where he taught the kids all about a myriad of things found near the beach. Such an awesome guy... David is one of my favorite people in Volusia County!