Fishing for happiness: Talking shop with Kamaria Pearson of the Missouri Department of Conservation

Kamaria Pearson, angler education assistant for the Missouri Department of Conservation in Cape Girardeau, first found a passion for fishing on outings with her grandparents.

They began taking her and her brother fishing when they were about 5 and 6 years old, and although Pearson didn't like it at first, she quickly warmed up to it once she had a cane fishing pole in her hands.

"It was so hot and sticky, and we didn't have poles, so we just didn't understand, 'Why are we out here? Why did we have to come out here?'" she says. "Finally someone got the bright idea to start bringing extra poles, so that's where the trip got 10 times better."

When Pearson began high school, she started to think about career paths. She met Chris Kennedy, a fisheries biologist who was helping run the Youth Conservation Corps for the MDC. She joined the corps at 15 and started networking with kids her age who were from different backgrounds, including those from farms and more rural areas.

"Just being exposed to [peers from different backgrounds in the area] and getting a grasp of the importance of conservation, and I started to learn that it's essential to know your outdoor surroundings, and I feel like that's a really important part of life," Pearson says.

Kamaria PearsonLaura Simon

By line:Kamaria Pearson poses for a photo at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center.Laura Simon

The Youth Conservation Corps work started out as general maintenance, making sure conservation and trails were clean and clear, and then they introduced the alligator gar restoration project. The restoration project is working to re-establish the population of alligator gar in the department's region, which encompasses 16 counties.

"I just found that so fascinating, so I then started looking for schools that were really into fisheries, and aquaculture that specialized in that, and I came upon the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff," she says.

After earning a full ride at U of A and graduating, she started in a term position at the Missouri Department of Conservation Regional Office in Cape Girardeau as a natural resources assistant, where she had the opportunity to work with a biologist on revising the "Fishes of Missouri" book, reworking distributional maps and adding new images of fish in their spawning colors.

"Overall I just feel like it's an honor to hold a position within the department to kind of pay forward what was given to me," she says.

Kamaria PearsonLaura Simon

In her current position as the angler education assistant, she provides an array of programs, mainly for youth groups, spanning from 4-H Clubs to Girl Scouts to school classes.

Kamaria PearsonLaura Simon

"I tend to target youth groups because those are generations to come, and it kind of exposes them and gets them introduced to conservation to see if that's an activity that they like," Pearson says.

One of the main activities Pearson organizes is the Discover Nature Fishing Program, which consists of four classes with progressive lessons, from teaching basic tackle to baiting a hook, lessons about the food web and how to work with MDC regulations in different areas of the state.

With one set of classes running in April and typically two rounds of classes in the summer, Pearson says it's a good opportunity for families to rediscover fishing and hopefully incorporate it in their lifestyle.

She also has branched out to other parts of the region, hosting classes in the Bonne Terre and Park Hills, Missouri, areas.

"We're working to get classes scheduled for their community and hopefully they take on to that and get more people fishing in that area," she says.

By line:Kamaria Pearson is an angler education assistant with the Missouri Department of Conservation.Laura Simon

Pearson also advertises the Rod and Reel Loaner Program, which allows families lacking time or money to borrow fishing materials in the same way they would check out books from local libraries.

Kamaria PearsonLaura Simon

On a regular day, Pearson could be working with children from all over the area, teaching them about fish biology with fiberglass fish models, about fish that live in Missouri waters or about fish-handling techniques.

The MDC has a stream table -- a mobile trailer filled with ground, recycled plastic and a water pump that simulate a stream in its natural setting -- that allows Pearson to show channelization and the effects when drastic changes are made to streams and their ecosystems. She teaches about the importance of wetlands and pond ecology and facilitates specialized activities like fly tying and lure painting.

She also works with Discover Nature programs for local schools, and works with students in the fishing club at Jackson Middle School.

"I live for giving that kid a chance to catch their first fish, touch their first live fish, there's just nothing like seeing that or witnessing that or knowing, hey, I provided that feeling for those kids," she says. "Or I gave them that confidence and now that kid's definitely going to be an angler; when he or she grows up, they're going to continue to get their hunting license, fishing license, they're going to participate in fishing and things like that."

One of the things Pearson enjoys most about her position is giving people an opportunity to tap into the happiness she finds in fishing, and opening up a new recreational activity to them.

"I don't feel like I'm coming to work. It's definitely not about the wages or the money, it's just about going out and giving citizens that happiness," she says. "I feel like, personally, there's nothing more relaxing than going out fishing; you have the sounds of nature Â… If it's a nice, clear day with a small breeze, I mean, that's priceless and it's totally free."

Above all else, knowing she's influenced children in a positive way makes her job feel rewarding and worthwhile.

"My favorite part is at the end, the comments, the aftermath -- 'This is the best day of my life' -- I hear that so much and I just think that is so awesome," she says. "I'm not all that fun, I'm not all that great, but for me to stand there and talk and give them vital information about outdoors and natural resources, and that they can take that in and retain it, that makes me feel like I'm doing my job."