Posted: 2/17/2026
Student ambassadors help other students find answers
By Ronica Stromberg
Student ambassadors are meeting School of Natural Resources students where they're at this semester, giving guidance and answers at a table in Hardin Hall. Sophia Rojas and Charlie Krug have been taking turns staffing the table near the Nebraska Maps & More Store on Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The school's other two ambassadors, William Cunningham and Jane Jewell, may take a turn later this semester.
Krug and Rojas, a junior and a sophomore majoring in fisheries and wildlife, came up with the idea for the Ask an Ambassador table with Bridget Gross, Kenneth Pyle and Sara Winn, who advise the school's ambassadors. The students knew they could answer many questions of freshmen and transfer students and decided doing so in person would likely work better than by email.
Rojas said meeting with an advisor or professor can intimidate students but having the option to ask another student instead can alleviate pressure.
"You're talking to a peer like a friend, so that's what I've found beneficial," she said.
She had met former ambassador Silas Abarr at a recruitment event at her high school, Papillion-La Vista High School, while considering the University of Nebraska–Lincoln with her family. When Gross asked her if she would be interested in becoming an ambassador with Abarr and Isabella Villanueva, Rojas said yes. She came to the university her freshman year already hired as an ambassador but not knowing if the position paid.
It does. School of Natural Resources ambassadors work four to 10 hours a week on tasks like creating and posting social media posts, making flyers, updating job boards, giving campus tours and helping with recruitment and other events.
Krug said he especially enjoys helping out with the Nebraska Deer and Game Expo in Lincoln because he grew up hunting deer near Russell, Kansas.
"I'm a big people person, so just getting to talk to people about what I like to do is awesome," he said.
He noted that being extroverted is also helpful for ambassadors.
"I think one of the reasons they hired us is because we're so outgoing and we're well-versed in what's going on around here," Krug said. "I think we can pretty much handle or tackle any question that the students bring us."
Typical student questions the ambassadors have fielded so far have involved advising and the location of classrooms or advisor offices, but Rojas said they can also answer basic questions such as about bus routes, housing on or off campus and upcoming events.
Krug specializes in handling questions from transfer students since he came in this school year as a transfer student from Nebraska Wesleyan University. Nebraska’s larger scale with multiple campuses and more professors and classes gave him much to navigate. He knew the types of questions transfer students had when he began as an ambassador in October 2025.
"That's kind of why I pushed for wanting to help with the table, because there were a lot of questions that I had about stuff, and it's just nice to have that extra resource,” he said.
Gross said the undergraduate student services team advising the ambassadors is excited to see how students use this new resource this semester.
"We hope it becomes another touch point between our team and undergraduate students," she said.
The ambassadors program started in the School of Natural Resources in 2006 and looks different from student workers in other departments and schools, Gross said. Having four ambassadors this year has allowed her team to attend more outreach and community engagement events and interact more with students, she said. She identified the most valuable part of the program as gaining a student perspective.
"We all want to continue to make the School of Natural Resources welcoming and fun," she said. “It is valuable to hear things from a student perspective, such as different ways to communicate, different interests, and being able to ask our ambassadors what they think is needed to make the School of Natural Resources the best place to be."