Students looking for work experience and a summer income headed to the Holmes Student Center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom on Tuesday for NIU’s Summer Employment Fair.

Nearly two dozen organizations registered for the event, with about half of them offering work in summer camp activities.

“[The fair] is a great place to meet students,” said Carissa Miller, camp director for Wisconsin Badger Camp.

The charity organization for the developmentally disabled offered positions ranging from lifeguards to counselors in an overnight camp program.

Camping-related organizations often begin hiring students in preparation for the busy summer season, Miller said.

“We’re looking for people who like the outdoors,” said Terry Schocke, director of Northern Tier High Adventure, a Boy Scouts of America program.

Schocke said he was interested in hiring students as “wildlife interpreters” who would explain topics such as fishing, safety and local history to scout troops.

Students also would be trained to use canoes and participate in re-enactments of historical events.

Although the program is part of the Boy Scouts, jobs also are open to women, Schocke said.

Students looking to help the wilderness itself were able to turn to V3 Consultants, a consulting engineering, environmental science and surveying firm.

Employees would work as assistants and plant technicians in the Illinois wetlands, said Keith Jones, a V3 ecologist.