The Unconventional Journey to the Dream Job

A few miles north of the City of Omaha, tucked away between winding gravel roads, and only identifiable by a small, unassuming sign, is more than 950 acres of pristine and recovering prairie.

It’s land where the wind makes tall grasses speckled with wildflowers move in waves, where towering bur oak trees stretch their limbs and provide ample shade, and where the birds, bees, and critters thrive.

It’s a true slice of heaven on earth, according to Gary Barrineau.

Barrineau is the Executive Director of that land, the Turkey Creek Preserve.

The preserve is former farmland, cow pastures, and other properties that have been restored to its original form as a prairie.

“There is nothing else in the world I'd rather be doing than turning a little chunk of the world back to what it used to be,” Barrineau says.

It's a respite from fast-paced life and its revolving door of upgrades and construction projects, and it serves as a reminder of our state and country’s roots.

“Development and growth is great, but I'm the guy who cringes a little bit when I see another field get developed and neighborhoods expanding,” he says.

“I think it's important to save as much as we can. The whole world doesn't need to get plowed and paved,” he says.

Not everyone can say that the job they’re working is their dream job. But Barrineau, UNO class of 2004, can.

A Loess Hills ‘Rugrat’

Mondamin, Iowa is known as the ‘Gateway to the Loess Hills,’ and it’s there where Barrineau first discovered his love of the outdoors.

“My backyard was just the Loess Hills, and I was a little rugrat that just ran around. Usually, my dogs were tagging around behind me, but that was my playground, and I just fell in love with the natural world,” he says.

By the time the light pole outside his home flickered on as the sun went down, Barrineau knew it was time to head inside and pull the ticks off himself and the dogs.

“Just running around, exploring creeks, digging up dirt, sneaking up on turkeys, you know. I never wanted to hunt, never wanted to hurt anything. Just fascinated with the natural world and running around in it.”

Fast forward to his senior year of high school, Barrineau became one of the first interns for the local conservation board in Harrison County, Iowa.

“I applied for that, got it, and loved it. I was hooked from the get-go,” he says.

The job consisted of some undesirable duties, Barrineau remembers: cleaning up trash, scrubbing pit toilets, and hauling firewood.

“The cool part was when you got to actually go out into the wildlife areas and do a little bit of invasive tree work,” Barrineau recalls. He spent just one summer there, but it was impactful.

“I loved it and decided -- that's the kind of career path I wanted to take.”

Stepping Off the Path

Barrineau's choice to attend UNO was easy; his sister Jessica was the catcher of the softball team. He had a desire to stay close to his mom, and he received an invitation to be a walk-on on the football team.

Walking into UNO, Barrineau knew what he was aiming for: an environmental science degree with a concentration in geography and planning.

Within a few semesters, Barrineau realized he had unknowingly stepped off the path he intended to follow.

“Because I was kind of experiencing UNO through athletics, I didn't take a handle on my education path the way I should have,” he says. “This isn't a knock or criticism of anybody. I was just a kid trying to figure it out, and I was more focused on just surviving football instead of taking hold of my academics.”

While he was taking lots of credit hours, they weren’t necessarily the right ones to get the degree he had hoped to get.

“I didn't manage my schedule very well,” Barrineau admits with a laugh.

At one point, he was ready to drop out.

“I remember talking to Dr. Gildersleeve,” he says. “I was almost at my wit’s end, and I was like, ‘I want to be done.’”

“He was flipping through my folder, and said, "Gary, you're nine credit hours away from a geography degree.” I asked, "What do I do with a geography degree?” Dr. Gildersleeve simply replied, "graduate.””

So, he did. But despite his deep connection to the natural world and conservation, Barrineau began working full-time in the construction industry he had become accustomed to. In college, he worked summers in concrete restoration for a teammate's family company. After graduation, he began framing houses with a high school friend, and quickly became a lead employee. He was good at it, and the Omaha market was red hot at the time.

“I was sticking with what I knew and chasing a paycheck instead of a career.”

Another step off the path he thought he’d be following. And after nearly a decade, it began taking a toll on him.

“My body started breaking down from construction, and my wife was like, ‘You’re miserable. This isn’t what you wanted to do in life,” he shares.

So, after careful consideration, Barrineau gave up his successful construction company and went back to his roots. Literally.

“I wanted to get back into conservation before it was too late, so I became a 32-year-old intern for the Pottawattamie County Conservation Board, which is basically the same level of job as my internship after high school.”

He was making $9.50 an hour to support his wife, their first child, and their first home.

“I began scrubbing toilets again, mowing the grass, all that fun stuff to pay my dues,” he says of the internship.

“As a 32-year-old in such an entry-level job, my goal was just to turn heads, go above and beyond, get involved with every aspect that I could so I could build my resume. I wanted to convince people I was serious about getting back into conservation, and... it worked,” he says.

After two years of his internship, he got a full-time conservation technician job he’d set his sights on with the Harrison County Conservation Board. The man who previously held the role, whom Barrineau worked under in high school, had retired. The position was centered around campground maintenance, and his construction experience proved to be invaluable.

Barrineau was officially back on his original path.

The new role felt extra special, and maybe even predestined, as his grandfather was a founding member of the Harrison County Conservation Board decades earlier.

“It was kind of a full-circle moment for me.”

The Dream Job

After more than eight successful years in Harrison County, Barrineau accepted a job as the land manager at Turkey Creek Preserve. At the time, he had never even heard of the preserve.

But the job was, and still is, a dream job for Barrineau.

The preserve was started by Mary Lou Chapek, with the goal of restoring the natural land and promoting conservation.

“Mary Lou made several purchases over 30 years totaling 30 parcels of land. We're defragmenting that land and making it one contiguous habitat again. It's a lot of tearing down old sheds, old fence lines, getting all the human aspect pulled out, cutting out the invasive species and restoring the natural landscape with native species.”

Barrineau often finds himself thinking about what the land would have looked like when the Native Americans occupied the area.

As he parked the UTV on a hilltop overlooking the Missouri River valley, "I just imagine how cool it'd be to stand on this hillside and see it before it was changed.”

He hopes to share that wonder with more people after becoming the preserve's executive director after Chapek’s passing in 2025.

While UNO already has an affiliation and relationship with Turkey Creek Preserve, Barrineau is excited to invite more collaborations, research opportunities, educational experiences, and volunteer events.

“UNO had an impact on me. Like I said, my academic career was a little clumsy, and that was my own fault, but when I talked to advisors and got back on track, they were very encouraging,” he recalls.

All the biology, environmental science, and yes, geography courses that Barrineau took throughout his time at UNO still support him in his work. He’s never forgotten the passion of the professors, advisors, and staff who supported and educated him.

Now, when he works with young interns, students, and volunteers, he hopes to be a supporting role for them too. He reminds them that ‘wrong turns’ can be opportunities for growth, and that unconventional journeys can always still lead them to success.

“I like seeing a variety of things on a resume. I like that you're waiting tables, tending bar, working at Target, or working construction. There are skills, valuable life skills, that you collect and make you a more well-rounded person,” he says.

With time and reflection, there’s an awareness that Barrineau may have never found his way to his fulfilling career if he didn't take a few steps off his path.

“You don't know where life's going to take you, so just roll with it and adapt. I've been fortunate to stumble into an ideal spot, and there's no other place I'd rather be.”

In Barrineau’s little slice of heaven, he hopes that more people will see its value, appreciate its beauty, and be inspired to protect and conserve more little corners of the planet, too.

“We're all just temporary stewards of the land that we're eventually going to go back into. So be nice to it and take care of it.”