A crew of environmental contractor partners deploy a containment boom during a training exercise about how to work with water currents while collecting spilled oil. The training was hosted by MoDNR’s Environmental Emergency Response team.
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Alex Hilke gathers with fellow team members in a meeting room at the Missouri Department of Natural Resources’ Environmental Services Program lab in Jefferson City. With spirits high and jokes aplenty, the casual observer wouldn’t think they have a job that can have such high stakes. But that isn’t to say this team is lax or unserious.
The Environmental Emergency Response team is the department’s front line of defense against the impacts of hazardous substance releases, natural or human-caused disasters and threats to homeland security. State on-scene coordinators like Hilke provide response guidance and supervision to keep Missouri’s natural resources safe from sudden releases of contaminants.
Upon graduating college with a geology degree from the Missouri University of Science and Technology in May 2018, Hilke took a job in Colorado as an environmental contractor. He and his team would go out into the field, supplied with shovels and absorbent, and perform environmental cleanups.
“Long hours, but right out of school it was the perfect job,” Hilke said.
After a year in Denver, Hilke recognized he wanted to be closer to family. He took a job at MoDNR’s Kansas City Regional Office as a state on-scene coordinator in November 2019. While he was doing the fieldwork in his previous position, he was now overseeing it, working with everyone from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to local fire departments and environmental contractors.
After a few years in Kansas City, Hilke saw an opportunity with EER’s field services unit in Jefferson City that would allow him to do more sampling fieldwork while still allowing him to continue his emergency cleanup responsibilities. He joined the unit at the end of 2023.
Hilke said that when he was in school, he didn’t envision himself in the role he’s in now. He figured he’d be working in a lab, and on the rare occasion he did fieldwork, he would be taking samples to check for contaminants in the environment.
However, in his current role, Hilke thrives on the variety from day to day. Taking calls about everything from fuel spills to mercury exposure to buckets of hand sanitizer stored in open air — no two responses are the same.
“It’s the unknown that’s kind of exciting and also terrifying.” Hilke said. “But being able to provide that immediate assistance and make a difference, both for the environment and the general public, makes me really appreciate the job I have.”
Interested in a career with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources? Visit the MoCareers webpage.
