When Shawna Burkett was a child growing up in western Pennsylvania, she recalls, she "liked to be outside all the time, all day long until dark."

So enamored of the outdoors was Burkett, now 24, she decided to make a career of it, despite a degree in literature from Edinboro University, near Erie.

Burkett, the Pennsylvania Game Commission's new wildlife conservation officer for lower Lehigh and Northampton counties, grew up in rural Jefferson County, where she hunted and fished with her father and uncles.

"I have two sisters. There were no boys in our family," she explains.

Burkett says she was "halfway through my degree before I realized I wanted to work outside. I wanted to do law enforcement."

So, she took a few criminal justice courses as electives and finished her degree in literature.

"I was too far into it by then to switch majors," she maintains.

Right before graduation in 2011, Burkett says she "took a look at Civil Service jobs and saw this job come up."

The application process took a year. In addition to taking the Civil Service test, she had to pass psychological screenings and physical fitness tests, which included sit-ups, push-ups, running, jumping and agility.

Burkett was one of the lucky ones.

"I tested only one time and got in. It's very competitive."

How competitive?

Burkett says "700 people took the test and only 36 were accepted."

Acceptance did not guarantee her a job. All candidates for the position have to spend a year at the game commission's academy, Ross Leffler School of Conservation, in Harrisburg.

The rigorous routine was akin to the military.

Burkett says all candidates must live at the school throughout the year of training.

"We had to get up at 4:30 a.m. We had physical training (exercises) at 5:15 a.m.," she notes, adding "trying to make it through the academy was highly stressful."

Her classes included law enforcement, conservation studies, biology, defense and control tactics and firearms, according to Burkett.

The academic program also included 10 weeks of field training "in fall during hunting season, all over the state," Burkett recalls.

She spent four weeks in Allegheny County and three weeks each in Luzerne and Wayne counties.

During the field training, students were "evaluated very strictly.

"You need to demonstrate knowledge of the game laws. You can be fired at any time during that period," explains Burkett.

She was not fired. She was one of only three women in her class who graduated in March of this year.

She says she is "one of only about 10 women in the agency in the history of the job."

Despite the predominance of men, both in the academy and in the field, Burkett says she has had "no issues with men. I've been accepted and respected so far."

Describing the many facets of her new job, Burkett says her responsibilities include "wild birds and mammals and their conservation, hunting regulations, public outreach, school programs, and assisting other law enforcement agencies."

And that's what she likes best about being a wildlife conservation officer: the variety, the wild animals, the outdoors, the people she meets.

The downside of her job? "Everybody wants everything right now. It can be stressful," she concedes. "It's also tough having to deal with hunting-related shooting incidents," she adds.

Burkett has to pick up dead deer from the roads and issue tickets for hunting violations and for misdemeanors and felonies in the crimes code of Pennsylvania.

Although she has the authority to enforce fishing regulations, "It's not something we focus on directly. That's a separate agency," she explains.

So, if people call with questions about fishing or non-wild animals, "We try to point them in the right direction," Burkett says.

In the six weeks she has been working in the Lehigh Valley, Burkett has conducted programs for Boy and Girl Scouts, sportsmen's clubs and schools. She also teaches gun safety classes and instructs youths on building houses for bluebirds.

She has not yet had to trap and move a bear, but she's ready, she says.

Asked what she looks forward to doing in her new position, she doesn't hesitate.

"Bird banding," she responds. "We'll be banding the chicks of ospreys and peregrine falcons to track their movement and get a feel for how many are nesting in the area and how they're adapting to the local habitat."

Burkett also wants to work with barn owls.

"Their population is declining. I really like owls," she declares.

After a moment she continues, "Actually, I like everything."