NAMPA, Idaho – If you go to the beach with Rikki Myers, don't expect to play games or lay out in the sun or even swim.

The Northwest Nazarene sophomore spends her time looking at animals under rocks and in tide pools.

Myers, a standout on the women's soccer team, is a Bachelor of Science in Biology with an emphasis in ecology and biodiversity major. She hopes to work for a fish and wildlife agency post college, and spent part of her summer in Costa Rica recording frog calls.

"I remember finishing school and going out and looking under rocks at the bugs," Myers said of growing up. "At the beach, a lot of people go play beach volleyball or something like that and I'm looking for animals."

While the connection of her major and her sport of choice is a bit tenuous, Myers has found one.

"Taking care of animals is something bigger than yourself," she said. "And being part of a team is bigger than yourself and I have to take care of my teammates."

Myers did just that last season, tying for the team lead in goals scored while starting 16 of the team's 18 games. The Nighthawks had the best season in program history and a big part of that was because of their young forward.

"We knew she was going to come in and get playing time," NNU coach Mary Trigg said. "We didn't know what kind of impact she would have right away. Some people click and some people don't. She steps up to every challenge. She wants to be challenged."

That includes off the field as well.

The science program runs a volunteer group to work with animals in the department. Myers missed the initial meeting because of soccer, but emailed the director Austin Reich to set up a private meeting.

"She said she really wanted to be involved and is constantly accepting undesirable jobs," said Reich, a senior. "She helped breed crickets all year – that is like the least glamorous job, but one of the most necessary."

Myers is now training to take over as the teacher's assistant who takes care of all the animals on campus, which Reich does right now.

That includes the host of frogs in the vivarium in the school's science building, some snakes, salamanders, newts, an alligator, tarantula and an Argentine tegu (a giant lizard).

Myers has always wanted to work with animals but isn't medically minded so being a veterinarian was out. In high school she figured she'd go into marine biology, but when she was recruited to NNU she found the wildlife biology program.

The major offers a broad choice of jobs from going out into the field to make discoveries or solve problems to working for fish and wildlife, counting species populations.

The school also offers a yearly trip to Costa Rica to study frogs. This summer, the group was working on trying to figure out if a species of frogs are actually two species and they recorded the animals' calls to help identify the difference.

"In Costa Rica, the frogs sound like birds and the birds sound like frogs," she said. "When I first got there I couldn't identify what a frog was, but I'm more able to now."

Myers is one of just three freshmen, and the first athlete, to ever go on the trip and her hard work in the classroom is one reason why.

"There are definitely skills that are learned in the program, but she was able to learn quickly," Reich said. "It's not something like, I was a star forward in soccer so I was a good kicker in football. This is its own thing, but she learned very quickly and was eager to learn, which is the attitude which is sought after."

Both on the soccer field and in the classroom.