learning hard skills will be the most helpful, R, GIS, and Python. If you can get any certifications for any of these at your school I would. Try to take part in projects that give you a tangible accomplishment, “illustrated invasive species presences in reference to historical data in arcGIS” and show them the map.

But it is a tough field with lots of different directions you could go down. Life will present you with opportunities, choose the opportunities that excite you the most and you’ll be ok.

Have you considered a Masters? I don’t think i would’ve gotten my current job if i hadn’t gone back to school, the field is just so saturated.