Welcome back! Here at Dinosaur NM, my internship focuses on monarch butterfly conservation. The North American monarch consists of two populations: Eastern and Western. The extensive Rocky Mountain Range cutting across the continent acts as the dividing line. Through the months of April-July, monarch generations...
Every week, I drive to a designated field site that contains an abundance of milkweed and nectar plants. Milkweed is important because monarch caterpillars only eat plants in the milkweed family. Hence, female monarchs lay a single egg on the underside of a milkweed leaf*....
My long-term career goal is to become an interpretive Park Ranger for the National Park Service! My passion for science education stems from my desire to explore the great outdoors. I enjoy sharing my knowledge and learning from other curious people, regardless of the topic....
My favorite summer experience was joining the 4th Annual Monarch Migration Float. We conducted monarch surveys along the Green River that bisects Dinosaur National Monument. It is commonly believed that monarch butterflies use rivers as travel corridors for their journey to their overwintering sites. These...
We are starting to see fall colors in the park! It is estimated that peak fall colors will be here by next weekend and I am very excited to see it. The busy season is definitely starting too. These past days have been very busy...
Well the time has finally come for me to say goodbye to Grand Canyon, well for now at least. Considering I go to school at Northern Arizona University and it is around a 1hour and 20 min drive, I could visit Grand Canyon anytime I...
As the title says, that's exactly what I did. Well the title makes it sound like extremely dangerous and I want to preface by saying, yes, anytime something like rafting a river can be very dangerous. However, I was very well taken care of and...
Fall is now upon us here at Shenandoah National Park! Lovely Morning Fog Foggy Morning Hike Fall time is my favorite time of the year, and I am so excited to be in a new place to experience it. I love the cooler weather, foggy mornings,...
Have you ever been to a national park and thought "wow, that ranger's uniform is so hip!" Well, if you have, then you're in luck! As it turns out, hot fashion and park both walk into new seasons modeling chic fabrics screaming with style. Since...
Photo of me in front of North Arch at Arches National Park. Hi y'all, its been awhile. Well at least a while since I have wrote my blogs. A lot has happened since my last blog post. However for this blog post, it's going to...
As I grappled at my desk trying to determine through what avenues Latino culture has influenced Nome, AK, my supervisor turned to me and asked “what about Ynes Mexia?” Ynes Mexia? I had never heard of her but- having come across serval dead ends- was...
Imagine this: a landscape built of rolling, verdant hills in the north and crystal clear waters merging into an endless sea in the south. A sun that never sets, warm hospitable people, and chocolate chip cookies freshly baked from the oven of Pingo’s bakery. No,...
For my last week in the office, I was able to assist in a training and to collect and finalize my project elements to be sent to the Library of Congress. I was given the opportunity to help teach a HABS training for Historic Black College...
NPBYouth.com Another one of my projects this summer is collaborating with the Education Youth Volunteer Engagement team and youth programs to implement general website improvements. The National Parks of Boston (NPB) Youth website is where you can find information on The National Parks of Boston youth...
Latino Conservation Week provides an opportunity for Latino communities to engage and come together to pursue their passions for our natural, cultural, and recreational resources that many national parks provide. This pop-up table event I created was by far my favorite part of my...
My first time entering a clean room to conduct a physics research project. Who am I and how did I get here? Working with Trachemys stejnegeri stejnegeri (Puerto Rican slider) at the University of Puerto Rico at Humacao under the guidance of Dr. Neftalí Ríos...
I can't believe this is the last week of the summer portion of my internship! Part of my internship has consisted of working alongside the Park Planning & Environmental Compliance (PPEC) staff at the Pacific West Region Office (PWRO). After working closely with them this...
On my last weekend, I visited the Wayside, one of our four park areas where accomplished literary figure Louisa May Alcott lived. I am standing with one of our park rangers, Jarrad Fuoss, and two historical reenactors. The Minute Man NHP Culture and Resource...
A few weeks ago here at Grand Canyon National Park, we saw our first monarch butterfly eggs which then became larvae just two days later. That morning, I had been out with my supervisor, Lonnie, as we were walking around the park to identify species...
"Pick your path" map series One of my main projects this summer was to work on a self-guided material series called "Pick Your Path." The purpose of the "Pick Your Path" activity series is to help with engagement and accessibility by providing a way for visitors...