Coming from El Paso, Texas where mountains and desert are the only views you have everywhere you looked, Salem, Massachusetts is definitely a place where the water meets maple trees. This area is a mix of coniferous and deciduous forests with Salem Harbor on the...
Kevin's intro vlog! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgE6qUfVzNQ&list=PLF8umoR0i9lHysC6I6n_wmTvEtbSCxCTc&index=6...
Hi everyone! Thank you for clicking on my first blog post this summer! I am excited to begin this adventure with the Latino Heritage Internship Program and the National Park Service. Click on the video below to learn about what I will be up to this summer...
Hi everyone! My name is Xochitl Lopez, my pronouns are she, her, and ella. I’m a National Park Service and Environment for the Americas intern through the Latino Heritage Internship Program. This summer, I will be working as a Park Planning Fellow at the Pacific West Region’s...
Cars were speeding beyond us. The sounds were indistinguishable, smooth, and fast. It was hot—though not like we were in the desert, it wasn’t bucolic or extreme or particularly noteworthy—and it smelled like gas. On one side of my supervisor and me was Zoo Drive,...
Home Sweet… not home? The site for my documentation project with HABS is the General Jose de San Martin Memorial located along Virginia Ave NW in Washington DC. The memorial is the first gift sculpture to DC from a foreign nation in history. It even...
Here is a video of Rosario talking about the creative process of redesigning the Tumacácori National Historical Park icon Pancho! Learn how Rosario collaborated with her supervisor to help broaden the reach of the beloved park ambassador. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi0EFxOWSOM&t=5s...
Before my internship at the Grand Canyon, I never thought I would get the opportunity to river raft, especially not through the famous Colorado River. The purpose of the river trip was to monitor the effect that Glen Canyon Dam has on the riparian zone...
I had the privilege of working with Antonio Ruvalcaba from Dinosaur National Monument. Our internships programs started around the same time and we worked on very similar projects at each park regarding monarch conservation. Last week we completed our outreach event! We both collaborated on...
Last week I went to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon National Park. The North Rim is only about 20 miles from the South Rim. However, to get there it takes about five hours driving. This is because the only route there is around...
Hi everyone, I hope you are doing well. This past weekend on August 14th we had a public tagging event. In total 66 people came out including children and adults. I was able to show the the process of tagging a monarch and the data...
Although this is the last day of my internship, and the summer is coming to a close, I am not sad. Instead, I am excited about the future. I have learned so much about being a scientist and a steward of our lands. I have...
Monarch butterflies (Danaus Plexippus) have suffered a grave decline as population size has plummeted from 4.5 million in the 1980s to fewer than 30,000 individuals in 2019. In 2020 the USFWS placed monarch butterflies as a candidate species under the Endangered Species Act. When I think...
As “Sound Technician”, my primary directive for my summer project is to document, analyze, and edit the sounds of the Sonoran summer. My supervisors have provided to me a few ideas, in addition to plenty of other resources to contact, as they themselves have no...
My last week at my internship is such a bittersweet moment. This whole summer has been such a journey, as I met new people and got to see different sides of the NPS and the bay that I've never gotten to see before. I am...
I can't believe the conference is here already! The summer has truly flown by so fast, it's almost sad to think about the fact that my time at my park is coming to an end. Thankfully, I live within driving distance of Fire Island and...
Every good thing must come to an end, and unfortunately it is time for me to say goodbye to the Park(s). It has been a fun, fruitful, and learning experience here and I am thankful that I got the opportunity to work for the National...
Taking the chance and applying to this internship program to work in the National Park resulted in one of the most amazing summers I have ever had. Truthfully, I had never considered the potential of working in the National Park Service because I did not...
The last week of the internship is here and all of us interns are presenting our results to our fellow peers, hiring authorities, and the public online. Watching a coalition of people working towards diversity in a remarkably homogenous workforce is comforting. Some seek to...
Even before I was offered the position as the intern, I took a liking to the park's mascot, Pancho the Vermillion Flycatcher. He's a big, red bird with chubby cheeks and big, round eyes. An adorable little guy! During one of my first conversations with...