19 Jul Hello, I am Trinity

Hello! I’m Trinity Pineda and I am currently finishing up my 3^rd year at UC Davis as a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. I’m originally from Chula Vista, California where I grew up, went to high school, and began to develop my interests. The San Diego Zoo was one of the most important places as I explored my newly budding passions. Every time I went, I spent as long as I could learning about all the amazing animals there and realizing that I wanted to be able to work with wildlife in some form. The zoo was the most I was exposed to nature during my upbringing. My family wasn’t the “outdoorsy” type, with the exception of one 2-day camping and fishing trip we went on. I don’t know if I realized it then, but I wasn’t satisfied with my lack of time in nature. I wanted to see what the natural world had to offer.

Within the last few years, I started school at University of California, Davis where I’m a Wildlife, Fish, and Conservation Biology major. It has been a great three years studying ecology, biology, herpetology, and more. My favorite class turned out to be my field methods course. Last September, I spent about a week in the Mojave Desert learning field methods used to conduct wildlife research and I got to try my hand at conducting a small research project with a team. For me, that course really finalized that I want to have a job that combines field work, research, and wildlife and is why I applied to the LHIP program. I’m super excited to have accepted a summer intern position with the aquatic team in Yosemite National Park and can’t wait to see what new experiences I will have!