22 May Jose Gonzalez

Hello! My name is Jose Gonzalez. I am a 24 year old student from Long Beach, CA. The pictures above are from my second time visiting Seattle, Washington this past April. I visited as part of a scholarship to attend the American Planning Association National Conference.

I completed my undergraduate, general education requirements at Long Beach City College from 2009-2012. I then transferred to California State Polytechnic University, Pomona where I attended from 2012-2015. At Cal Poly Pomona, I earned my B.S. in Urban and Regional Planning. In the fall of 2015, I will begin my graduate program at California State University, Fullerton. At Cal State Fullerton, I will earn my M.S. in Environmental Science and Society in January 2017.

I am currently researching ideas for what I want to do after completing my graduate program. I am leaning towards a PhD because I am interested in a career doing environmental research and analysis. I am also interested in becoming AICP certified which stands for the American Institute of Certified Planners.

The type of planning I am interested in is Environmental Planning which is why I chose to be a part of the Environment for the Americas Internship this summer. I will be working in the Santa Monica Mountains which is exciting because I have never visited these mountains before! I have experience working in the San Gabriel, San Bernardino, and Santa Ana Mountains so I am glad to add the Santa Monica Mountains to my resume.

I am very excited to be a part of the project this summer and cannot wait to begin working! I know I will gain valuable experience and expand my professional network. I plan to move to Miami, Florida after completing my masters program in a couple years. I know working with the National Park Service this summer will allow me to have a foot in the door when I apply for positions at the Everglades National Park in Florida.