Hello All! 

¡Hola a todos!

On October 26th, 2021 I started my year-long fellowship with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service here in Oregon working for the Willamette Valley Wildlife Refuge Complex. My title here is as the Latino Engagement Coordinator. I am really looking forward to building new lasting relationships & strengthening existing relationships between the Latino community in the Willamette Valley and the Wildlife Refuge Complex, that helps strengthen the bonds between communities and the land. I sincerely believe that making the outdoors more accessible & welcoming to diverse people, allows communities to strengthen their bonds with the land which in turn nurtures a sense of love and stewardship towards the Earth. These relationships, built on love, are what allows conservation and sustainability to really take root. And those relationships of love between people and the land is what truly helps make a difference. I am also very passionate about science and along with creating bilingual curriculum & bilingual programming events teaching environmental education, I am also spear-heading some bilingual citizen science projects in connection with Oregon State University. The science projects are what I am most passionate about because they will allow diverse communities to directly contribute to Climate Science. These projects focus on increasing science literacy and the data collected can be utilized by Climate Scientists to track and monitor Climate Change.

But more details about my typical work week as a USFWS fellow here in the Willamette Valley in future blogs!

A bit more about me outside this position… I have have two previous internship positions as a biological science technician with the National Park Service. One of those internships position was in Alaska; I was working in Denali National Park and I completely fell in love with Alaska! My other internship position was in Florida with the South Florid/Caribbean Inventory & Monitoring Network within NPS. I grew so much as a fields scientist and learned so much about data entry and analysis in both of these positions.

On a more personal note, I also have many hobbies outside of my work. I love being active outdoor and various hobbies including rock-climbing, backpacking, camping, archery, swimming and riding my bicycle! I also really enjoy reading fiction, watercolor painting and making jewelry!

But more details about my typical work week in future blogs!