With one week left in my summer fellowship, I am reflecting on what I have accomplished during my DFP. Working with the Ecological Services team at Headquarters has been an excellent opportunity for me and I am very thankful for all the awesome conversations and collaborations that I took part in. My internship is remote, which means I haven’t left my bedroom/office space for the last ten weeks. While this means I missed out on some of the in-person experiences and field work that other DFPs had, the team I worked with still created a rewarding experience.

I recently presented the results of my project during our division’s all-hands meeting and it was very rewarding to receive feedback from a broad audience. I was enthused that people found the mapping tool I developed to be valuable and applicable to conservation practitioners. Next week I will present again to a variety of different audiences and I look forward to hearing their thoughts as well. We are hoping to get buy-in from people across the agencies to utilize my project to communicate the benefits of restoration projects and potentially to inform the crafting of future restorations plans.

It has been very rewarding to participate in the 2021 Directorate Fellows Program. I want to thank the Hispanic Access Foundation for their support during my internship and the team I worked with at headquarters in the Branch of Restoration and Recovery.

Agency: US Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: Directorate Fellows Program

Location: Alaska Office of Law Enforcement