Last February, I went to the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) in Texas to attend a retreat with the other CCC fellows. This was a fun change of pace from my usual work in the office in Albuquerque, NM.

The Aransas NWR is located in Southeastern Texas near the Gulf of Mexico. Opposed to New Mexico's arid desserts and spiny cacti and shrubs, Aransas was filled with lush marshes. The additional humidity and warm weather caught me by surprised, compared to New Mexico. Despite only being there for a few days, I was able to spot several American alligators in the marshy areas of the refuge.  Not only was it nice to gain new experiences out in nature, but it also provided me further insight of the area. I have collected data within Aransas for my work using remote technologies while working in Albuquerque, but seeing the environment in person really gave me much more insight in the area that I was collecting data for.

Aside from getting the chance to work outside of the office, I enjoyed the opportunity to meet with the other fellows as well as refuge staff. This was my first opportunity to meet with the fellows and learn about the variety of roles everyone had to support the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s goals. I appreciated learning more on the inner workings of the wildlife refuge system, and the responsibilities refuge scientists and staff have to protect the organisms that live there.

I look forward to attending other events as a CCC fellow and further connecting with my cohort and other members of the FWS through my time in this fellowship.