The Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge is a 14,000-acre National Wildlife Refuge in eastern and central Minnesota. The refuge has more than 45 miles of trails open to hiking, biking, fishing, snowshoeing and cross-country skiing.

The primary purposes of Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge are to provide habitat for many migratory waterfowl, fish and other wildlife species, provide environmental education opportunities, wildlife recreational opportunities, and interpretive programs for hundreds of thousands of Twin Cities residents. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge system. The tallgrass prairie, floodplain forests and wetlands found within the refuge provide exceptional opportunities to find iconic and rare species of plants, birds, insects and freshwater mussels.

At Minnesota Valley, my primary goal is to connect the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area to the refuge with purpose to educate and inspire our community to explore and connect with nature.

As a Visitor Services and Outreach intern, I have the exciting opportunity to develop and deliver nature based interpretive and public programming’s, outdoor recreational experiences, and career exploration opportunities to audiences both on and off the refuge. During my internship I will be spending a great deal of time supporting visitor center operations and special events, participating in surveys, assisting in community partnership development, and developing engaging content for the refuge social media platforms.

Our Paddle with a Purpose program is an exceptional program, where we take visitors paddling and collecting trash along different lakes in the Twin Cities. Another program is our Nature in your Neighborhood program, where we visit public libraries and host engaging activities and educational experiences for kids. The Visitor Services and Outreach team leads several hiking and fishing programs, bird walks, and pop-up Meet Minnesota Valley events in the Twin Cities.

Since starting my position at Minnesota Valley, I have had the great pleasure of participating in several programming's already. With only having been here for a short time, I am very impressed with the endless number of activities that I have already had the chance to be a part of.

In July we hosted our Latino Conservation Week Festival at the refuge. Roughly 500 visitors came to the refuge, joining us for a huge celebration of the cultures that make up the Latino community and the nature that connects us all. I have also had the chance to work with the biology team conducting surveys on the refuge.

Having opportunities to get outside and interact with nature and wildlife are important experiences that improve our quality of life. The outdoors is a place we should all share and enjoy.

Working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and interning for the Hispanic Access Foundation has already proved to be an exciting and valuable experience. I am so excited to have started my position at Minnesota Valley and am looking forward to what the next five months will bring and how I can make a difference in the Twin Cities community during that time