Well, it is finally here, my last blog. It has been an amazing 14 months of getting to work with the Hispanic Access Foundation and getting to work for the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service. I am so grateful for the opportunities I have had in these past 14 months here at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. I wouldn’t have been able to have had all these opportunities if it wasn’t for the amazing staff that I have had the pleasure to work with and their awesome support in helping me to find these different opportunities.

The growth and development I have had in the last year has been so amazing. I feel as though I have learned more in this past year about wildlife and conservation than I have before in previous jobs especially in such a short time span. From getting to work with fish for a month, to getting to help work with bighorn sheep and birds at different refuges, to also getting to continue my work with the Mexican Wolf Recovery program. I also got to really learn how to work and create programs to help educate the youth. Not only did I get to expand my knowledge on wildlife, but I gained more insight into getting to learn how to connect with people and build connections with partners all while being able to share what I know about wildlife and how to protect them and the land. I am planning to move back into the wildlife research side of conservation so I will take my communication and outreach knowledge and use that to help me become a better biologist. It has truly, truly been the most wonderful adventure.

Although some adventures come to an end, I am also very excited for my next adventure. I am happy to inform that the next position I will be moving to will be going back to wildlife biology. I got a position as an endangered species biological technician. In this position I will get to continue my work with the Mexican Wolf Recovery program, but I will also be getting to study the Chiricahua leopard frog. I am so excited to get to continue with my passion working with endangered species and getting back into more field work.

In my time working for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for the past 14 months I have had many great opportunities and experiences. I have gotten to make a lot of connections with different groups in the Fish and Wildlife Service as well as other outside groups. A common question I have been asked is “How do you like working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?” So, I thought I would continue to answer other common questions I received throughout my time here that lead up to an overall answer for that question and share more about my experience.

As a background I have been working for the Fish and Wildlife Refuge System. My internship has mainly been working with the public through the visitor services program, but I had many opportunities to continue working with other programs. One question I got asked a lot is “What does visitor services do?” I had the same question when I got hired as I didn’t really know much about visitor services or really have much experience in working with the public. In my time here our visitor services team focused on working with the public to take visitors feedback and concerns and worked to implement plans that helped to address that for future visitors. We focused on a lot of planning for all the events hosted here, going out to target areas, and focusing on outreach and finding ways to teach others about wildlife and get them out to the refuge. We have focused on a lot of programming and working with the younger generations helping to get them interested in wildlife. We did a lot of work with field trips and working with high school students helping them to conduct projects on the refuge.

“Do they offer opportunities for improvement?” One major positive I have about working for USFWS is that they are very encouraging about professional development. If you read my past blogs, I talk about the many opportunities I have had to go explore a variety of different opportunities as well as continue working with past programs I helped with before this position. I had many occasions to go and try different opportunities to help better myself and my knowledge for my position or prepare for future positions. I got the chance to go to different trainings and to get certifications to help with programming and creating programs. If I wanted to see if I had an interest in something I haven’t done before they also found opportunities to help me determine if that was something of interest to me. For example, one of the many opportunities I got to do was because I have very little work with fisheries, so they found an opportunity for me to go and help out with fish work for 3 weeks. Not only did I get to decide if that was of interest to me, but I now have much more experience with fish. I got to do a couple of different opportunities that I didn’t have much experience in like that as well. I also am constantly outdoors not just for work but in my personal life and I want to be prepared for situations and I got the opportunity to take a first aid/cpr course as well as a wilderness first responder course.

“Would I continue working for them?” Yes, I have been offered positions throughout my internship to continue working for them. Had there been positions I felt truly passionate about I would have taken those positions. I am currently looking into other positions that I feel passionate about that I am working towards currently. They help you to find opportunities to help you to be ready for the next position you will be moving to. As an intern I am not officially a part of the service, so my team was really advocating for me to be able to find positions within the service to move to. They helped me to build connections with people I who could help me in future positions. So, to answer the first question “How do you like working for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service?” I have loved working for the USFWS, and I can’t wait to get back into a permanent position and continue working with them.

I am in my last month here at the refuge so it’s time to start wrapping everything up. There are a few projects I have left to complete before ending my term. There are three main projects I am focusing on among other regular duties I have here at the refuge. The biggest projects I am working on is a questions and answers brochure for the visitor center, a display for the display case in the visitor center, and my end of term presentation.

One of the projects I wanted to create was a questions and answers brochure that visitors could pick up at the front. There are a lot of visitors who come to just enjoy the outside trails who don’t stop in the visitor center or those who come in mostly to enjoy the activities inside. Those who do stop and ask questions they are all relatively the same questions or same topic. Just by looking at the refuge you can’t see every bit of the hard work and planning that is going on behind the scenes. Since we are a relatively new refuge, we get a lot of restoration questions as well. I wanted to create a brochure that visitors could read if they didn’t have the time to ask questions or didn’t want to ask those tricky questions. In the brochure I combined all of the most common questions we get asked and gave some detail to inform visitors what is going on since a lot of our refuge is under construction or currently in the restoration process.

In the visitor center we have a display case that has the ability to be changed every so often. I was in charge of working on an idea for the first display we had, and I created a display that focused on the past of the refuge to show the history of the land. This refuge was a diary farm and so I placed old milk jugs and old photos we had found of what this land looked like in the past. Like I stated earlier this is a relatively new refuge and an old dairy farm therefore I wanted to create a display that went hand in hand with the brochure. It focuses more on our common questions about this land such as what did this land used to be? What restoration is occurring? So, I wanted to create a past, present, and future timeline that keeps the diary piece in the display but shows what has happened on the refuge up to the present time and what visitors can expect to see in the future.

My last big project is my end of term presentation. This is where I share with others a presentation of basically a summary of my time at the refuge including all the opportunities I have gotten to have, tasks I have worked on, future plans and anything else I want to include. This can be done in front of the rest of the staff at the refuge, or you can invite other people to join. I am pretty nervous about it because I have invited others to join who I am working towards future opportunities with. I have been working on my public speaking over this past year, so I've got this!

In the last blog I wrote I mentioned that I only had two months left here at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. That was 10 months into my 12-month long internship. My 12-month long term was supposed to be completed in February. It is now March when I am writing this so as you can tell I was able to get an extension. I am excited to share with you all that I ended up getting to extend my internship for an additional two months. It has now been 13 months since I started my internship.  As it was getting close to the end of my term, I was working on some projects that I felt could really benefit the refuge. I didn’t want to rush the projects to get them completed by the time I was supposed to end my term or create the projects and have to pass them over to someone else in order to have them completed. I am excited I get to finish up some last projects while I wait for my new position to start in April.

I am very thankful that I was able to work with the Hispanic Access Foundation and the refuge in order to make this extension happen and I am very grateful for the opportunity. I wasn’t quite ready to leave this place then and now that I only have one month left it is setting in that I will be moving on to another adventure soon.  I am sad to go because I have had so many wonderful opportunities here and worked with really great staff members. Although, I am very excited to continue on with my conservation journey in my next position. I will be writing three more blogs during my time here, so I still have lots to share. In my next blog I will go more in depth into some of the last projects that I have been working on and I am so glad that I am getting to finish up before I leave.

I am getting close to wrapping up my internship here at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. I have been here for about ten months now, which means I only have about two months left. One opportunity I have gotten to continue working with that I mentioned in my earlier blogs is that about five months before starting this internship I was volunteering with the Mexican Wolf Recovery Program with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. When I got accepted for this internship, I mentioned to my supervisors how this was a project I would like to continue participating in. My supervisors were all for it and encouraged me to stay involved knowing this is a direction I would like to try to move towards after my internship.

The Mexican wolf is a subspecies of grey wolf, and it was realized that this subspecies was in danger of extinction. By the late 1970s they were considered extinct in the wild. It was listed as endangered in 1976 under the Endangered Species Act of 1973. In 1977 through 1982 it was agreed between Mexico and the United States that they would establish a captive breeding program with the seven remaining wolves that were captured. The goal of this captive breeding program was to save the subspecies from absolute extinction and to allow the numbers to increase to provide animals for any future reintroduction into the wild. USFWS then created a recovery team in 1979 to map out a recovery strategy for the Mexican wolf, the plan was approved in 1982. In 1998 eleven of the wolves were released into the wild for the first time, these wolves were released in Arizona by the New Mexico border.

There are three sights in New Mexico that serve as captive breeding and holding facilities. One is at the Sevilleta National Wildlife Refuge, the ABQ BioPark, and the Ladder Ranch. In my time with volunteering with the team I have had many hands-on experiences. Over the last year I have worked at both the Sevilleta and the Ladder Ranch facilities. In order to make sure the wolves are healthy we go into the pens capture the wolves that we need to work on, verify their PIT tags are correct before working on them, give them their yearly vaccinations, draw blood, and regulate their temperature for each process. If they are being transported, we provide fluids subcutaneously so they can stay hydrated during their travel. If they are being released into the wild, we do all of that and make sure to put radio collars on them. Once they are done with their checkups, they are either put in crates to be relocated or are released back into their pens. All the work done to them is recorded on data sheets and everything happens very quickly, and we are in and out of the facility so we can make sure to not provide too much stress to them or the other wolves in the facility. I have also gotten to help with observations and supply food caches for the wild wolves in the area as well as telemetry work.

It has been a great experience getting to work with these endangered animals and I am so thankful for all the opportunities I have been presented with and those I have gotten to be a part. I am especially grateful for the experiences I have gotten to continue to be a part of because of my wonderful and supportive supervisors.

It has been nine months since I started my internship here at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge and it has still been one of the greatest learning experiences. It has been a very busy couple of months for me here at the refuge. In September we had a grand opening of the brand-new visitor center that was built in 2021. It was such a great moment for all of us to see all the hard work and preparation finally get to be enjoyed. The grand opening date was also paired with the 10^th birthday of the refuge. We had so much fun, at the event we had live music, games, guest speakers, and lots of giveaways and delicious food. On top of my normal projects that I plan and prepare here my supervisors have been very great about helping me to find opportunities to help me figure out what I want to do after my internship.

Since professional development is a part of my internship, I got to spend a month going to different sites and locations within USFWS and have an opportunity to help with their work while getting to learn new things. I went to San Andres National Wildlife Refuge which is about 3.5 hours south of the refuge I currently work at. San Andres NWR is closed to the public because it is located within a military base which restricts access for the public. This refuge is 57,215 acres and is part of the largest continuous and relatively undisturbed portion of the Chihuahuan Desert in the United States. This refuge was established in 1941 in order to conserve desert bighorn sheep. During my time there I got to help with the bighorn sheep research, oryx research, and small mammal trapping. I was able to help out for a week at this refuge where we would hike several miles uphill on rough, rocky terrain daily in order to set up and check on game cameras. We would check the SD cards in order to determine if those cameras were at good angles or needed to be moved as well as to do animal surveys and counts mainly on bighorn sheep and oryx. We also did counts on the other species we captured to determine population estimates for those species.

I went to Mora National Fish Hatchery. This hatchery has been breeding and raising Gila trout since 1999 and the only hatchery that raises these fish. The Gila trout was listed as endangered in 1973 and in 2006 they were down listed to threatened. These fish are stocked annually in reservoirs, lakes, rivers and the streams in the Gila. While I was there, I got to maintain fish populations and make sure their environments were healthy for the survival of these populations.

I went and worked with the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office in the Rio Grande to tag and count Rio Grande silvery minnows, longnose dace, and flathead chub. We were able to do this by conducting 40 seine hauls every 100m for 1600 meter long transects. We would VIE tag the target species, take data recordings such as length, location, and site. We would then release the fish once tagged and see if we could recapture them to get population estimates. We would also take measurements of the river at each site and after each haul.

Although I still don’t know what I want to do after my internship I am so glad I had the opportunity to go and try new things. During this month-long opportunity, I learned a lot about what I enjoy doing and what I would like to continue doing. I still have three months left in my internship which will be here before I know it but now I have more of an idea of what I am interested in when it comes to looking for opportunities.

I have been at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge for about four months now, and I have had an amazing experience so far. Over the past few months, I have had a lot of different experiences. Working at this location has opened my eyes in so many different ways. For one, learning about the history of this refuge has been truly inspiring. The refuge was an old diary farm that went up for sale in 2012 and the community came together to try to save this land to make it a green space for the community members in the city. Valle de Oro is the first national wildlife refuge that is being built as an urban refuge and the first wildlife refuge in the country built from the ground up under the Urban Wildlife Conservation Programs standard of Excellence for urban national wildlife refuges. This refuge is still under construction and is in the process of habitat restoration. It is still open to the public, which is also not something that is very common, but it remains open to the public because after all it was the community’s idea to save this space as a green space for the urban community.

The biggest aspect I have really enjoyed with this internship is the variety of work that I have been a part of. My past jobs in the wildlife field have been more on the wildlife research and biology side. Coming into this internship, I was a little worried because I work with the visitor service team which deals a lot more with the public. Education and outreach are a major part of this position which is not something I have ever been very confident with. More specifically public speaking, which there has been a lot of recently. I am more confident when it comes to the biology side of wildlife, and I have managed to find a way to incorporate both into my position.

The first major project I was in charge of was organizing and creating the seed library which is apart of the Environmental and Economic Justice library that was recently added to the visitor center at the refuge. This seed library was created with the idea to bring the community together to preserve and protect the genetic diversity of native species and increase the extent of locally grown food, which can be done by keeping the seeds growing within the same community and creating seeds that are better adapted to our unique desert climate that supports a genetically diverse landscape. Some other projects I have been apart of so far is supporting and being on the planning committee of Environmental Justice Community Month working with a variety of partners from the community. Another major part of this position is making sure to post to social media and keeping people updated on the refuge. I am confident when it comes to the biology side of wildlife and i have found a way to be able to educate others in that way. I have worked with high schoolers to do macroinvertebrate projects to test the water quality of the wetlands at the refuge. I have gotten to help with fish releases of the endangered species the Rio Grande Silvery Minnow while educating children and their families about water conservation. Before I started this position, I used to help out with the Mexican Wolf Recovery program which is something I love getting to do and as part of my position I get to continue to help out and learn more and more. I have been able to help out with the habitat restoration, bird surveys, bird banding, and bird releases at the refuge.

Something I noticed recently was that in my previous positions I would always talk about how I wish people were more informed about wildlife, conservation, and how they could help. Even working in this field there is still so much that I didn’t know about and think how others could find this information if I even have a hard time. For example, I had no clue this wildlife refuge was so close to home, and I’ve lived in the area for almost all of my life. Just in these last four months this refuge has inspired me in so many ways.

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: FWS Regionals

Location: Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

Hello readers! My name is Jaidyn Armijo - Sonnenberg. I grew up in a small town in Los Lunas, New Mexico. I have lived in New Mexico all of my life, but I have been lucky enough to travel to other states. Growing up I absolutely loved animals and I always told people I wanted to be a veterinarian when I got older. That all changed my sophomore year of high school. I was constantly changing my mind from sports medicine to forensics back to veterinary medicine. When I first graduated high school I knew I wanted to go to college and I had a few majors in mind but I never felt the passion I was hoping for, which led me back to where I started. When I started college I was going to school at the University of New Mexico to become a Veterinarian. Two years into my degree I decided this was not what I wanted to do. I knew I loved animals and I really enjoyed being outdoors, but more specifically in nature. I decided to change my major and transfer to New Mexico State University. I changed my major from pre-vet to wildlife sciences. I took one wildlife class and I instantly felt the passion and interest in school that I was hoping for. I knew this is what I wanted to do with my life. 

After completeing one year there I had a TA that helped me look for a wildlife job for the summer before graudation. I got the opportunity to work under a professor for one of his gratuate students as a project technician for the summer. We were working in and around the Valles Caldera National Monument in Jemez, New Mexico. We were looking at how fires in the region are influencing the extent to which ungulates and small carnivores are likely to become infected by parasites. We hiked anywhere from 8 - 15 miles a day through burned and unburned transects, collecting samples. After the summer the same professor offered me to be the lead technician for a new project he was starting. This project was focused on examining the impacts of botflies on wild rabbit population across southern New Mexico. This project became the first published paper I was a part of. I graduated from New Mexico State Univeristy in December of 2021 with my bachelors of science in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology. 

After graduation I was so scared I was not going to have a job lined up and I was going to be going back to my jobs in retail. I applied for every position that I could find in my field, hoping for something. I got an email from HAF asking for an interview to work for USFWS at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge. Going through my interview I was so nervous and I did not feel very confident I would get the job after the interview. When I heard I got the job I was so excited. This opportunity was different than my past wildlife jobs I have had because I would be working more on the public side of wildlife where as before I was on the biology side of things. I started in February and am now two months into my job and I have already had an amazing time working with the visitor service team and the opportunites I have been presented with. I am excited for the future and I cant wait to share more with you all in my next posts! See you next time. 

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service

Location: Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge

Jaidyn is originally from Los Lunas, New Mexico and has spent her whole life enjoying the outdoors. She recently graduated from New Mexico State University with her bachelor’s degree in Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Ecology. She has spent the last year focusing on ecological parasitology. She assisted on a project in and around the Valles Caldera National Monument looking at how fires in the region are influencing the extent to which ungulates and small carnivores are likely to become infected by parasites. She also assisted with research that focused on examining the impacts of botflies on wild rabbit populations across southern New Mexico.