On July 21, 2021, I held my first ever community event for Latino Conservation Week as a Hispanic Access Foundation Community Outreach intern. The event was a park clean up in my local park, Phil Rizzuto Park in Elizabeth, NJ. The goal of this cleanup was to allow community members of the Elizabeth to promote conservation, community and encourage coming together to restore important benefits from nature, restructure how the community imagines its green spaces, and even change the perception littering and trash in their environments. Elizabeth, NJ is a vibrant city that is most definitely a melting pot, so this event was perfect to bring Elizabeth’s Latinx community to participate in activities to protect our natural resources. I had over 20 participants and could not be happier with the turn out. We got to clean the park’s nature trail and its creek. Phil Rizzuto Park used to be an auto part junkyard, so there were plenty of car parts and materials we collected from car seats, seatbelts, and even windshield wipers. Even with a thunderstorm interrupting the event halfway through it was still successful and I am so proud.

Holding this event made me realize how passionate I am for community outreach and how much community means to me. Being a part of a community makes me feel like I am a part of something greater than myself. Community allows me opportunities to connect with others and makes me feel safe. Having a sense of community unites people. Since building a sense of community is such an ever-growing passion of mine now, I definitely want a career path which allows me to help communities and connect with different communities. Being able to work with the community during my event left me with such a satisfied and fulfilling feeling which made me so happy. This is a feeling I want to feel again and again throughout my life, and I will definitely cherish it. Helping communities and others brings people together to support each other and that is what we need to help keep our planet healthy for us and future generations. Holding this event and this Community Outreach internship is the jumping off point for many more successful community events in my future.

Finally, holding this event has made me realize that conservation is very important in Latinx communities. As a Hispanic Access Foundation Community Outreach intern conservation is important to the Latinx community because conservation efforts help people feel like they are part of not only the community, but the environment in which they reside in, and conservation give these communities the knowledge and expertise to take action. After my park cleanup event I felt as though the participants felt a sense of pride for their community and their local green spaces. Overall, I am so thankful for all the opportunities this Community Outreach internship has given me from learning something new every day, from being able to connect to my community, to holding the cleanup event. I am incredibly thankful and cannot wait for more to come!

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service

Location: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Wow, time is flying by in my role as a Community Outreach intern. For one of the many weeks, I traveled to the Great Swamp National Refuge and had a blast. Throughout the week I did invasive species removal, kayaked, hiked a trail, learned about a new career path, mulched a garden, found snapping turtle eggs, used the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s app called Agents of Discovery, built a bird house, collected bees for sampling and practiced some archery. The week at the Great Swamp was jampacked with so much knowledge and fun that I will always cherish these memories.

Out of all the things I did that week at the Great Swamp, one of the highlights was the kayaking on the refuge. Kayaking was an amazing opportunity that allowed me to enjoy the outdoors while learning about new organisms. When kayaking I saw two painted turtles and I learned that painted turtles are the most widespread native turtle of North America. I will admit that kayaking was a little scary because I was scared to capsize and sink to the bottom of the 50 feet lake, but I survived!

Another highlight from my week at the Great Swamp was learning about a new career path. There were U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service workers who came from Newark Airport in New Jersey to talk about their career paths as Wildlife Inspectors. Wildlife Inspectors of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service are the Nation’s front-line defense against the illegal wildlife trade. They are import-export control officers that ensure that wildlife shipments comply with U.S. and international wildlife protection laws. This was the first time I have ever heard of these career path and I was amazed! After their presentation I am truly convinced that this is something I want to investigate as a possible future career. During the presentation I got to perform a few tasks they do on a daily basis such as: inspecting luggage, questioning passengers, comparing and contrasting alligator, snake and cow skins. I even learned how to identify the difference between real and fake crocodile skin. This was truly an eye-opening experience for my future, and I hope that one day I do get to become a Wildlife Inspector.

Last but certainly not least, the last highlight from my week at the Great Swamp National Refuge was being able to use the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s app called Agents of Discovery. Agents of Discovery is an enhanced reality, geo-triggered app that allows participants to be outside, active, and engaged in the environment. I used it to discover one of the trails on the refuge. When using the app there were trivia questions about the trail and organisms around. For example, there was a question about Yellow Warblers, and it asked what type of sound they made. So, I had to listen to my surroundings on the trail to try to identify the bird’s song. It was an exciting and thrilling learning experience to be able to explore the refuge through an interactive game! Overall, this internship is making my summer incredibly memorable, and I cannot wait for more!

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service

Location: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge

Cassiel Ramirez is a junior at the School of Environmental and Biological Sciences at Rutgers University majoring in Environmental Policy, Institutions, and Behavior and minoring in Leadership Skills. Her interests include urban community development, environmental health, sustainable fashion, and leadership. Last summer she was a Green Team member for the non-profit organization GroundWork Elizabeth whose goal is to build healthy, sustainable, and equitable communities. Recently she has been campaigning for 100% Renewable Energy for Rutgers University through an internship with NJPIRG. She pursues her interest for sustainable fashion by being an active member of the Rutgers club RU-Thrifty and has done a research paper on the matter. She plans on furthering her education by pursuing a graduate degree in Urban Planning.

I am only about three weeks into my role as a Community Outreach intern and I can definitely say I am both metaphorically and physically in the thick of it! Metaphorically, I am surrounded by so much knowledge and new information because everyday on the job I learn something new. Physically, I am in the “thick of it” because I am surrounded by so much greenery every day. My passion for the environment has been growing each day and I am sure by the end of the summer I will have more than an abundance of takeaways from this amazing experience.

Every day I learn something new, and I would like to share a few of the things with you. For one, I learned how to properly use some construction and gardening tools. In the past weeks I have learned to use a dig bar, mallet hammer, fence post driver and electric circular saw. I used these tools in preparation of the construction of a new hoop house being built in my town and doing some maintenance work at Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park in their maintenance building. Using tools such as a dig bar, mallet hammer, fence post driver and electric circular saw requires a lot of strength and patience which are additional skills and knowledge I have learned throughout these three weeks. These new skills have made me realize that I truly enjoy getting my hands dirty and being in the field rather than sitting at a desk. I loved starting each day by putting on the correct personal protective equipment and getting right into the “thick of it” into these green environments.

Being immersed in greenery everyday really has affected me in such a positive way. My hometown is a very urban city so my exposure to forest, farms and other green environments is limited. This opportunity has allowed me to be immersed in these environments and I truly do enjoy it. When working in Paterson Great Falls National Historical Park I got to see a national historical park in an urban community which was really amazing. It was fascinating to see a park in such an urban city, this made me think that maybe one day there will be a national historical park in my urban city too. Especially with the pandemic we are spending more time indoors and online, so to finally be surrounded by nature basically everyday has impacted me so positively.

Overall, even though it has only been three weeks of knowledge and experiences I am truly into the thick of it! Bulking my knowledge every day and surrounding myself in beautiful green environments. I know in the upcoming weeks I will be exploring other places in New Jersey, and I cannot wait to continue. I know by the end of the summer I will be well-rounded in so many skills and be even more passionate about the environment. This is just the beginning, and I am already “into the thick of it”!

Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service

Location: Great Swamp National Wildlife Refuge