My passion for wildlife and wildlife conservation comes from my mom – having passed down her love for all living creatures to me at a young age. It comes from years of raising tadpoles in my backyard, catching (and releasing) butterflies in my grandma’s garden, sharing my home with tarantulas, snakes, birds, hermit crabs, lizards, and others.
When I look back on my childhood, it becomes clear why my personal and professional daily life are permeated by wildlife and wildlife conservation. I knew from a young age I knew that I wanted to work with animals, but I didn’t know how to do that. "Be a vet" – is what my parents always told me, though I knew that didn’t speak to my desire for protecting wildlife.
I am a child of Animal Planet’s Crocodile Hunter era, but I never thought I could be like Steve Irwin. Even as I watched conservationist and wildlife enthusiast, Steve Irvin I never internalized that, I too, could be a wildlife conservationist. Why was that?
Was it because I thought it meant I had to wrestle a crocodile in Australia or was it most subtle than that? Had I never seen someone like me doing that? Was it because nobody I knew did those kinds of things? And why did my parents never say be a wildlife biologist?
Throughout my adolescence I rarely saw someone who looked like me as a conservationist. To be honest, I didn’t even know a career in wildlife conservation was an option until I was already in college (pursuing a degree entirely different – but that’s whole different story). Today, as an emerging female, Latinx wildlife conservationist I know I’ve found a career that speaks to my passion.
As a USFWS Directorate Fellows Program (DFP) Fellow with Hispanic Access Foundation I’m pursuing my passion for wildlife conservation building upon my previous skills and experience to positively contribute to the conservation and preservation of wildlife in the US Southwest. And more than that, I hope that through my work as a wildlife conservationist I can inspire the next generation of female, Latinx conservationists and others who, like me, grew up with a love for wildlife.
The mission of Hispanic Access Foundation is to connect Latinos with partners and opportunities to improve lives and create equitable society. The mission of the USFWS is to work with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Directorate Fellows Program offered through USFWS provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students from all diverse backgrounds, including women, minorities, and other underrepresented populations to gain valuable experience leading to a career in conservation. Both missions resonate deeply with me because I believe together, we can build a more inclusive narrative for who’s invested in conservation, ultimately achieving greater successes for fish and wildlife through increased perspectives and shared understanding.
Photo credit: Humboldt State University Photo
Agency: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Program: US Fish & Wildlife Service - DFP
Location: Tucson Ecological Services Field Office
