My position as a remote sensing fellow for the Hispanic Access Foundation and US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) has been incredibly insightful and fun. Not long ago, I reconnected with the other fellows within my cohort in Colorado. We traveled to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Arapaho National Wildlife Refuges as part of our fellowships. During my time at the refuges, I learned more about the duties that the USFWS serves and how my position ties into those duties. This was also a great chance to understand how work is done agency wide, like how my work in the Southwest Regional Office contributed to conserving land on the refuges. I also enjoyed learning about the work that other members of my cohort were doing.

Many of the fellows work on refuges while my role mainly involves processing data across multiple refuges at the Southwest Regional Office. Although I enjoy doing this, I do wish my position involved working more with refuges. This reunion helped to fill in that gap as everyone discussed the kinds of conservation work they completed for their refuge. This dynamic was insightful and provided me with new ideas on how I could share the work that I was doing with refuge staff. It was also interesting to hear how everyone’s positions related to their overall career and personal aspirations.

Lastly, I enjoyed being able to connect with nature with the rest of my cohort. All of our positions involve working together to conserve nature. Being able to drive along trails on the refuge, take pictures, and talk about nature were a big a highlight. I greatly enjoyed my time with the other fellows look forward to our next reunion.