It would be safe to say that the idea of an internship was something I had never considered before, let alone one in Washington, DC. Yet that is exactly what was proposed to me when I visited my advisor in the early weeks of the fall 2011 semester. I was set to graduate with a degree in American Studies - an interdisciplinary field of study equal parts history, humanities, and anthropology - but with no clue as to what type of a career I wanted. I had considered teaching, but after growing up with a parent who was a teacher and bearing witness to the collective teacher bashing being conducted by the Florida legislature, that path seemed less palatable. Come what may, I knew there a better option. That is when my advisor handed me a flyer about The Washington Center and informed me that the solution to my problem might simply be some real world experience. She explained that because of my unique field of study, I would be well equipped to work in areas such as politics, international relations, historical studies or museum curation, and yes, even teaching.

Now here’s the twist. While admittedly I did find some of those fields interesting, I chose instead to pursue a different passion. For as long as I can remember, I have had a love of animals. Some of my earliest memories are of taking my pet turtle, Mikey (named after the popular Ninja Turtles character) to my first grade show-and-tell. Somehow, I think I knew then that I wanted to work with animals – particularly reptiles and amphibians, promoting their beauty and their welfare. It has been nearly 20 years since that revelation, and my passion remains the same. It was in that moment of epiphany that I resolved to apply to The Washington Center’s Science, Technology and Society Program with the hopes that I might land a position at either a zoo or national park. As luck would have it, I received offers from both the Friends of the National Zoo as well as from Rock Creek Nature Center. Both offers presented amazing opportunities, but I chose to pursue the position at Rock Creek both for its proximity to downtown DC, as well as for the potential to establish a career with almost unlimited opportunities for travel, service, and education.

It is certainly worth mentioning that I haven’t based my entire career choice off of a single pet turtle. While my experience up to this point has been largely informal, it has been extensive. As a child, I began by reading the Audubon guides my family would buy me, memorizing facts about range, visual identification, and habitat. It inspired me to take to the woods near my house, mapping gopher tortoise burrows and looking for toads asleep among the leaf litter. As I got older, I would visit zoos, aquariums, and animal rescues - each time, going out of my way to discuss with the staff their thoughts on breeding, husbandry, and population. Most recently, I have begun to utilize the internet to communicate with other enthusiasts, as well as network with scientists and wildlife rehabilitators. I pay a large amount of attention to the information (and misinformation) purported by the media, and have even given lectures at a local middle school on the danger of invasive species and the need for conservation. I have worked with several species, both native and exotic, including but not limited to boas, pythons, turtles, chameleons, iguanas, and innumerable species of amphibian, most extensively being the Red-Eyed Tree Frog (Agalychnis callidryas).

Admittedly, the pet trade has inspired much of my enthusiasm. The pet trade is a double-edged sword that has left me emotionally conflicted. On one hand, it provides a way for interested persons to gain firsthand experience with new species, and like myself, prompt a lifetime of experience through learning and working with the animals. On the other hand, the trade promotes the pillaging of natural founder stock in order to establish new genetic bloodlines. With regard to my species of expertise, the Green Tree Python (Morelia virdis), a recent study (Lyons, J.A. and Natusch, D.J.D., 2011) highlights how the demand for such a vibrant species is decimating the native populations in that breeding farms have been circumventing regulations by selling obviously wild-caught animals as farm-bred in order to satisfy an ever expanding global market. This practice is at direct odds with the type of conservation I have come to promote and is one of the chief reasons why I have mixed feelings about the pet trade as it is today.

Because of the passion and the interest I have demonstrated, I am thoroughly excited to begin work at Rock Creek Nature Center. I cannot articulate how anxious I am to finally begin work and gain some valuable practical experience. My supervisor has informed me that I will be giving lectures, guiding tour groups, and designing a presentation to be displayed to the public. It is my sincere goal that I will be able to inspire ecological awareness in others. It seems almost ironic that after pursuing a degree in liberal arts and social science that I find myself preparing for a career in natural science. Still, I’m okay with that. In fact, I think my background will provide me with unique perspective on how to present the message of conservation to a unique and diverse audience.

Until next time.