STEM Scholar Rafael W

This week, I assisted the South Mountain Environmental Education Center with their various events. The first event I helped out with was their Astronomy Night . They had an astronomer come out and give an interactive lecture about light followed by a telescope viewing. I found the lecture quite enjoyable despite the light turnout. The second event I helped out with was an event put together by land developers called, “a taste of South Phoenix”. It was a gathering of various food venues and organizations found in South Phoenix. Although, I enjoyed most of what I partook in, I enjoyed meeting established professionals in both science and environment careers the most.

For this week, our primary focus was developing and completing our research proposal. I am looking into the types of invasive species found within the South Mountain Park. This will give me a glimpse into what kind of effects the invasive species causes to the surrounding ecology and how it will reshape or change the Sonoran Desert. This is particularly interesting to me as I am extremely passionate about the complex connection the ecosystem has within not only its self but, with its coupled system with human interference and interaction. I am looking forward to interviewing and working alongside the park rangers and environmental administrators.

As the internship progresses and the tempo speeds up, I find myself a bit more stressed than normal. Although, I am very excited to learn more about ecology and conservation, I find myself working indoors more often than I would have liked. I am the type of individual that exceeds with hands on, interactive learning. So, lately I haven’t really felt as engaged as I was in the first week. Despite my dilemma, it has opened my mind up. In the sense that, field work is one thing but, lab work must be done to follow up the field work.

For the second week of the internship, things began to get a little more exciting. Dr. Proctor, along with the other environmental intern and I, began classifying the plants and decided on what plants need to be nursed back to health and which plants needed to be replaced. I found this part of the process exceptionally intriguing, as I am very passionate and curious about the science behind plants and ecology. Including, the complexities between human actions and their effects on the environment. This is something I fell in love with back in junior year of high school, when I was sixteen years old.

On Super bowl Sunday, the other environmental intern, Charlie, and I attended orientation at the South Mountain Environmental Education Center. Our day began at 9:30 with the long painful process of reviewing the orientation slide show. Afterwards, our supervisor, Lisa, gave us the grand tour around the facility. Lisa showed us Hohokam petroglyphs and explained to us the constant struggle the faculty have bringing in visitors. With that said, Lisa was able to bring me a newfound perspective of the world. Many people may have great, long-term ideas but, how are we going to keep our doors open into the next fiscal year.