STEM Scholar Rafael W

Since I have started serving my time with this internship at the South Mountain Park Environmental Education Center, I have been able to obtain hands-on knowledge and observations on how a learning center /organization runs in the real world. I am able to observe the obstacles, varying from financial to struggling to find an audience for its programs. Besides the team assistance and business aspect of the internship, I often find myself having quite a bit of alone time. I rather enjoy these silent moments of solitude; It gives me time to meditate and reflect. Sometimes in those quiet moments, I even get the privilege to experience close encounters will some of the local wildlife.

A while back I interviewed South Mountain Park Ranger Brian Holtz. He is the man I asked if we could transplant a few plants from the park while on trail maintenance. I primarily asked him questions about his experiences dealing with invasive species. He gave me a lot of good information on how it has been affecting the Sonoran Ecosystem in a negative manner. I am meeting him on the Friday after break to do trail maintenance. I hope to learn a great deal of useful information I could carry on. Fingers crossed that I find the plants we are looking to transplant.