Alumni

GIS Work in South Florida Parks

It's only been three months since I started working here at the South Florida and Caribbean Network Office for the National Park Service, but I feel like my entire life has changed. This is such a unique and amazing SCA opportunity in so many ways. I work in an office most of the time, as opposed to many of the SCA field internships, and I work and live in Miami. This is not an isolated field station. But I feel like I actually play an important role in Natural Resource Management for NPS.

I do a lot of GIS work with NPS and other-agency data sets. I have already had extensive amounts of on-site training with ArcMap, as well as many opportunities to use the knowledge that I already have from school. Furthermore, you'd be surprised how beautiful the Florida National Parks are just outside of Miami! Occasionally I get to do work in the Everglades National Park as well as marine-based work in Biscayne National Park. Furthermore, I feel like I'm participating in an area of biology that is becoming increasingly important these days. Urban ecology and the effects of urbanization on our National Parks are extremely important issues, and nowhere more so that in South Florida! This internship is a real introduction into my field! For a recent graduate with her sites set high and far into the future, SCA provided me with the opportunity to take the first step. And now I actually have the chance to take this as far as I want. I couldn't have asked for a better or more practical introduction into both the fields of Biology and GIS.

Sasha Wright, 2006 SCA Intern