Heading for the hills: escaping California beaches for the mountains of Colorado

Heading for the hills: escaping California beaches for the mountains of Colorado

Like I mentioned in my last blog, during the beginning of this month all of the Mosaics in Science interns (including myself) attended a 5 day end-of-internship conference in Colorado! While at the conference we presented our summer projects, learned more about careers within the National Park Service, and had the chance to explore the beautiful state that is Colorado!

Myself posing next to my poster!

Highlights from the workshop:

  • Meeting the other Mosaics Interns
  • Giving my first poster presentation! (see right photo)
  • Going to 12,005 ft. elevation above sea level – the highest I’ve ever gone!
  • Exploring Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO) and meeting the superintendent of the park: Darla Sidles
  • Becoming a Junior Ranger
  • Spotting cool animals like black-billed magpies (Pica hudsonia), elk (Cervus canadensis), and pikas (Ochonta princeps)!

Rocky Mountain National Park, CO; photo by Katlyn Fuentes

Previous to this conference I had never before been to the Rockies, let alone Colorado, so I really enjoyed the opportunity to wander around new areas! For those of you haven’t visited Rocky Mountain National Park (ROMO) – it’s truly an unforgettable experience! ROMO encompasses an approximate 415 square miles of mountain environments- by comparison, Point Reyes is only around 1/4 of the size! This park is home to a wide variety of wildflowers and wildlife!

Despite it being a “whirlwind” of a trip, I had an amazing time in Colorado. This internship has truly been a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and being able to finally meet the other 23 Mosaics interns (all of whom are also young, diverse, people in STEM) was a very encouraging experience!

To see more pictures of my trip (including a close-up of my poster) make sure to click the images at the bottom of the page!

Until next time, best fishes!

-Katlyn

My poster project!

A Broad-Tailed Hummingbird; photo by Katlyn Fuentes

Rocky Mountain National Park; photo by Katlyn Fuentes

A Black-billed Magpie; photo by Katlyn Fuentes

Elk grazing in Rocky Mountain National Park; photo by Katlyn Fuentes

Some of the other Mosaics interns/staff and myself at Rocky Mountain National Park!

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