Greetings with a sand-shake

13 Jul Greetings with a sand-shake

Hello, my name is Olivia Montoya. I am an Environment for the Americas intern, at the Great Sand Dunes National Park (GRSA), through the Mosaics in Science Internship Program.

I contribute to the Visitor-use Management study, an ongoing study created to understand entrance station and parking lot congestion, and with the data collected I hope to gather evidence that supports the reconstruction of the GRSA main parking lots as well as a new entrance station and expansion of the main road.

A little about myself…

I am a passionate GeoScience Major, minoring in Geospatial Information Science (GIS) and Geography at Colorado State University – Fort Collins. I find everything about the great outdoors interesting and educational. From how the Great Sand Dunes were formed and maintained to how the Rocky Mountains were created without being on a plate boundary. There are endless opportunities to learn about the world around us. Although in my studies, I mainly concentrate in hydrology and cartography. Whether I am measuring streams or inputting data into computers to create maps, I am able to apply my education in school and at the Nat’l Park -with guidance from Park Geologist, Andrew Valdez.

No matter the season, I welcome all to visit the Great Sand Dunes National park and learn about the history and geology behind it, as well as stop by our visitor center to watch an educational short-film prior to wandering to the Medano Creek and Dunefield.