New Conservation Intern

Hello my name is Melissa Gonzalez and I am Corkscrew's newest Conservation Intern. I was born and raised in Queens, NY where I explored the concrete jungle in my formative years. At age 11 I moved to Naples, FL and this city girl was suddenly stuck in a small town. As I grew into my teenage years I began to explore this small town that I was thrown into. Instead of taking the subway or walking through the city, I was climbing trees, running through pine flatwoods, and spending hours at the beach. Growing up in Naples I grew to love the outdoors because there wasn't much else to do but spend time outside. I had visited Corkscrew a few times through school field trips, and had always been enchanted during my visits to this mystical swamp. Walking through the board walk and seeing the cypress dome in front of me was fascinating when I visited the first time, and I still feel the same 10 years later. 

 I graduated from the University of Central Florida in December 2017 with a B.S in Environmental Studies, and a minor in Biology. GO KNIGHTS! (Charge On). Since I was a little girl, I knew I wanted to work with animals, and with my experiences growing up in Naples, that passion for wildlife just grew. Since I started my college career I  planned on pursuing a career in conservation/wildlife biology. Throughout my 5 years at UCF I have had the privilege to work for some great organizations, which reassured me that a career in conservation is what I wanted to pursue. I worked with 3 species of sea turtles in the Archie Carr Wildlife Refuge for the summer months of 2015 as an intern for the UCF Marine Turtle Research Group. Working with Marine Sea Turtles was truly an amazing experience, I got to gain valuable knowledge/experience handling wildlife. That same summer I did Red-Cockaded Woodpecker surveys, and spraying invasive plant species at the Ocala National Forest. The following summer, I went on a cross-country road trip to Portland, Oregon so that I could work for the Mt. Hood National Forest as an Interpretive intern for summer of 2016. Through that internship I grew to love teaching the public about our wildlife and our forests, also hiking in the PNW is now my favorite thing to do.

I first got introduced to Audubon when I got accepted into Audubon Florida’s “Conservation Leadership Initiative" my sophomore year of college, and 4 years later I am still involved with the program. Through CLI I got involved with Orange Audubon Society, the local Audubon chapter in Orlando all with the help of my mentor Deborah Green. I have been on the OAS board for the past couple years, and have been able to bird with some of the best birders because of our field trips. The past 2 years I have started to appreciate birds more and have been intrigued with them. I have managed to become a decent birder, and I hope to get better with my time here at Corkscrew. With these internships under my belt, I look forward to all the new experiences I will have at Corkscrew Swamp. I had an eventful first week here in the swamp, I got ATV training, got to assist in my first prescribed burn and I got to follow around a national geographic photographer while he got footage of Kelsie and Mica doing the conservation work we do. This is my third week here and I am already loving what I do. Hayden, Kelsie, and I had fish sampling this week so I finally got a taste of what the research work is. The jobs I will be required to do here at Corkscrew are ones that I have never done in previous internships, so I am thrilled to gain all this new knowledge during my time here. I also look forward to exploring all the unique habitats that SWFL has to offer with my Corkscrew roommates Kelsie, Hayden, and Shelby. I will be here until mid July, so I look forward to telling you stories from my perspective at the swamp! 

-Intern Melissa