Hello! My name is Edlyn Nunez and I’m from the city of Santa Ana, California. I enjoy cruising down the coastline, sunbathing on nearby beaches, creating playlists, and attending events with live music. On the other hand, I also try to frequently escape the fast-paced energy of the city I was raised in, and spend time hiking into the mountains and swimming through waterfalls, travel as much as my wallet can possibly handle, and overall create new, life enriching experiences. I’ve always appreciated natural landscapes and wildlife, and decided to pursue a major where I could contribute towards conserving and maintaining biodiversity. 

I graduated from the University of California, Santa Barbara and received a Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Science in 2016. Throughout my undergraduate career, I worked for the Cheadle Center for Biodiversity and Ecological Restoration primarily working with invasive plant removal and plant propagation on campus. I also participated in other various volunteer work during college, which included assisting my ecology professor with a young oak tree project, attending environmental education events for the youths, and supervising elementary students during outdoor field trips for a Nature Track organization. 

In my last year of college, I decided to study abroad in Tasmania, Australia, taking three outdoor field courses that focused on wildlife and ecology. During my six weeks backpacking and camping around the island, I was able to familiarize myself with research methodologies, wildlife management techniques, and developed skills in field observation and data collection. Fortunately, I also had the opportunity to become involved with the Save the Tasmanian Devil program, where I assisted field biologists set up baited camera traps, collect scat samples, and conduct macropod surveys. I visited multiple sanctuaries dispersed throughout Tasmania, and studied the different captive breeding programs in place for the endangered Tasmanian Devil. It was the most interactive class I had during my undergrad, and afterwards I knew I wanted to continue pursuing a position that involved working with wildlife. 

In my postgrad life, I found myself accepting a unique opportunity to live on a completely remote, uninhabited island at Johnston Atoll National Wildlife Refuge. I was volunteering for the USFWS in Hawaii, and joined the 13th Crazy Ant Strike Team. Our main priority was to eradicate an invasive, acid spewing ant species that had been harming the ground nesting seabirds of the island. Other tasks included monitoring the reproductive success rates of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, conducting mean incubation counts on seabird species, and surveying marine life, sea turtles, and shorebirds. 

At St. Marks, I’m stoked to be working as an intern at another National Wildlife Refuge on the complete opposite side of the US. (Especially since it is much, much larger than the 2-mile long refuge I lived on for the last 6 months.) Already, I’ve been introduced to a welcoming crew, and I’m excited to be working in a new setting and can’t wait to learn field techniques and strengthen preexisting ones. In my past experience, I never had the chance the handle wildlife directly but now I finally have the opportunity to do so with Red-cockaded Woodpeckers and Frosted Flatwoods Salamanders! I’m psyched for the months to come, and cannot wait to have hands on training with the multiple species we’ll be working with at St. Marks, and possibly at other refuges as well. Thank you for providing us with the opportunity to live and work at this beautiful site, I’m grateful to be given this position and will definitely make the most of it!