Zoo InternQuest is a seven-week career exploration program for San Diego County high school juniors and seniors. Students have the unique opportunity to meet professionals working for the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, learn about their jobs, and then blog about their experience online. Follow their adventures here on the Zoo’s website! Behold, the movie WALL-E. A clumsy, lovable robot with a plant saves the world. I bought a towel with his mechanical but cheery visage plastered on it. Those dystopian, apathetic humans were never going to destroy my beautiful planet. This is when I first latched onto environmental science, way back in 2008. (I was simultaneously obsessed with High School Musical in 2008, but I’ll save that story for another time.) Ever since then, I have been hooked. In elementary school, I completed my Girl Scout Bronze Award on “The Three R’s”— reduce, reuse, and recycle—and even constructed a life-sized Girl Scout out of recyclable materials. In this process, environmental conservation became tangible. Fast forward a few years: It’s my junior year and I’m taking a year-long course entitled “AP Environmental Science.” Everything in this course blew my mind; it felt incredible to learn about real world problems in the classroom. This class solidified my desire to study environmental science for the rest of my life. It even spurred my participation in a service trip to the Appalachian Mountains, an area devastated by the coal mining industry. When I returned, I spent my summer interning at Scripps’ Birch Aquarium, channeling my environmental enthusiasm into conversations with guests about conservation. Now, I am here interning at the San Diego Zoo! I am so incredibly excited to embark on this journey and continue to learn about the subject matter that I love the most. I plan on defending the environment by becoming an environmental lawyer one day, and this program is going to prepare me with the proper information I need to defend Mother Earth. (Plus, I get to hang around some amazing animals and passionate people). When I am not indulging in my passion for the environment, you can find me onstage performing, educating teens about financial literacy through Girl Scouts, advocating for women in science, or leading a club about Shakespeare (my favorite writer of all time). Oh, have I not told you my name? Dana, thanks for asking. I am a high school senior currently attending the Academy of Our Lady of Peace. Dana Fall 2017 Intern