From Puerto Rico to Florida: My Summer With The National Park Service

Collecting water samples for salinity monitoring, red tide assessments, and ocean acidification studies

NPS Photo

¡Hola a todos! I'm Andrés L. Pérez Cintrón, and I'm a "Boricua de Pura Cepa". This summer, I'm working as a Fisheries Resource Assistant at Biscayne National Park as a Mosaics in Science intern.

My work here consists of doing recreational creel surveys (angler surveys) at the marinas to monitor the fishing effort and determine the efficacy of the new fishing regulations implemented in the park in July 2020. Additionally, I help with other projects including: monitoring and protecting threatened and endangered sea turtle nests; providing top-side support and assistance for park SCUBA operations focused on in-water fish surveys and non-native lionfish removals; collecting water samples for salinity monitoring, red tide assessments, ocean acidification studies; and marine debris clean-ups from coastal habitats (beach and mangrove).

Something extraordinary about this park is that it is 95% underwater, offering a unique experience to visitors and ocean lovers. Beyond what visitors can appreciate, it is remarkable that most employees and decision-makers in the park are women, highlighting the importance of having a gender equality environment and demonstrating a significant step in women empowerment. The experience that these waters can give you in just one dive is incomparable. For example, I swam close to a nurse shark and, on the same day, saw two dolphins following the boat on the way back to the headquarters. I will never forget that day!

Andres holding a Biscayne National Park map

NPS Photo

Being a Latino working at the National Park Service is an honor. Furthermore, it is an honor to represent the Latino community and work with Latinos during my project, allowing me to understand their behaviors and compromise with the park. For example, during the creel surveys, once I started talking Spanish to them, the interviews were more efficient, and because of that, it allows me to answer all the doubts that they always had but never asked before because they don't know how to speak English. Having those good interactions with the anglers helps me obtain more information through informal conversations and integrate the different perspectives and thoughts for better human dimension-related topics about the fisheries.

For those who want to do an internship with the National Park Service... DO IT! This work has been one of the best experiences that I have had in my academic and professional life. I feel more confident about myself and the work that I can do, and that's thanks to the support and trust that my supervisor and everybody in my division has given to me. You don't find that too often! In addition to that, visitors and people around the park love to see inclusion and diversity in the places they go, so never hesitate to try new things just because you are a minority. There are opportunities for people like us!