By way of introduction, my name is Mateo Armijo. First I would like to talk about my interests that aren’t related to biological studies, but that define me as an individual. I am avid graphic designer with an extensive background in photo manipulation and the creation of original designs. I have recently picked up the art of screen printing. It allows me to express myself through a different media. I have designed many logos for myself and for up and coming companies.

I play varsity lacrosse which I enjoy because of the fast paced nature of the game and the team effort needed to excel. I find the sciences that back many of the careers found at the San Diego Zoo extremely interesting. Personally, I enjoy the study of falconry and other behavioral aspects of animal life that help us learn more about them. I realize that the San Diego Zoo InternQuest will expose me to a variety of career choices. I am definitely looking forward to seeing the behind the scenes of different exhibits at the Zoo to see how it operates. I’m also interested in all of the careers that collaborate to make the Zoo run as smoothly as possible, as a source of education and as a center of animal study.

I have been placed in the Photography Team in the Zoo InternQuest. Having an artistic background, I feel that it is a suitable position for me. I’ll also have a lot of fun getting close and personal with the animals.

Hello, my name is Andrea and I am a senior here in sunny San Diego, California! I live with my mom, a dog, two cats, and a beta fish. I am entranced by a flock of wild parrots that fly past each day and the raccoons, opossums, and coyotes that stealthily lurk outside my home by night. From a young age, I’ve always felt an attachment to animals, which in part was fostered by my involvement in the dog care and training and veterinary science projects through a local 4-H club.

I am intrigued by the clockwork of an animal’s body, those hundreds of parts and systems meticulously working together to sustain a life. The detailed connection that exists between the members of the animal kingdom and the dependence of each species on one another never ceases to rekindle within me my passion for science. During my time as an intern, I will discover the many facets of animal-related science and enrich my awareness of the conservation efforts that happen on a day-to-day basis at the San Diego Zoo and Wild Animal Park, and behind the scenes and in the field at San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research.

When I have free time, I love to dance, boogie board at the beach, travel, and spend time with my loving friends and family.

I am a representative of the Real World Team.

Hi, my name is Celena and I am a proud fighting eagle from my high school in Escondido. My motto is to enjoy and learn from life—especially to approach it with curiosity. Even in preschool, I was voted “most curious” for two years in a row!

Recently, I have been touring beautiful college campuses, searching for the right university for me within California. I look forward to pursuing a career in marine biology, focusing on the protection of marine life and habitats. By participating in Zoo InternQuest, I look forward to exploring the conservation aspects of biology. I competitively swim for our city’s club team and my school. During my downtime, I enjoy exploring new music on Pandora, an online radio, taking photos, and spending time with my family and friends at Big Bear Mountain.

I am fascinated by the nature of the mountains: the crispness of the fallen leaves during autumn, the ripe pine smell during cold mornings, and especially the splendor of wintertime with the blankets of snow that crunch under our boots. While, hiking and exploring, I enjoy being within the peaceful environment of the forest. Its seemingly simple appearance actually is a complex system which intrigues and confounds me!

I am on the Real World Team and look forward to sharing what I learn from this program

Curtis with the giant otter statue at Monterey Bay Aquarium.

My name is Curtis and I’m currently a senior in high school in San Diego, California, and I play baseball for my high school.

On my free time, I enjoy participating in a variety of activities. Along with baseball, I take part in archery and ultimate frisbee. Also, I enjoy drawing, creating digital graphics, and working on web design on the computer. I’m a complete workaholic when I am on the computer because I can spend hours dealing with small details for an art piece. Playing guitar and writing songs are also some of my many hobbies.

I can sometimes be a real Renaissance man, in that I am naturally curious about the world around me and how it operates. Such attributes are the reason why I am interested in biological sciences and the Zoo Intern Quest program. As a senior, I’m currently looking into schools with zoology, wildlife biology, or conservation biology majors, as well as good biology programs. Zoo Intern Quest will be a great experience for me and I’m excited to look at possible future career paths.

My blogs will follow the theme of preserving or protecting the world’s biodiversity because I am on the Conservation team.

Hello, my name is Danielle, and I am currently a high school Junior. I find myself naturally drawn to animals, from my cat that sleeps in the sun on my bed to her feline relatives that you find snoozing at the San Diego Zoo. Besides my love for animals, I enjoy swimming, trekking through the great outdoors, going to the mixed martial arts class that I take three times a week, and riding my horse. When I am not outside you are sure to find me absorbed in a novel or using my tablet to sketch digital pictures on the computer.

I am thrilled to be taking part in the Zoo InternQuest. I am looking forward to the time I can spend talking with the Zoo professionals, learning about their careers, and the animals they work with. I hope to someday become a large animal veterinarian and the Zoo InternQuest will give me the opportunity to see what other career paths involving animals and conservation are available for my future and to determine what exactly I would like to do with my life.

I will be writing for the careers team.

Hi. My name is Becky and I am a senior in San Diego, California. If I could imagine my perfect day, it would have to be one spent exploring nature with a couple of my closest friends. Nature is where I belong, where I feel at home. I love to go out for walks or hikes with my friends down in the canyon trail behind my house. Even as a little girl I was enthralled with nature, especially animals. You could definitely say that animals are my passion.

I love to observe animal behaviors, and to discover how we can communicate with them through those behaviors. One of the things I am looking forward to most about InternQuest is learning about the different components of training animals. I want to become an animal trainer, and then educate others about the animals I work with, kind of like the animal ambassador program at the San Diego Zoo.

I will be writing for the Careers Team.

My name is Sarrah. I decided to participate in Zoo InternQuest because I love working with animals and in the future want to have a career involving animals. I am currently volunteering at Project Wildlife, where I work hands-on feeding, cleaning, and tending to birds. Soon, I can “level up” and begin working with large birds such as raptors, as well as some mammals. Besides volunteering I also enjoy going to the beach, watching Charger games, and just hanging out with friends and family. I watch several shows including Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Futurama, Supernatural, Psych, Monk, Criminal Minds, The Big Bang Theory, and Scrubs. Overall, I am a friendly person who likes to spend time outside and have fun with my friends.

I will be writing for the Conservation Team

Hi!  My name is Kellie and I’m a high school senior in San Diego. I love running, hiking, doing yoga and anything that involves going to the beach! I am a Pisces which explains my adoration towards wildlife and I’ve been a vegetarian for seven years now. When I’m not at school or working, I volunteer at Project Wildlife and love getting the chance to assist with animal rehabilitation.

Last year at my high school, I started a Student Co-op which is directed towards helping our school become more eco-friendly. So far we have planted a garden, hosted a carpool to school day and participated in various beach cleanups. In the future, I hope to travel around the world and help with animal conservation as well as animal rehabilitation. I hope to one day visit all seven continents (so far I’ve only been to North America, Europe, and Asia) and get to witness all different cultures from around the world.

I am part of the Photography Team so I will be visually documenting our InternQuest experience.

Hi my name is William and I am a senior in high school as well as swimmer and football player here in San Diego. I have always been a “green fighter” always telling my friends to save energy and to do the less harm to our environment. Also I love to volunteer at the beach clean ups that my school organizes. I’m very in the animal conservation and their care and protection. I’m absolute against brutality toward animals. I have two dogs that I am very close. I used to have many kinds of dogs as well as a turtle, and many different types of fish. Also in my house in Mexico we used to have eighteen birds.

I want to study architecture, biology and landscaping to create green buildings. In these buildings I want to cause less harm to the environment. The buildings will have a small carbon footprint, use solar and wind energy, and recycle water. Green buildings can become part of their environment instead of tearing up habitat and replacing it with man-made structures. In this way, animals and plants are not chased out of their homes but can live along with humans.

I’m on the Careers Team so I will write about the different careers that you can do to help animals. And, as a bonus for you readers who know Spanish, I will write some of my Blogs in Spanish!

How would l spend my perfect day? In the wilderness of course! My name is Alicia and I’m junior from San Diego California. I love being part of the environment every second I get. Whether its outdoor sports like alpine skiing and rock-climbing or traveling to new cities in South America or Europe, I am always looking for adventure and connection to nature.

In my spare time I enjoy reading, painting and spending time at the San Diego Zoo. I have a passion for the arts, and I love to try and connect my art to natural elements like different colors and textures. But what I enjoy most is learning about the environment and how we can sustain it. For the past three years, I have been a part of Zoo Corps at the San Diego Zoo, communicating to the public about conservation and endangered species. My participation in Zoo Corps has solidified my interest in studying zoology and I am very excited for InternQuest because in my future, I want to study wildlife conservation and learn about animal behavior. I see InternQuest as a great opportunity for learning about these different topic areas as well as meet new people and gain experience.

I am on the Real World team so my blogs will make the connection between my zoo experiences with InternQuest and the global community.