By Mateo Villagrana-Ocasio, Houston Audubon’s Spring 2024 Community Outreach Intern
This spring, Houston Audubon received funding from Drax Foundation to hire a seasonal outreach intern. We were thrilled to have Mateo Villagrana-Ocasio join the team and complete his spring project – a bilingual scavenger hunt through Edith Moore Nature Sanctuary for children visiting the sanctuary and participating in events. As part of his internship, Mateo developed educational materials for HA’s Plastic Free July celebration, led Birdy Bingo at HA’s Birding 101 program at Houston Botanic Garden, recorded data from our sanctuary’s game camera, and assisted our conservation team with an inspection of Evia Island. Keep reading to hear about Mateo’s internship experience firsthand.
I grew up in Houston, spending nice afternoons in the bayous, summers at Galveston and going to Brazos Bend to see the stars and disconnect from it all. As I grew up, Houston didn’t stop changing. The city would grow every day as new stretches of highway popped up, new apartment buildings were crammed downtown and more parking lots began to take up empty lots. I have lived the effects that many Houstonians have, where our city turns more and more into concrete and we see less green. Noticing all of this, one of my goals has become to get more people outside to learn about the stories our nature gives us.
During my time at Houston Audubon, I learned about new projects that the organization is working on. Connecting with the staff throughout my internship has been a highlight for me, learning about the responsibilities everyone has and the stories of how they got there. It truly opened my eyes to futures where I can see myself in a similar place. Prior to this experience, it has been tough to see myself in a world with emails, meetings, events, and sitting down for more than 5 minutes at a time. This was a foreign concept, and one I didn’t realize I could fit right in with. My coworkers showed me the value of their work and how their efforts have had a firsthand benefit to the environment and birds that they work so hard to protect. Learning that the Lights Out initiative started right here at Houston Audubon has shown me how important this work is in conservation.
While working with Houston Audubon, I was able to participate in many events for different communities of Houston, making it a full circle moment in my journey to get here.
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