Seniors Allison Gonzalez and Issac Herrera have both been recently concerned with environmental issues. They saw openings for an internship through the Los Angeles Zoo Teen Council For Conservation and figured it could be a way to help make an impact and gain new insights.
“I think I’ve realized how much more important it is to be able to conserve the environment,” Gonzalez said. “I (also) honestly just wanted to try something new and be able to interact with new people in a new setting.”
The Los Angeles Zoo Teen Council’s program is meant to help educate teenagers about local conservation efforts, particularly local species in Southern California and their impact on the environment. They also focus on environmental justice, the various impacts on climate change and to build leadership and collaboration skills.
Two high school students from each of the 15 Los Angeles City Council districts are selected to participate in the internship. Participants have meetings on the weekends every two weeks and the program began in October and lasts until June. Participants are also paid a stipend of $300 a month. Participating in the internship, Gonzalez and Herrera both help coordinate events at the Los Angeles Zoo and work with others to help educate people about their efforts.
“I think the collaborative parts of designing for example, our symposium is one of my favorite parts because it just lets everyone utilize their creative minds to create something that is so impactful,” Herrera said. “We’ve made a collective impact into having city leaders and city officials to see that there is a network of students and youth who want to make a change and are actively seeking solutions. They want to have an impact and (make) greater change in LA.”
Both Gonzalez and Herrera have been able to improve and foster their collaboration skills while working with others from different backgrounds and walks of life. By having the common goal of working to help conservation efforts and preserving the environment, they broaden their horizons and attitudes towards the efforts at hand.
“I think I’ve made an impact by being able to come up with new ideas alongside my group,” Gonzalez said. “We collaborate a lot, so I’ve started interacting with people I never thought I’d talk to. I think it definitely is important to bring awareness. The younger generation is the future, and if we don’t do something about it, we’re not going to have a clean LA. I think we always gotta be environmentally aware of everything.”
Students participating in the internship also get experience with hands-on field work and labs. These hands-on experiences further participants’ understanding of the environment and their conservation efforts.
“We’ve been doing field research and we go into some areas in the zoo that are closed off to the public,” Herrera said. “We do labs, kind of similar to APES (AP Environmental Science) about things like the soil or trees. Recently we did one in an area at the zoo and we looked for bugs. It was pretty fun and it was just very hands-on.”
Although there may be some challenges such as time commitment and being able to communicate with others well, Herrera says it pays off.
“Sometimes it interferes with your schedule,” Herrera said. “Sometimes I have to change my schedule to accommodate the zoo cause I want to prioritize the internship. But I would say it is a rewarding experience because not only do you participate in fun hands-on experiences, you get to understand all the important components of environmentalism and conservation.”
