Blog 13 - 10 Hour Mentorship Check-In

1. Where are you doing your mentorship?

• San Dimas Canyon Nature Center

2. Who is your contact? What makes this person an expert?

• Max. He has been employed at the nature center for more than five years. He knows almost everything about every animal at the nature center and is the teacher for the junior ranger programs that are held throughout the year. He's passionate about what he does and is interested in continuing to work with animals.

3. How many hours have you done during the school year?

• 65

4. Succinctly summarize what you did, how well you and your mentor worked together, and how you plan to complete the remaining hours.

• If I volunteer during the week, I usually clean out the cages and feed the animals. Sometimes I interact with some of them so they aren't confined in one area. If there's a good amount of people, we take out one or two animals to show the kids. On Saturdays, I usually do the same thing. However, we do go down to the park and invite the public to the free presentations at 1. I think my mentor and I work pretty well with each other. He's not always at the nature center, but he's willing to help when I need anything. I've already completed my hours, but I will continue to volunteer because I enjoy helping out. I want to try volunteering at other nature centers to see what they might do differently.

Blog 2 - Summer Mentorship

                                             

1. List the contact name, phone number, and organization of the person with whom you volunteered.

• Contact Name: Ronny Gregory 
• Phone Number: (909) 599-7512
• Organization: San Dimas Canyon Nature Center

2. What qualified this person as an expert in your topic choice?     

• He has had many years of experiences with these animals and makes sure he provides the right environment and shelter for their well-being. He is also currently sheltering hawks who are part of the wild wings organization. This organization helps prepare the Hawks so they can eventually be released into the wild. 

3. List three questions for further exploration now that you've completed your summer hours.    

• What is one of the most important pieces of information that people should be most aware of about wildlife animals?
• Is captivity better for wildlife animals and if so how do they adapt to it?
• Why is rehabilitating animals so important to the environment?

4. What is the most important thing you gained from this experience? Why?

• During my experience, I met people who still are concerned for the future. I admire the fact that there's people who know what's happening to our environment and realize that we're taking it for granted. In the end I believe that that's what wildlife animals revolve around.

5. What is your senior project topic going to be?  How did mentorship help you make your decision?

• Wildlife rehabilitation. Mentorship has helped me actually experience how wildlife animals are and has taught me the differences between animals in captivity from the ones in the wild. Before mentoring, all I did was read about it online. Now I am able to be a part of it and I love that feeling.