The PDXWildlife Winter Research season is about to kick off and I’m writing this in the airport as I wait for, yet another, delayed flight to San Francisco.  Fingers crossed I make it to my connection (and my bags do as well!).  While I’m never thrilled about having a delayed flight it is allowing me some time to post the introduction emails to our new Winter Interns.

We always bring on four interns for winter who focus their research on the male-male competition study.  Gigi Banales is the first intern I’ll introduce.  Gigi is our first intern from Hawaii and I believe is flying out of LA today as well.  I’ll let her tell you a little more about herself:

A passion for pandas, which began at an early age.

I’m very lucky in that I’ve always known what I wanted to do when I grew up. Since I was little, I knew that I wanted to help “save the pandas.” I’ve been around animals since the day I was born but the Giant Panda has always been my favorite animal. Besides having dozens of pets growing up, I volunteered at local animal shelters and fostered animals, which taught me basic animal husbandry skills and fueled my passion to study biology.  When I moved to Hawaii for school, I began volunteering at the Waikiki Aquarium. As a docent, I would help lead classroom presentations for children and guide them through an interactive field trip throughout the aquarium. After that academic year, I became a “behind the scenes” volunteer at the Honolulu Zoo. At the zoo, I partake in exhibit maintenance, observation of animal behavior, and participate in animal training.  It was here that I learned of this internship opportunity from one of the zookeepers I work with. Knowing my ultimate goal is to work in panda conservation, he directed me towards the Texas A&M job board, which is where I discovered PDX Wildlife.

Volunteering at the Honolulu Zoo in Oahu, HI.

This past spring break I was fortunate enough to be selected as one of six volunteers to go to Guatemala for a pre-vet program. Through this organization, VIDA, we were able to provide free medical care and surgeries for local pets in different underserved communities. Also during my undergrad, I took several relevant classes that have shaped me into a well-rounded student of biology.  Some specific examples of what I did include DNA extractions in biology lab, use ultrasound to detect swine pregnancy, test cow fecal matter in a veterinary lab, collect data on percent cover of invasive plant species in a botany lab, and test cellular organisms for E. coli in a microbiology lab.

Two puppies undergoing a general check-up in Guatemala.

In conclusion, wildlife conservation, specifically the conservation of giant pandas, has always been my ultimate career goal. Striving to reach this goal has been my continuous motivation in life and this opportunity is an incredible step in achieving that. It still hasn’t fully sunk in that I am fortunate enough to be taking on this upcoming panda internship.  Combining my passion for pandas, conservation, and traveling is really a dream in itself. I can’t wait to see what this adventure unfolds!

– Gigi

My absolute favorite animal.