I greatly enjoyed being an Audubon Advocate!
As an Advocate, you are trained in environmental advocacy and then are put in small groups to spearhead your own advocacy projects. Within my group, the Golden Eagle Alliance, we chose to focus on advocating for the protection of Golden Eagles in the Ramona Grasslands County Preserve. I had the opportunity to meet with professionals from USFWS, the National Audubon Society, WRI, and notable raptor experts/biologists in the area. I got to work (and still do) very closely with the Director of Conservation and the Habitat Restoration Manager at SD Audubon Society.
Though the advocacy program has officially ended, the Golden Eagle Alliance group has chosen to continue with our goal of advocating for better management within the Ramona Grasslands County Preserve, and we will be meeting with the North County DPR representatives again soon. I have learned so much from the experience, and I am grateful that our team is passionate enough that we will be continuing our work.
What I wish was different
It would have been lovely to have this experience in-person, but I think SDAS did an excellent job converting the workshops to an online format, and I appreciated the flexibility and accessibility that online allowed for.
Advice
I highly advise any environmental students (or related majors) to volunteer for organizations you feel passionate about. You could end up with glowing references, you certainly will learn about how organizations run/what they look for in candidates, and you might even get a job offer down the line!
