Meet Leiann (Lei) De Vera, a park ranger at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California. She started as an intern and then a Community Volunteer Ambassador before becoming a full-time employee at the park. Find out more about her journey and her love for working with young kids.

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Nicole: Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of Conservation Diaries, a National Park Service podcast. I am your host, Nicole Segnini. In these new episodes we are highlighting current young National Park Service employees who were once interns, fellows, volunteers, or part of a specialized program.

There are many ways young people can get involved with the National Park Service. And sometimes these youth programs may help you jumpstart your career as a full-time employee with the National Park Service.

We caught up with some employees who have made this jump to hear about their experiences and the advice they have for young people.

Today we are hearing from Lei De Vera, who is Filipino American born and raised in San Diego, California. She got her bachelor's in environmental science and resource management at California State University Channel Islands. At first Lei didn’t really know if she wanted to go to college or just continue working, since she was going to be the first one in her family to attend college and she also didn’t know exactly what she wanted to study.

Lei: I kind of found out when it was college app time, ‘oh, I'm a low-income person and I get free college applications.’ So, I did the farthest, cheapest... I applied to a bunch for free. I knew if I stayed in San Diego, I would have done engineering, but I was like, you know, ‘what is my favorite AP class?’ And it happened to be environmental science. So, I was like, ‘alright, maybe this is something I want to do for the rest of my life.’

Nicole: When Lei started going to college, she thought at first, she only wanted to focus on studying. But she told me that after her first semester, she got bored. She wanted to find either a job or an internship to keep her entertained.

She wasn’t originally going to do work with the National Park Service. In fact, she didn’t really know much about the agency nor national parks overall. But during one of her classes one of her professors told them about a National Park Service gig. And Lei thought it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, since it was a paid position, and she was going to get college credits for it.

Lei: I shot my shot. I was like, I don’t have any... The only job experience I had was that SeaWorld San Diego stuff and that was nothing towards my educational stuff at all... And now it seemed like it was justifiable for me to apply to that internship just because I was like, alright, this is like environmental stewardship, inspiring like future generations... Seeing if me working with kids is something I might enjoy or like, and I was like, this is pretty cool. This is pretty alright, they are small, its fun! [laughs]

Nicole: The internship was at the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area in California. It was a multi-diverse youth teaching assistant internship program under the Student Conservation Association, or SCA, and it was partnership between the university and the park.

The Student Conservation Association, or SCA, is a national resource conservation organization. SCA provides volunteers of all backgrounds and educational levels with conservation service internships and volunteer opportunities in national parks, national forests, and other public lands.

This was her first internship at the park, and she worked at the Education Division, aiding in community outreach and EKiP (Every Kid in the Parks) programs. The last one is now called Every Kid Outdoors and it aims to create opportunities for 4th graders to experience their federal public lands and waters.

Lei: So, like, when I would do education programs, my biggest thing was that I could physically see the change in a shift or in a child's attitude towards public lands and environmental stewardship or whatever the program curriculum was for. And that's something that I really like, seeing the inspiration and spark in their eyes, being that astonishing wow factor, especially in a national park.

Nicole: Lei did this for about a year and a half and right after that she was offered yet another internship. This time, doing interpretation instead.

Through both internships Lei was able to gain the skills and experiences to become a Community Volunteer Ambassador, or CVA.

Through this public-private partnership between the National Park Service and Stewards Individual Placement Program, CVA interns help strengthen the bonds between communities and parks and expand service-learning and volunteer opportunities.

Lei spearheaded interesting and engaging volunteer programming during her time as a CVA intern, which she did for almost three years. She did so much... from helping the volunteer coordinator in either assisting with volunteer logistics, entering hours into the database, figuring out volunteer appreciation picnics to doing volunteering, parks programming, inventory, and taking the lead on some of the programs and projects.

Lei: Every day was very different with the community volunteer position. Like one day it'll be like, oh, doing restoration with Disney, doing trail maintenance with Starbucks, doing just a regular monthly scheduled volunteer opportunity at the native plant nursery... I remember when I first came on in 2019 that after our biggest fire in 2018, the Woosley fire. So, a lot of the volunteerism stuff that was going on during that time was post fire trail maintenance, trail work, you know, fire management, fire ecology. And it honestly a shift with COVID too. So, there was virtual engagement.

One of the things I got to start was it was called Santa Monica Mountains Zoom Speaker Series. We did it for, I think a whole year. We would have speakers, either park staff, volunteers, interns, and then other parks and other agencies, other partners coming together and doing pretty much a one hour, a one-to-one-and-a-half-hour speaker series and presentation. And we would use that for volunteer virtual engagement and enrichment and training hours.

Nicole: Lei and other staff and volunteers from Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, as well as Cabrillo National Monument, and Channel Islands National Park - who were part of this Volunteer Virtual Education Initiative—won a Volunteer Program award during the 2020 George and Helen Hartzog Awards for Outstanding Volunteer Service. The Hartzog awards are given annually to recognize the exemplary contributions NPS volunteers make to their park and to their community.

In 2021 she was able to apply for a full-time park ranger position at the park where she does a variety of things. One day she’s at the visitor center, another day she’s doing an education program or a restoration volunteer event.

Lei: And it's kind of interesting, it's been a mix of education, interpretation, volunteering, parks, and programming. So, it's been a lot of what I've done since I started, combined throughout the years till now. So, it's great that I get to do all of everything that I've done since the beginning.

Nicole: So far Lei has been at Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area since 2016. And she loves it. The park is big and offers easy access to wild places. You can experience the famous beaches of Malibu or explore more than 500 miles of trails. And the park also abounds with historical and cultural sites, from old movie ranches to Native American centers. So, there’s so much to learn about and explore.

Lei has always been an outdoors kind of person, but she didn’t really visit many national parks growing up, and it never crossed her mind to work at one.

Lei: That seemed more of a luxury, like a privilege to do. So before the whole college thing, none of that came to my mind and where I am today. [Laughs]

One of the big things she loves about working at the park is the diversity within the workforce. While she is the only Filipino American park ranger, she told me several of her coworkers are people of color and from underrepresented communities. And while she believes there is still a lot to do, she says having a diverse workforce is vital because it helps young people see themselves represented and it might inspire them to pursue careers in the conservation fields or at the National Park Service.

Lei: When I first did education programs, a lot of these education programs are Title One schools, underrepresented youth. They have to come through a grant because they can't afford a school bus. We pay for that. And a lot of these kids, it's their first time being outdoors. It's the first time seeing the ocean. First time seeing the mountains, stuff like that. And it's quite inspiring because especially younger kids, they look up to you and they're like, ‘Okay. She looks kind of just like me. That's pretty cool. Like, okay I shouldn't feel scared.’ Because there is a stigma, especially with green and gray and the uniform. Like ‘I'm not here to give you a ticket. I'm here to give you maps. I'm here to give you directions. I'm here to give you information and knowledge.’

I think it's important because it gives people a chance to see that pretty much their heritage, background, or upbringing shouldn't limit their interest. And that's something I feel like we should touch because we're trying to do the whole community engagement, community outreach, trying to hit a sense of belonging, especially for free public lands and for future generations, that's such a big thing, like not to tokenize anything in terms of being like a model minority or being underrepresented youth, but just having the acknowledgement that there are so many people that are out here that are doing great things who happen to be diverse. And that is something to recognize.

Nicole: Representation also creates more welcoming green spaces overall. Lei says sometimes people from diverse backgrounds feel more comfortable and more at peace with someone who looks, and sounds like them. That’s why she believes the National Park Service should continue striving for more equity and representation within its workforce. Youth programs like the ones Lei was part of are a great way to help bring in more diverse youth to the National Park Service. And she believes it’s important to continue funding and promoting them.

Lei is thankful that she was able to find that first internship when she started college and it is safe to say that she has grown to love education as she continues to make sure kids are learning about the outdoors in every way, from recreating responsibly to learning ways to protect these beautiful places.

Her advice for young people, especially from diverse backgrounds, is to make sure you are trying everything out while you can and to surround yourself with good people that will advocate for you and guide you.

Lei: Me having mentors and mentees and all of that intertwined, very much helped me in how I got here. If it wasn't for people, the community helping me out or people of this workspace to help me out. I don't think I would be in this current position if it wasn't for them.

So, find people to advocate for you. If you have the time and resources, take every opportunity you can to experience things. And you know, honestly, just have fun. For the most part, a lot of this yeah, you get paid for it and it's a job... but I mean, at what cost if it's not going to be fun? Why waste your life in that moment for something you're not going to enjoy? So, don't take it for granted. Have the best time you can, use your resources, take your time. If you have the time, do it and find good people around you that will support you.

Nicole: During the days Lei is not working at the park, she works as an environmental educator for K-12 at the Resource Conservation District of the Santa Monica Mountains.

You can learn more about Lei’s park, Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, on their website at nps.gov/SAMO.

And remember, in these episodes of Conservation Diaries, we are highlighting young National Park Service staff members, like Lei, whose National Park Service journeys started as volunteers, fellows, interns, or as part of a specialized program.

To learn more about these jobs, internships, and volunteering opportunities, you can go to nps.gov/youthprograms.

Thank you for listening!

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