Navajo Lake – Into Uncertainty

I wanted to give some of you guys an idea of what I spent my summer doing in New Mexico after graduation.

The actual pre-hiring process for this position went absolutely swimmingly. I sent in my application through neogov (super convenient since you don’t have to fill out a new application for every new job…) and expected to never hear back from them again (like the most of them).

But. I. did.

I got a call a week or so after applying. Then I had my interview while in the Smokies on a family vacation. I literally was running back from a hike and made it back in time to catch my breath before they called me.

Then the vacation went on and I heard back from them again as we were heading home.

Essentially I secured the whole thing while I was on vacation. It didn’t work out too badly, huh?!

Two weeks after getting home, I set off on a 21 hour road trip down to Santa Fe to do my training.

The route passed right through Denver, and I was so happy to see a couple of DU friends that I made while studying in Sevilla.

The title of my position is Aquatic Invasive Species Technician. It was through the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish if the title doesn’t impress you… Not too bad to have your first job with the government, no?!

What I did was essentially talk with boaters all day and make sure they knew about zebra mussels and quagga mussels. (Don’t get me started! I could write a page on them. Short summary? They’re bad news.)

I would then take a quick look at their boat and send them on their way to enjoy the lake. If they potentially were harboring AIS, we’d do a HOT water decon. Don’t ask me how many times I burned myself with that hose/water… (tooo many!)

I also got to go out on the lake to do water samples to make sure the lake was still mussel free (of the zebra and quagga variety..) which was always fun.

I think that it was definitely a good experience because I got to use a little bit of both of my majors (biology and Spanish), plus it is in the realm of aquatic conservation…always good to get a foot in the door!!

That’s all I wanted to write on that. Even if I had to deal with some unsavory folks every so often, the majority of the boaters were super friendly and I’ll miss it!