WASHINGTON, D.C.—When resource assistants Tony Pedraza and Araceli Morales-Santos joined the Forest Service in the spring, the last thing they expected was to hear their names being spoken on NASA’s International Space Station.

On Wednesday, July 28, at 1:30 p.m. Eastern, tune in to NASA TV for a special conversation with astronauts on the International Space Station to celebrate National Intern Day. Government interns around the country from different agencies were given the chance to submit questions, and the Forest Service is excited to announce that two of our very own were selected to submit videos to be a part of the event.

Tony Pedraza is a passionate civil engineer resource assistant from Houston, Texas, with a geology degree from Texas Tech University. When Pedraza, like so many others in 2020, lost his job due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he saw it as an opportunity to get on track doing work that he loved: preservation of natural resources. Now, over three months into his post at the Savannah River National Forest, Pedraza says that the Resource Assistants Program has exceeded his expectations. He feels lucky to be a part of the spring 2021 cohort and appreciates the supportive network around him and the close friends he has already made within the group.

The hardest part for Pedraza when starting his new position was moving somewhere far away from his friends and family back home in Texas, but the welcoming and compassionate peers at the Forest Service have made that transition a lot easier. Pedraza has made himself a valuable asset on his team and is currently training to be the eyes and ears for his supervisor on more and more projects. His favorite part of the job, though, is out in the field, taking surveys of the topography to inform new maintenance projects. Pedraza loves “going out into the middle of the woods, where you don’t know what you’re gonna run into.” Although he warns anyone who ventures out into the field: make sure to wear your snake boots—he was confronted with a copperhead on his first day!

While Pedraza navigated the nuances of field work in Region 8, Araceli Morales-Santos joined the Forest Service on the West Coast as part of the spring cohort. With a background in general biology from Wake Forest University and a master’s in environment and sustainability from University of Michigan, Morales-Santos loves her position as a biology resource assistant in the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest in western Oregon.

In cooperation with the University of Oregon, Morales-Santos’ team makes rounds to ten different stream gauging stations to take samples each week. Here, Morales-Santos takes measurements and is careful to follow all the correct procedures to ensure the validity and safe transport of the samples. Since she didn’t come into the role with a background in hydrology, Morales-Santos was a bit nervous about acquiring new skills and learning complicated procedures. Fortunately, she overcame her fear and is now proud of her ability to go out into the field alone and complete this work.

What excites Morales-Santos most is being in the field and exploring the different watershed sites, all with unique management histories and procedures. She says she discovers “a new plant and a different critter each time [she goes] out.” One of her favorite moments was when she shadowed a northern spotted owl specialist and got to see baby fledglings being tagged up close. She is grateful that the RAP allows her to take advantage of these types of career development opportunities. To Morales-Santos, her position is “more than just an internship” because of the way she can maintain connections with her supervisors and fellow RAs.

At the conclusion of the RAP, Pedraza plans to use his hiring eligibility certificate to get hired in engineering, geology, hydrology, mineral administration or project management. As of now, he doesn’t know what corner of the country he’ll end up in, but he knows that a career with the Forest Service has a bright future. “I think that’s the main draw for me with the Forest Service. Having that ability to advance my career and meet new people by going to different locations within different career fields.”

Also interested in a career with the Forest Service, Morales-Santos wants to contribute to conservation, stewardship and partner development. Her aim is to transition to a permanent position, doing work at the regional level specifically focused on natural resource and wildlife management.

Pedraza and Morales-Santos are just beginning their careers in the Forest Service, thousands of miles apart, but what unites them is the resource assistant experience and a shared commitment to natural resource management and preservation. The future is bright for these two resource assistants, as well as the rest of the spring 2021 cohort, who are poised to receive their hiring eligibility certificates in around three months’ time. For now, though, Pedraza and Morales-Santos are continuing their important work and looking forward to seeing their questions for NASA answered this Thursday…from outer space.