For the past five years I have dedicated myself to work in environmental education and animal care through volunteering, interning, and employment at Woodland Park Zoo. My time at the zoo has given me an opportunity to reflect on what aspects of my job I enjoy most, and what I would like to pursue in the future. From my experience I have discovered a sincere curiosity and desire to understand the mechanics of all things pertaining to the natural world and great pleasure in the process of learning. My greatest objective in life is to utilize that drive to learn to inform efforts that benefit the preservation and conservation of threatened species or environments. In the past two years I have gained a genuine interest in plant biology and taxonomy, and I am wholeheartedly excited to explore this interest further over the summer and make important contributions to this particular field of science in the process of doing so.