Vanessa Luviano: Pursuing Lifelong Career Goals in Wildlife Biology at Bandelier National Monument

September 2025

By Sarah McCord

Since middle school, Vanessa Luviano has known she wanted to be a wildlife biologist. During her summer internship at Bandelier National Monument in Los Alamos, New Mexico, Vanessa widened the career goals she’s had from a young age. When describing the impact her internship has had, Vanessa said, “My internship at Bandelier National Monument was much more involved and exciting than what I was expecting… [it] has given me an insight into what it looks like to work in the field and in the office.” 

Weekly internship tasks varied for Vanessa as she supported several divisions within the Natural Resources department at Bandelier. Nonetheless, Vanessa described that the majority of her internship included both field work and office work focused in “hummingbird banding, songbird banding, air quality surveys, electroshocking, Mexican Spotted Owl (MSO) surveys (which included overnight trips), bat netting, eDNA surveys, putting up a bear fence, setting up Pinyon Jay recorders, water quality surveys, removing invasive plants,” and numerous workshops. Vanessa was also responsible for creating a video game used at their table display during National Pollinator Week. Given a wide range of activities, Vanessa explained that her favorite internship projects included hummingbird banding and electroshocking.

Another highlight was the relationships Vanessa was able to build with coworkers and fellow interns. Though Vanessa had limited field and hiking experience, her team provided encouragement, patience, and ample support during long hikes with high elevation. She reflected on one MSO overnight survey experience which stood out to her, detailing, “While carrying overnight packs and hiking out to our camping site, the team was very understanding with the breaks and adjustments I needed to make. Though climbing the side of a canyon is no easy work, their support provided me with enough motivation to be able to carry on.”

In short, interning at Bandelier National Monument expanded Vanessa’s interest in wildlife biology, particularly in working with ectoparasites and worm parasites. She plans to pursue graduate-level studies, which offer research opportunities in wildlife parasitology. While turning childhood career dreams into reality, Vanessa exhibits a strong commitment to wildlife biology and natural resources.