While no owls been seen as of yet, hootsuite’s multi media platform has been used alot in these past few weeks.(it’s a lifesaver)
My name is Dominic Troiani, I am a senior at St Edward’s University and this semester I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with both Ecology Action, and Hill Country Alliance. Ecology Action is based in Circle Acres Preserve in East Austin. This preserve is a restored dump site turned nature area, and in my internship we (me and other students) are collecting and analyzing soil carbon sequestration and infiltration rates in different areas of the park such as mowed areas, unmowed, and restored areas. We recently collected most of our samples, and the next step is lab work to analyze the amount of carbon in our soils, the goal is to use this evidence from this research to allow for a detailed report to be submitted to the city in order to help protect this area from further residential encroachment. My other internship is with the Hill Country Alliance as their education and outreach intern.Located in Dripping Springs, the HCA is a non profit organization whose purpose is to raise awareness of the Hill Country’s natural resources and gain public support in helping preserve natural areas from the residential and commercial expansions in our area. Throughout this internship I’ve been able to make and edit their social media sites through the multi media app hootsuite, which allows me to edit Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter all at once. I am also in charge of adding events and news to their website through the website portal. I am also assisting in the annual photo contest which I am extremely excited about as I will get to look at all the wonderful photo submissions. If you’re interested in submitting any photos, check on the HCA’s website for more information on the contest. I am also helping translate newsletters and other information from English to Spanish in order to reach a broader audience with the HCA! One fun project I have been working on on the side, has been to use the Hill Country Alliance’s platform and recognition to bring awareness to Ecology Action at circle acres. With the platforms that HCA has access to I could hopefully raise public awareness on the restoration efforts being done at Circle Acres. While theres alot of upcoming plans, some of the most interesting things that have happened so far include the research aspect of Circle Acres, going into that internship I didnt know what to expect, so being able to get research experience out if it is exciting to say the least. All in all, the internship experiences are amazing, and I couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with in either internship, I hope to be able to continue giving back to the community, and helping bring awareness to the issues that surround our environment and the lands around Austin, check out either Ecology Action or Hill Country Alliance here to stay up to date events at either non profit!
