I was also reviewing the comments of the communities of the metro zone in the CCMP (Review of the SJBE Comprehensive Management and Conservation Plan). These comments are essential for the SJBEP and the different communities to agree, since the CCMP is the master document that guides the work as an organization and as a partnership.

Apart from working in the office, I also had the opportunity to work in the field, taking samples of the water from the Condado Lagoon to do bacteriological analysis, and to go to the Torrecilla Lagoon in a motor boat to do a characterization and reduction of microplastics. Field experiences make work more dynamic and give you a perspective of the work of what you do in the office; it is very important to be able to see the results.

What surprised me the most about the internship were the findings of the “Economic Valuation Study”. The economic value of the SJBE is much higher than I expected, as is the wide spectrum of ecosystem services it impacts. This highlights the importance of what the SJBE is for Puerto Rico, not only as something moral (wanting to care for and maintain the environment), but also as something monetary.

This experience in the SJBEP has shown me the environmental importance of protecting ecosystems such as mangroves, wetlands and reefs, but I did not know the magnitude of its economic impact. It helped me strengthen my ability to analyze technical documents, identify relevant information, and communicate it in a simple and understandable way. It also allowed me to better understand how the environment, the economy, and public policy decisions are related. This is relevant to what I’m studying, helping me better understand how organizations that seek to make a public impact work and how they make decisions with limited resources.