Delaney Cabral, a Cal State Fullerton student majoring in geography (with an emphasis in environmental analysis) and a minor in history serves as president of the CSUF Geography Club.
Delaney recently began interning at Fullerton Arboretum, the 26-acre botanical garden located on the CSUF campus.
What does Delanaey do as an intern? “I’m working on one specific project,” she says. “I’m going to be using the app i-Tree Canopy, and basically that app uses aerial satellites to map canopies.”
With i-Tree Canopy, she draws boundaries of the Arboretum or CSUF campus and categorizes random points such as trees, grass, water, soil, impervious buildings or roads. “Once I’ve categorized a sufficient amount of points,” she explains, “the app creates a report that summarizes the tree benefits such as air pollution removal and oxygen release.”
She discovered this unique internship opportunity, the Engaging Environmental Experiences (E3) Internship program, after it was shared with her on a geography club Discord chat.
Within just a few weeks of interning, Delaney had learned more about time management and organization. “I’m doing a lot of my work from home, which is something I’ve never really done before…so I just have to make a conscious effort to be on top of my work.”
Delaney loves that Fullerton Arboretum provides a benefit to the community. “It’s a place to gather and enjoy nature in an urban environment, which I think is really rare, especially in Orange County.” She recommends that any CSUF students who are interested in the outdoors and conservation, join the Environmental Experiences (E3) Internship program, or even help out as a volunteer.
Fullerton Arboretum is a fully integrated part of CSUF Extension and International Programs (EIP). Learn more about Fullerton Arboretum at fullertonarboretum.org.