Sophia Flores

Hello everybody! My name is Sophia Flores and I’m going to be a sophomore studying Animal Sciences with a concentration in Behavior and Well-being along with a minor in Wildlife Science. Not many know this, but I am a fraternal twin and have three other siblings. Starting my freshman year of college during a pandemic away from my twin sister has been one of the many challenges I have faced this year. However, I have learned to be more independent from this experience. I’m from Indianapolis, Indiana, but I have family that originates from other states as well as Mexico. In my free time, I enjoy making and selling handmade earthy jewelry on Depop as well as long-distance running. In the future, my goal is to run a few marathons and continue selling more complex jewelry as a hobby aside from my career.

Aside from my hobbies, my career goal is to work in wildlife conservation and study behavior, preferably concerning African big cats or any of the big five endangered species in Africa. More generally though, I would enjoy any career dealing with the conservation of exotic wildlife. I don’t have any research or fieldwork experience within my current field of study, so I’m very excited to be participating in this program. I decided to participate in the REEU program so I could network and build relationships with the mentors, gain research experience, and learn more about data collection and analysis. I am looking forward to learning more about habitat and species relationships, especially dealing with herps because I’m not very knowledgeable regarding this group of animals. I’m also looking forward to learning more and building relationships with the other interns and mentors. I hope to strengthen my teamwork, communication, analytical, project management, and scientific writing skills throughout my participation in this REEU.