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Meet the Pack Behind the Posts
Amplifying Canine Conservation, One Post at a TimeAt K9 Conservationists, our social media interns play a vital role in connecting our mission to the world. From showcasing our hardworking detection dogs to highlighting conservation wins, they're the humans behind the hashtags.
Vanessa Lopez (she/her)
Science Communication InternVanessa is a third-year undergraduate student at California Lutheran University, pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Environmental Science with double minors in Communication and Global Studies. Growing up in Santa Maria, CA, on the Central Coast, she developed a love for the outdoors, which inspired her decision to pursue environmental science. After conducting undergraduate behavioral ecology research in Brazil on squirrel monkeys, Vanessa discovered a passion for conservation work. She is driven to continue learning and sharing the vital impact of conservation through communication platforms, highlighting its overall benefits for the planet.
Bernice Morfe (they/them)
Science Communication InternBernice, also known as Binky or Binx, is a video editor from the Philippines who is passionate about conservation—especially animals and the environment.
Growing up, Bernice often wondered how they could make a difference in the world, inspired by those they saw on the news—educating, protesting, and advocating for the environment. Initially, they believed that protesting or becoming a field scientist were the only ways to contribute and felt discouraged by a lack of confidence. Over time, Bernice realized that any effort helps as long as the intention is right. They discovered their skill in video editing as a way to make an impact through science communication, an approach they hadn’t known had a name.
Bernice is excited to learn more with K9 Conservationists and extends a warm greeting: "Maligayang bati!" (a Filipino phrase that usually means "happy birthday," but directly translates to "happy greeting," which they found fitting).
-Bernice"Working with K9C has been so extremely fun, I get to explore not just my video editing skills, and learn how to work the TikTok algorithm after each upload, but also exercise my writing skills: on the first video I made, I was given so much creative freedom that I wrote a voice-over script for Barley, and they actually let me do it! So far it has felt like every little idea I suggest makes it into the final product. All this while watching sweet videos of dogs doing their job over and over! The work that the humans do at K9C is especially inspiring too, with every video I keep thinking, “how do I tell people how cool their job is through a video?” It might be overwhelming at first, if you don’t know too much about detection dogs and conservation efforts, but it gets better as you learn the purpose of scat searches while also learning how to communicate it effectively.
Some tips for future interns:
Have fun, and don’t be afraid to ask anything! Kayla welcomes questions with tact and consideration. And any communication is always better, especially for working purely online."