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Land Stewardship and Management Intern

Growing up as a Girl Scout sparked Maya Soojhai's '23 interest in the outdoors; and after taking an environmental science class her senior year of high school, Soojhai was ready to explore the field closer. From a small high school in San Antonio, she was drawn to ����������Ƶ for its campus, class sizes and ideal distance from home.

Like many students who started in 2019, COVID-19 interrupted Soojhai’s semester and her plans to study abroad; but it also pushed her to spend more time outside. After taking some courses with Amy Concillio,Ph.D., associate professor of Environmental Science and Policy, Soojhai was inspired and influenced by her teaching that she ultimately declared her major in Environmental Science and Policy.

As the world began to open back up and COVID-19 deescalated, it was time for Soojhai to complete an internship as a senior. She applied to Wild Basin Creative Research Center, where she served as the Stewardship and Land Management Intern, supervised by Wild Basin Preserve Manager Trevor Rice.

Watershed Conservation and Land Management Intern

“It was my first experience working in the environmental science field. I was the first of Trevor’s interns, so we got to figure things out together,” Soojhai said. “As my introduction to the field of environmental science, Trevor was a great mentor to have when figuring out what kind of career path to take and how to apply what I learned in school to practical applications in Wild Basin.”

At Wild Basin, Soojhai worked hands-on in the field. She patrolled and restored the trail, managed invasive species, and learned proper power tool usage. After her first semester with Wild Basin, her internship was extended for another semester. Her newly-acquired skills allowed her to help with trail clean up after the winter storm of February 2022, where she helped remove fallen trees and branches.

 “Learning those skills came in handy with the seasonal positions I worked with (at) Texas Parks and Wildlife,” Soojhai said. “I loved working there and being a piece of the Texas Hill Country in Austin.” 

After earning her degree in May 2023, Soojhai completed a summer internship in San Marcos with Texas Parks and Wildlife as a Watershed Conservation Team Intern where she focused on land management under the Inland Fisheries Division. Inland fisheries work with fish hatcheries for game fish to stock ponds. Using Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, Soojhai mapped arundo donax (giant reed), which is an invasive plant around the Hill Country and worked with private landowners to remove the plant. She then moved to a full-time role as a Chronic Waste and Disease Technician out of Pearsall, Texas working with big game. 

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“Prion diseases like Mad cow disease affect the brain and nervous systems of deer and can negatively impact geo-populations which impacts hunting, which is a big economic driver in Texas,” Soojhai said. “There are different tech stations around the state. So, if a hunter shot a deer in the specific zone, I had to collect tissue samples from the deer and send them to the lab.”

Turtle Patroller at Padre Island Seashore

Searching for a seasonal job, Soojhai decided to look into the place where her fascination with nature sparked early on—the Padre Island National Seashore. As a kid, her family would travel to Port Aransas and see the turtle patrollers on UTVs looking for nesting sea turtles. Padre Island National Seashore is a national reserve that hosts sea turtle hatchling releases to the public.

“My mom would always follow the turtle news throughout the years,” Soojhai said. “As I was applying and looking for a position, I saw the turtle patroller through the National Parks Service. I got the job and it was an awesome full-circle moment. Being with nesting mommas and helping them hatch and release their babies was amazing.”

Wastewater and Pretreatment Investigator 

After moving around for seasonal positions, Soojhai decided it was time to land. She landed at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality as a Wastewater and Pretreatment Investigator. When she isn’t in her cubicle writing reports and researching, she’s venturing into the field at wastewater treatment facilities to conduct compliance investigations, test water quality and speak with facility operators. 

“Doing research at St. Edward's, reading policy and regulation and taking legislative and policy classes prepared me to write scientifically about what I do,” Soojhai said. 

Soojhai still keeps a piece of Wild Basin with her in her cubicle. She has a print from one of Wild Basin’s previous artists in residence, Juliet Whitsett, of the sun with a golden-cheeked warbler—currently an endangered species – and one of the many vulnerable species that inspired the protection of Wild Basin as a nature preserve in 1976.