In my internship as a Raptor Caretaker at the Agua Hedionda Lagoon Foundation (AHLF)— an organization that works to educate people about the importance of conservation and protect the local lagoon environment and native wildlife in this unique watershed— I feed, handle, and clean up after two owls and two falcons who, due to injuries, are unable to survive in the wild. AHLF's Raptor Ridge houses birds of prey who, unable to survive in the wild, are unreleasable: Blue, an American kestrel, who imprinted on humans and thus doesn’t have the necessary survival instincts; Celerity, a peregrine falcon, whose previously broken wing can’t withstand the pressure from the high-speed dives her species famously uses to hunt; Tecolote, a blind western screech owl; and Who, an imprinted, half-blind great horned owl. I am leading a raptor enrichment project designed to mentally stimulate our raptors. This includes constructing, implementing, supervising, and recording enrichment activities. First, I assemble various enrichments— newspaper constructions for shredding, cardboard puzzles, or interesting new food such as hard-boiled eggs and cow hooves, for example. Next, I introduce these items into the enclosure and record the raptors’ responses. These engaging activities improve the raptors’ quality of life while providing AHLF with information about each raptor’s behaviors and preferences. This study focuses on enrichment in the form of food and toys due to AHLF’s limited resources, however, the categories of food and toy enrichment are diverse within themselves for each study subject. Through this work, I am not only enriching the lives of these four raptors, but I am also furthering our knowledge at AHLF and improving our raptor program. AHLF sees nearly 20,000 visitors every year, both locals and tourists who visit Carlsbad from all over the United States and even abroad. We offer raptor presentations every Wednesday evening and a "Falcon Feeding Friday" presentation to the public every week. Nearly every day I work, while in the enclosures, I talk to visitors watching what I am doing. I tell them what I’m doing and why. They are fascinated and ask questions and every volunteer shift I do is a teaching opportunity. Thousands of people are educated about raptors through our outreach every year and I am not only helping sustain our “raptor ambassadors'' at AHLF, but I am also helping this organization improve its programs that impact my community in north San Diego and beyond. Moreover, the majority of our visitors are children visiting with their parents or caretakers. By educating the young people, I am helping to train the next generation of our Earth’s caretakers. I’m helping AHLF in its mission to protect, preserve, and maintain this precious watershed for generations to come. Accordingly, my chosen major is biology. I am fascinated and intrigued by the prospect of making advancements in the understanding of our natural world and its processes. It is a varied and highly detailed field of study, and it is partially the prospect of always having something more to learn that attracts me to it. I hope to continue studying biology and protecting the lives of the Earth's incredible wildlife.