- Hi, my name is Yvette Cano.
I am the director of education at Everglades National Park,
and I'm going to take you through everything I do in a day.
I've been at Everglades national park for 11 years.
I like to make my habits earth-friendly,
being vegan, using products that are eco-friendly,
even on the farm we grow things organically,
I've taught my daughters how to compost.
All of those things are important,
that truly makes me happy.
- It is 5:00 AM and I want to hit the snooze button so bad,
but I won't. It's time to get up.
I normally wake up about 5:00 AM every single morning.
I'll sit up on the bed and I will take a few deep breaths
and remind myself why I'm grateful for a new day.
I am grateful for a new date
and the chance to make a difference.
As soon as I get out of bed I will go to the restroom
and I will splash some nice cold water on my face,
kind of that wake-up call.
Now it's time to moisturize.
I start off with my hydration mist.
Because I'm outdoors a lot,
it's really important to keep my skin hydrated.
As soon as that's dry,
I go ahead and apply some vitamin C serum.
I put my eye cream and then followed by my face cream
with a drop of frankincense essential oil.
The smell is phenomenal.
Getting ready for work as a park ranger is pretty easy.
We always wear the same uniform.
This is what is called a Class A uniform.
For us here in Everglades National Park,
it is this short sleeve shirt and the green pants
with shined shoes all the time
and our belt and our flat hat.
In my closet you can normally find about 20 pairs of pants
and about 20 different shirts.
There are two bunches of fresh, organic celery.
I actually make fresh celery juice every morning.
It just feels good.
Now it's time to drink it.
I always like to make myself fresh ginger tea.
So the night before
I will go out and grab some ginger right from my garden,
I will actually shred that ginger,
place it in some hot water,
let it steep for about 15 minutes,
and I'll take that with me for breakfast.
So for breakfast,
ever since I can remember,
I always have exactly the same thing.
Oatmeal with water, I have flax seed and hemp seeds.
I'm all about energy.
So anything that will give me energy,
that will put a pep in my step, I am all about that.
- The night before
I like to prep some of my daughter's lunches,
packing the snacks that can stay out overnight.
It really does save me time in the morning.
So now it's just making some sandwiches
and cutting up some fruit and the lunches will be done.
Just before I leave the house, the last two things I'll do,
is fix my hair and apply the sunscreens.
I use an SPF 30.
So any of the leftover sunscreen that I have from my face,
I actually go ahead and apply them on the back of my hands.
Also very sensitive skin, prone to sunspots,
south Florida sun is brutal.
Probably one of the last things I do
before I leave the house is fix my hair.
And because we wear a flat hat, it is not very friendly.
Once you're done on a program to take that hat off,
the hair is all over the place and not very comfortable.
So there is a hat hack, a beret, a simple beret.
I actually pick up the center of my hair
and beret that back, and it's magical.
For some reason, you don't get that bad hat hair,
and it totally works.
I try to get in my vehicle by 7:00, 7:10.
It is a beautiful morning on the farm.
So I live on a five acre farm.
We share the property with my family
and my dad will normally go out and feed the chickens,
collect avocados and any tropical fruit for the day.
But before I get going, I have one last thing to do.
We have a koi pond,
so I always walk over and feed the koi
and say good morning to them
and wish them happy swimming. [laughs]
Driving to work, I love to meditate during that time.
Being Hispanic,
I don't really understand what it is to be quiet very much,
so my meditation is actually out loud. [laughs]
It is gonna be a great day.
Get out there, inspire, motivate.
Let's get out there and have an awesome day.
I just arrived at the park,
there is a beautiful piece of a rainbow up in that cloud!
It's going to be a great day.
I will always put makeup on in my car.
I normally use earth tones.
I don't like anything too bright,
we're in uniform, we're outside, all the sweat happening.
Ready to start my day!
So my journey to become a park ranger
was a little different than most.
I was born and raised here in Miami, Florida,
and I became a teacher
and took my students to the Everglades
on field trips two times, three times a year,
whatever I can fit in.
When I was in sixth grade,
I went to that very same field trip.
So to make that connection
from the time that I was in sixth grade
to bringing my students out, it was magical.
I was hooked.
I'm living the dream! This is my dream job.
I just arrived in my office.
As soon as I got to work,
if I'm getting ready for a program,
I grab my props, I grab what I need,
I grab my backpack, my bottle of water, and I head out.
We bring about 20,000 students a year to the park.
We have recently added a virtual learning component.
As a result of that,
we're able to reach over 40,000 learners,
which really opens the doors
not only here locally in south Florida,
but around the world.
We are about 15 minutes
before starting on a virtual program,
but before we get started,
I wanted to show
a little bit about what I have with me today.
In my backpack,
I will always have a 40 ounce bottle of water.
So I actually drink about three of these a day.
So important to hydrate in south Florida.
Normally in the park,
what do I see every single day? Insects.
Every park ranger in Everglades National Park
has one of these magical bug suits.
So you can see that it has a double materials
and they're actually two different,
distinctly different shapes,
and that's on purpose
because those mosquitoes are really smart.
It has a face covering over the hood
and this tucks in into that zipper.
So serious business here, when it comes to mosquitoes,
as far as when I'm hiking in the water, on our Slough Slog,
these are my boots.
They are actually very comfortable and keep us safe
because you can get tangled up in muck or vegetation,
so this keeps our feet safe, our ankles from twisting.
In my backpack, you will always find a first aid kit.
One-time use ice packs
in case students or teachers are overheating.
Any props I might be using, or the just-in-case props.
Alligator scutes which are bones,
because we are always going to see an alligator,
perhaps some snail shells that we use
when we walk through different ecosystems,
limestone, the star of the show in the Everglades, our rock.
I will always have a piece of that.
What is the first thing I'm going to show them?
Hands down something called periphyton.
It is ooey and gooey, it's perfect.
It's actually algae,
and it is the base of the food chain
in Everglades National Park.
Most of the time they're like, "Ugh!",
and then I'm like, "But it's beautiful! Look! Smell it!"
And I'll bring it up to my face,
and oh my gosh, their reaction is priceless.
When they see my confidence with it,
then they go ahead and they touch it and they feel it,
and when we pull it apart,
there's tiny little insects and worms and different things.
So they understand the magic of life
in something that may not look appealing,
something that's in their hands
and is so valuable to the park.
National parks in the United States
are incredibly important.
These are pieces of land,
monuments, cemeteries, homes, roadways,
that tell the story of our nation.
We can learn all we want from textbooks,
but it's not until you visit these places,
you see the alligators, you touch sawgrass,
you smell the periphyton,
those are the moments
that you make the connection to our special parks.
I just finished my first program.
I'm in a pine rockland now,
and there is so much sweat happening. Hoo-wee!
I would say
that one of the coolest wildlife interactions that I've had
was when I had the opportunity
to do an alligator nest survey with our scientist.
Going out into the field and seeing what they're doing
and the data that they're collecting
and how it relates back to the health of the Everglades
is huge to then be able to turn around
and help students make those very same connections.
So with the scientist,
we actually analyzed the body of the mom alligator.
If she is tagged, we refer to that tag
and go back to see how much she's grown,
or if there's any things that have changed drastically
from the last time that she was caught.
And then we actually open up the nest.
It's pretty common to find baby turtles,
even baby snakes that have hatched.
Mom turtles, mom snakes take advantage of that heat,
and they also lay eggs in there, which is pretty neat.
And you would think that when the eggs hatch,
that mom would take advantage of these other creatures
and think of them as snacks, but she's in total mom mode,
anything that's living, anything that wiggles,
she will carefully take and place into the water.
Experiencing the miracle of life
in a creature that most people are afraid of
and seeing how much care she takes
and how dedicated she is to her babies, amazing!
It is 12:15, and it was time for lunch.
I have a tendency to eat my lunch really quickly,
and when I do that,
I will actually sneak outside for a little while
and go for a walk.
Listen to the birds, take some deep breaths,
appreciate the wind above my head rustling the trees.
When I think about health,
to me health encompasses everything, mind, body, and soul.
And in that our mental health is essential.
Our planet is constantly going through challenges,
which in turn puts stressors on us as humans,
as an habitats of this planet.
It is part of my everyday routine,
I try my very best to keep myself in check,
reminding myself how grateful I am
of everything that is placed in my life.
And when those challenges come around,
because inevitably they will,
looking at the challenges as opportunities to learn.
I love to camp at Everglades National Park,
as a park ranger in the Miami community,
people always look at you
as the one that will make sure that they're safe
while they're in Everglades National Park.
I decided to take advantage of that
and start to invite friends and family camping
that turned out very quickly to be about 70 people,
which sounds crazy,
but again, reflecting on my culture, Hispanics,
we like to do things with a lot of people.
That has been a tradition now
for the 11 years that I've been working in the park.
As a Latina in the national parks,
it's really important to entice our Miami community,
which is predominantly Hispanic,
to come and experience the national parks.
Whoo! It was hot out there.
I have to get to work now.
Emails, reports, all kinds of good stuff
to make sure our education program continues strong.
The most challenging part of my job
is a planet that is quickly changing.
Climate change is real,
and here in south Florida is so evident.
We're right at sea level,
we are constantly experiencing changes
as a result of this quickly changing planet.
My job as an educator
is to enlighten the students to see those changes
and really empower them
to know that they can make a difference,
that we still have time and it's in their hands.
This is a national park
that provides fresh water to the south Florida community.
The freshwater that the alligators are swimming in,
that the birds are looking for food in,
that the fishies are swimming through,
that's the same water we drink here in south Florida.
If that water is polluted
or we don't have a place for that water to sit
on our limestone floor,
then we're facing a crisis.
It is 4:40, I am officially done for the day
and headed home.
[chill electronic music]
I am home.
One of my favorite things is rollerblading.
I love rollerblading.
My daughters have gotten old enough
to start to learn to rollerblade.
I love when they join me, it's a lot of fun!
Time to rollerblade! See you soon.
[electronic music swells]
- I'm getting ready to do a circuit workout.
Today's an upper body combination with some cardio.
Exercising is a very important part of my day.
Without it, I wouldn't have the energy that I need
to not only give programs, carry my equipment,
but then also be a mom.
So in my free time, I love to garden,
I love to be out in the farm.
I am a total crafter,
I'm always up to something, making things,
I love to craft and make stuff.
By now you've probably realized that my days are long,
and it's not over yet, it's time for dinner!
And really that is one of the most important ways
that I fuel myself.
A plate of veggies, freshly roasted, some micro greens,
and these are actually grown right in the garden,
and to accompany that, a nice slice of avocado!
It is 7:45, nearly time for bedtime,
and we decided to have a little girl time.
[laughing] I love it! I guess it's my turn.
My daughters are at such a fun age,
from time to time they'll ask to do masks or facials,
and that's a lot of fun. [laughs]
My husband will always read a bedtime story.
It is 8:00 PM, truly my favorite time of the evening.
It's time for bedtime, and let me show you what's going on.
- She was squirming around as if she had ants in her pants!
- That is their tradition with dad
every single evening before they go to bed.
It is only 8:30, but I already took my shower,
that mask was fabulous,
and I went ahead and scrubbed off all that makeup
while in the shower.
Although I'm not ready to go to bed yet
because I have lots of things to do like prep lunches,
and finish cleaning the kitchen,
I will go ahead and take care of my skin.
I will always start with that hydration mist,
again, hot south Florida, hydration, hydration!
whether we're drinking water,
putting it on our skin, it is essential.
Then follow up with vitamin A serum for the evening
and the vitamin C night cream,
again with that frankincense essential oil.
One of the things that I actually do
right as I get out of the shower,
when my skin is still a little moist and not completely dry,
I will take a brush, a skin brush,
and I will dry brush my legs and my arms.
I really love doing that.
And that is a practice
that I've actually done since I was a teenager,
and it just really makes me feel great.
I have found the perfect place for me.
This is my passion. This is where I belong.
I will retire from being the director of education
for Everglades National Park.
I love the difference that I can make,
I love the opportunity to teach students, adults,
our community, people from all over the world,
about the value of our national parks.
That is extremely gratifying to me.
It is 10:30 and time for bed.
I had an amazing day.
Thank you for following along, goodnight.
[upbeat electronic music]