Nicole Segnini: Communicator and Advocate for Diversity in the Outdoors (U.S. National Park Service)

collage of six images of a person at different national parks — Nicole Segnini, 2021-2022 LHIP intern, visiting different national parks across the nation.
NPS Photos

Meet Nicole Segnini, a 2021-2022 communications intern at the National Park Service Office of Communications as part of the Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP). Nicole became a communications leader, gained a broad range of communications experience, including digital, and created a diverse portfolio of products from communications campaigns, to building websites, to creating videos and a podcast series, and more.

Born in Merida, Venezuela, Nicole is a world traveler who is fluent in English and Spanish. She loves connecting with new people and learning about different cultures. She is also an advocate for engaging diverse communities in the outdoors and elevating the stories that matter most.

Before becoming an intern, Nicole worked as a writer and associate producer at a local TV station in Orlando, Florida. But early 2021 she decided to change gears and work somewhere where she could combine her journalism experience with her passion for the outdoors and conservation. That passion and experience landed her an internship with the National Park Service.

Here are some of Nicole’s favorite projects throughout her time as a Latino Heritage Internship Program intern.

Conservation Diaries

Nicole created a podcast series called Conservation Diaries. The series highlights young diverse people at the National Park Service and the important work that they do to protect and preserve our natural, historical, cultural, and recreational resources. Her goal was to engage the rising generation of stewards, of all cultural backgrounds and to picture themselves in conservation careers or working in the National Park Service. The podcast series has ten episodes so far. It features former Latino Heritage Internship Program interns, and current National Park Service staff who were once interns, fellows, volunteers, or part of specialized programs.

“I wanted to create a product to highlight the very important contributions young people from underrepresented and minority communities have made and continue to make to the National Park Service, and to amplify their passion and commitment to the protection of our natural, historical, cultural, and recreational resources.”

Communications Leader for Latino Conservation Week

In 2021 Nicole led the communications campaign for Latino Conservation Week, an annual celebration seeks to engage Latino communities (and everyone) in National Park Service recreational activities and stewardship that benefit their local communities and parks, and it emphasizes the community’s role in conservation. She created fun and informative content for both social media and web, engaged a community of parks, partners and stakeholders, and wrote guidance on how they could participate. In 2022 she helped lead the communications campaign once again. This time she produced an Instagram reel (short video) sharing ways people could participate in Latino Conservation Week and helped create infographics to get people involved, which were also translated to Spanish.

“As a Latina and an immigrant, one of my goals during this internship was to amplify the voices of Latinos/Latinas/Latinx at the National Park Service and make sure that stories that could be lesser known are elevated. I also want my community to feel safe and accepted in the outdoors and national parks, and that they can see themselves represented.”

graphic with latino conservation week in the middle and four ways to celebrate

Left image
English-language version
Credit: Graphic designed by the National Park Service

Right image
Spanish-language version
Credit: Graphic designed by the National Park Service

screenshot of zoom call with six people on camera — Screenshot of the Hispanic Heritage Month Power of Parks for Health panel discussion that Nicole moderated
NPS Photo

Hispanic Heritage Month Communications

Also in 2021, Nicole was part of the communications campaign for Hispanic Heritage Month, where she helped share and highlight the importance of the annual celebration and Latinos’ contributions to both the United States and the National Park Service. Nicole helped write a news release in both English and Spanish, highlighting ten ways to celebrate the month. During these communications campaigns, Nicole gave trainings and presentations to up to 200 people on topics about strategic communications and how parks and programs can and should get involved in these celebrations, as well as guidance on best practices to follow while creating and sharing social media and web content.

As part of Hispanic Heritage Month, Nicole also moderated a Power of Parks for Health online roundtable, a partnership between the National Park Service and National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). The panel discussed present and historical barriers to outdoor access, current opportunities for engagement, as well as strategies to empower health connections to parks and public lands within the Hispanic/Latinx communities.

“Historically there have been many barriers for people of color and minorities to enjoy the outdoors and green spaces. As someone who had the privilege to enjoy these spaces from a young age, I want to work to make sure people in my community and from all backgrounds also experience the beauty and health benefits of being outdoors.”

screenshot of main page of spanish website of el camino real de tierra adentro national historic trail — Screenshot of the Spanish-language website of El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro Sendero Historico Nacional
NPS Photo

El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro NHT Spanish Website

An interesting project Nicole took part of was translating and creating an entire website in Spanish for El Camino Real de Tierra Adentro National Historic Trail. This is the first fully translated Spanish website for a national trail, which is significant because of the trail’s extensive multicultural and international history. The trail’s historian, Angelica Sanchez-Clark, helped provide translations of articles and important trail information, while Nicole built the website from scratch and translated other important content. The Spanish translated website includes some of the same content of its English counterpart, including a translated Junior Ranger booklet. This was a challenge for Nicole because she had never built a website before, but she loved being able to learn new things and provide help for other when it comes to the National Park Service’s website.

“Providing translations for websites is the first step to making national parks and trails more inclusive and accessible to everyone. Spanish translations also help us communicate with a community who is greatly underrepresented in park visitation and staffing.”

screenshot of main page of website about immigration with the title "shaping their own american dream" — Screenshot of the homepage of the Immigration subject site Nicole helped reshape
NPS Photo

Reshaping the Immigration Subject Site

NPS.gov has sites for specific subjects and topics that expand the work the National Park Service does with its partners, friends, and neighbors to protect parks and foster stewardship in communities across the United States. One of those sites talks about immigration in the United States. Nicole helped re-shape the website into a more inclusive and engaging site. Her goal was to make sure to capture what the “American Dream” really means and how the reality for many is not fair nor without sacrifices and prejudices. She focused on shaping the website to be easier for visitors to find things such as parks to visit to learn more about immigration. Nicole, an immigrant and new citizen of the United States, felt compelled to reshaping the content and language of the website to be more inclusive and genuine.

“As an immigrant myself, I didn’t know how much of our history was preserved in national parks. Immigrants have helped shape this nation, while also facing challenges and prejudices. I think is important to continue telling these stories and honor those who are still making the journey to this country.”

National Park Week 2022 Video

In 2022 the National Park Week’s theme was "sPark Connections,” telling visitors that there is always something new to discover at the more than 400 national parks and National Park Service programs and partnerships in communities across the country. Every day of the week there was a theme: discovery, creativity, collaboration, innovation, opportunities, preservation, action, curiosity, and memories. Nicole’s idea for a video was to highlight all these themes using videos from visitors and park staff. Her goal was making sure to highlight smaller parks and programs, as well as diverse people, especially indigenous peoples. The video while short (1:27 minutes) showcases different activities people can do at national parks, while accentuating the work of diverse staff members across the country.

“I wanted to make sure to highlight people from all backgrounds and communities because national parks are for all of us. However, there is still a long way to go to make the National Park Service more diverse and inclusive. We should all feel and be welcomed, represented, and included because ALL of our stories are part of the greater American story.”