In the Field
Miahna Corella, Biology '19, secured an internship at the High Desert Museum, where she works with a team to carefully care for about 30 birds — including birds of prey — as well as mammals and repitiles in the museum's wildlife center.
There was a time when she didn’t think she’d make it through high school. A series of circumstances found her living on her own at 16. Graduating with her class seemed unlikely.
A family friend saw her struggling, and bought a cap and gown. When Miahna Corella questioned her, the family friend was low key. “It’s for just in case, …” the friend said.
Today, Miahna is soaring — with eagles and other birds of prey, no less. Her lifelong curiosity about nature, and how the natural world works fueled — and still fuels her. And she didn’t know it at the time, but so did that cap and gown.
She’s now only 12 classes away from completing her bachelor’s degree in biology, with a chemistry minor to boot, thanks in part to veteran education benefits. Her mother had served in the military when Miahna was younger.
Like other senior biology majors, she has immersed herself in her field. She works part time at the Sunriver Nature Center where she introduces visitors to the wildlife there – six birds of prey, helps area residents with wildlife identification, and even helps wildlife when rehabilitation is needed.
She spends time behind the telescopes at the center, too, working with the Oregon Observatory team to bring Central Oregon’s starlit night skies a bit closer for visitors.
“I like raptors, but the more knowledgeable I am about other wildlife and the natural world,” she said, “the better off I’ll be when I apply for jobs.”
Birds of prey — owls, hawks, eagles, vultures — do seem to be where Miahna’s heart is though.
She recently started an internship at the High Desert Museum where she helps care for about 30 birds in the museum’s wildlife center, and pitches in with mammal and reptile care, too. She couldn’t help but share her first photo with the museum’s golden eagle with her biology instructor, Ann Petersen.
The work she does at the museum and the people she works with there inspire her.
“One day I might lead a wildlife program at a place just like this,” she says, imagining her future.