Name: Alejandro Gonzalez

Position: PROMISE Intern, Linn County Extension Office

Hometown: Mexico City, Mexico

Best part of your job: I believe that the best part of my job is traveling. This summer one of the projects that I’m working on is VEGNET, a regional pest population monitoring and reporting network for Willamette Valley growers of vegetables for processing. Since most of the insect traps are located in different towns we have drive several hours a week to go check them. Besides that, meeting new people and making connections is another great part of my job.

Something someone might be surprised to know about you: I’m guessing my background can surprise some of the people that already know me, and it can shock someone that don’t really know me. I never noticed or pay too much attention how dangerous my town was until I moved out of there. It is said that the place where I lived, was and still is the second most dangerous places in Mexico City. I grew up in an atmosphere full of violence, but like I said this never caught my attention until I came here to live in the United States.

Favorite book/movie/album: Movies: Gladiator, Into the Wild; Book: El caballero de la Armadura Oxidada; Album: Torches by Foster the People