Reflection: Throughout all of the craziness that has ensued from 2020, I am still so grateful that I had the opportunity to be a Sea Grant summer scholar and to have had the opportunity to work with the ODFW’s Marine Reserve Program. I’m thankful that everyone I’ve worked with has been so flexible with everything that has happened and that we all still pushed forward to make this internship happen. It’s pretty amazing to look back and see all of the work done by all of the other summer scholars as well.

Moving forward: Doing this internship only solidified that I’d like to continue in learning more about marine policies and marine outreach. With the recent wildfires that have happened across the Pacific Northwest, I only feel more motivated to engage more with the public on policies and knowledge of the environment.

Next steps: My next steps are to finish my couple of classes for undergrad. After finishing my undergrad, I am considering graduate school but I know I’d like to take a year off by either doing another internship, or working for a year for an organization that engages with the public about environmental education. It’s hard to solidify any of my plans though because we don’t know how long COVID-19 will affect travel, internships, jobs, etc.