Reflection:

This summer, as the cliché goes, went by “in the blink of an eye.” I had a lot of fun at the Slough, and being there every other week truly felt like going on vacation. I have had a hectic schedule this summer to say the least, but working once again with the South Slough staff was a pleasure. While last summer’s internship largely prepared me to have success right away for this year’s science camps, I certainly became a more confident educator through my additional exposure to leading camps this summer.

Did this internship affect my future career choices?:

My experience this summer did not affect my career path, but my overall time as an Oregon Sea Grant intern at the South Slough certainly has. I am in the process of applying to Wildlife Ecology PhD programs and hope to pursue a career in academia, research, and wilderness management. My time at SSNERR has also motivated me to pursue educational outreach opportunities in the future, whether that be as a volunteer or through occupational means. I am a passionate student of ecology and animal behavior, which has only been amplified by my past two summers as a Summer Scholar.

Next Steps:

At this time, my next next steps are to complete my undergraduate honor thesis and to obtain funding for graduate school. I have spoken with prospective PhD mentors from various universities this summer and have options that are contingent on either their labs obtaining funding or me obtaining funding. Ideally, if I can win a competitive fellowship award, such as the NSF GRFP, then I will be able to conduct meaningful research under the mentor that I hope to work with. Most of my time is currently occupied with data collection for my thesis (which is a study on how blue fluorescent light affects bee movement and pollination behavior) and polishing my applications for graduate school funding. I am also preparing to take the GRE in September and working in a bird physiology lab, which will hopefully prepare me for some work I hope to do with birds in grad school. I will also be working closely with the South Slough to complete the SWMP water quality exhibit over the course of the next few months.

Thanks!

Thanks again to Oregon Sea Grant and the South Slough for the tremendous opportunities over the past two summers! I will keep in regular contact with members of the South Slough and appreciate all Sea Grant has done in opening new career pathways for me.

This summer I’ve been met with an abundance of new experiences. Before this summer I’d never been on the Oregon coast or seen a tufted puffin. Although I’d been to tidepools before, I’m leaving this internship with a whole new world of knowledge about the species found there as well as the seabirds that live on Haystack Rock.  My internship with Haystack Rock Awareness Program (HRAP) allowed me to spend my days thinking about how science communication could be used to increase awareness and action within marine conservation. While a lot of my time was spent reading literature on the topic and conducting research, I also gained so much from just speaking to people on the beach or around Cannon Beach. Before this internship, I didn’t think of myself as someone that could just spark a conversation with a stranger. Through this internship, I have been able to improve my communication skills and have grown considerably in my ability to casually relay scientific information. 

Since I recently graduated from college I am currently looking for jobs and have a few job prospects in environmental consultant firms. I believe that the skills that I have developed during my internship will provide me with a strong foundation for starting my career and will benefit me further down the road when I choose to go to grad school.

This summer has flown by! I can’t believe it is already week eight of the summer scholars internship. In the past two weeks I have been able to attend Eat Oregon Seafood’s “Shop at the Dock” events. Shop at the Dock is a tour of the local fishing docks that goes over Oregon fishing management regulations and helps consumers navigate purchasing seafood directly from fishermen. In addition to contributing information to the tours, I have also learned a lot from participating in them. One fun fact is that all Oregon fishing gear is required to have safety systems in place that release gear after a short period of time to prevent ghost fishing!

This Friday will mark my last Shop at the Dock and my last interview for my Oregon Seafood Journey project. I am so excited to be posting the interviews from this project to our Instagram account (@eatORseafood) next week! I have learned a lot about the Oregon seafood industry while connecting with people up and down the coast and hope these interviews make other Oregonians just as passionate about purchasing local seafood. In addition to learning more about the industry, I have also gotten a lot better with my interview skills. It is fun comparing the flow of my first interview to my most recent one and realizing how much more relaxed they sound now. Hopefully I’ll be able to use my new found interview skills during my graduate degree!

The most surprising part of the summer for me was how similar the values of everyone I interviewed was. It didn’t matter if they were a processor or fisher or restaurant owner or retailer. Every person wanted the public to know how well managed and beneficial (for the environment and the economy) the Oregon seafood industry is! This message also shined through at our Shop at the Dock tours. In post tour interviews, consumers were even raving about the high standards of the Oregon seafood industry!

If I could start the summer over, knowing what I know now, there is one thing that I would definitely change. I would connect more with the other Oregon seafood commissions and try to set up a better network for re-sharing our information. I would also write a couple of press releases to try and spread the word more as well! Nevertheless, I am glad our posts are reaching as many people as they are currently. Hopefully the information will continue to spread to other Oregonians!!

Interning at the Oregon Coastal and Ocean Information Network forced me to become a jack of all trades – working on outreach emails, interviewing researchers and writing spotlight articles, drafting a budget, and understanding ArcGIS online. I have gained valuable experience in areas that I could never have imagined at the start of my internship because I was willing to jump into any and all projects, even those outside of the scope of original internship description!

With wonderful mentors in the Sea Grant CEI program, and within OCOIN itself, I learned the importance of networking and met passionate ocean and coastal researchers. I am also grateful for my coworker and fellow summer scholar, Joshua, who I teamed up with at OCOIN to divide and complete all of our summer tasks. Together we have navigated working in a remote environment, learning new software, and optimizing a research mapping tool. Our teamwork allowed us to share and learn from one another and organize our agendas and workloads like a real professional team.

As I enter the last few weeks of my internship, I look forward to organizing OCOIN’s annual meeting and updating more research in our mapping tool that will help our research network stay connected throughout the year to come.

Doing an internship through Oregon Seagrant has been an incredible experience. Working alongside the Haystack Rock Awareness Program and Friends of Haystack Rock has provided me with invaluable experience. Approaching the end of the internship feels a bit bittersweet. I am excited to see the manifestation of my project, but I’m also fully aware that the days of watching the puffins jump off of the Haystack Rock are coming to an end.

Through this internship, I’ve been able to learn a lot about people’s passions regarding nature. Throughout the summer I have spoken to many people that have shared stories about what the tidepools looked like when they were younger or about how their love for the outdoors always leads them back to the rock. I’ve learned that many people have traveled all around the world, but Haystack Rock remains special in their hearts. They often talk about how they came as kids, and how they ended up bringing their own kids. While I’ve learned a lot about the marine environment and species identification, I’ve also learned that Haystack Rock is also home to many people and that’s why its protection is important. It has been mentioned to me time and time again that there is a feeling of hopelessness a feeling that there is little they can do as individuals to help. I’ve realized it is a common notion to feel helpless and alone when it comes to the state of the natural environment, however, we have this feeling as a collective. Collective hopelessness, about individual impact. I believe that through effective methods of science communication, this feeling can transform into a feeling of collective hope and community. Science communication is more than just making research more accessible, it is also a way to bring people from all different backgrounds together for the things that matter. 

Something that surprised me this summer was the large disparity between female and male volunteers and staff. I noticed that the majority of the staff and volunteers were female and as introductions were being made and I attended meetings, I realized that most of the people I was meeting were women. This was something that made me feel empowered because throughout my college career I have felt imposter syndrome because of the lack of representation within stem for women and people of color. Seeing women in the different positions and involvement in marine conservation provided me with a great perspective and a better sense of the different roles I can see myself in, in the future. 

If I could start the internship again with what I know now, I would start by asking more questions in the beginning. I would give myself the flexibility to be more curious about my project and not just take it as a set of tasks that need to be completed. While I wouldn’t really change anything about my approach to the project, I would make sure to give myself the room to feel the confidence and comfort I feel coming towards the final weeks of the internship. Confidence is something I’ve always valued, but it is something that I know comes with practice.