It has been a busy summer for Discovery Hall Programs at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab. Thankfully, with continued support from Mississippi-Alabama Sea Grant, we had five incredible interns to help make it a successful one!
Discovery Hall Programs offers educational and fun summer opportunities for kids K-12, a four-week marine science high school course, and professional learning opportunities for teachers.
It would not have been possible for us to deliver these quality programs without some additional summer help.
Grace Carey came to us with a degree in fisheries and wildlife from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. While her most exciting experience of the summer was long-lining and catching sharks with students in our month-long high school marine science course, her most rewarding experience was learning alongside DHP educators.
“I picked up a lot watching and assisting in the field and lab and learned a lot about connecting with young people and classroom management working with the educators,” Grace shared. Grace has accepted a wildlife rehabilitation internship in the Florida Keys and intends to pursue a master’s degree in marine science.
Olivia Proctor, a marine biology major from Southeast Missouri State University, found her niche teaching campers about specimens caught in the trawl aboard the R/V Alabama Discovery. Her favorite was showing off an Atlantic stingray to the students while they safely touched it.
“Marine education wasn’t really on my radar before applying for this position,” Olivia confessed. “As a Midwesterner, I was mostly looking forward to learning more about the Gulf Coast, but, as I learned alongside the campers, a passion developed.”
Olivia will graduate in December and hopes to pursue additional opportunities in marine education before obtaining a master’s degree in the field. Both of these young ladies have bright futures ahead of them. Hopefully through their summer experiences they have gained some knowledge and skills that will prepare them for whatever paths they choose to take.
Gavin Mason, one of our three Mobile County Public Schools high school interns, is a student at Mary G. Montgomery. His favorite activity of the summer was helping with the offshore reef fishing trip with our high school students. Gavin is an experienced fisherman, and this opportunity gave him more experience in a field he intends to pursue.
“I would like to study marine biology and go into field research, so I especially enjoyed learning about shark tagging and other current research techniques,” Gavin shared.
To tackle something a little different at the lab, Iven Keomanyuong joined our crew to capture and produce videos and other promotional pieces for our education programs. He had previous digital design experience at Alma Bryant High School in Irvington, Alabama, and was grateful for the opportunity to expand his knowledge of video creation with the Sea Lab.
“I especially enjoyed the boat trips and capturing the joy of the campers' experiences throughout the summer,” Iven shared. You can get a glimpse of what he experienced from the video he produced here.
Jackson Cruikshank, also a student from Alma Bryant High School, is no stranger to Discovery Hall Programs. Jackson led his ROV team to victory at the Northern Gulf Coast MATE Regional competition, hosted by DHP. He has also been a valuable set of hands repairing and updating ROVs used in DHP programs.
This summer Jackson was able to spread his wings a bit assisting with our Ocean STEM Teacher workshop. During and leading up to the program, he made, deployed and tested scientific instruments, including hydrophones and drifters.
“This experience really has me thinking about my future and what career opportunities are out there,” Jackson shared.
In addition to assisting with the workshop, he also worked with some of our summer campers, sharing his ROV journey and knowledge. It was so rewarding to see him talk with the kids about building his ROV with his teammates and what competing and winning meant to him. With Jackson’s charisma and intelligence and the connections he made this summer, his options are no doubt limitless.
It was a joy for me and others in DHP to watch the personal growth of these young people. Those of us in marine education at DISL agree that we have a certain obligation to train and inspire future scientists and science educators. It is through these paid, competitive internship programs we can achieve those goals. Visit the Dauphin Island Sea Lab website to learn more about DHP internship opportunities.
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Meet the author
JoAnn Moody
Marine Educator, Dauphin Island Sea Lab Discovery Hall Programs
As a marine educator with Dauphin Island Sea Lab Discovery Hall Programs, JoAnn Moody focuses on sharing environmental and Gulf of Mexico literacy with students of all ages. She translates and... Read more
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