I am currently entering my fourth and final year as an undergraduate student, enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and studying Honors Environment and Development through the School of Environment with a minor in Biology. I have previously worked with the Ricciardi lab as part of an independent research project in which I worked with invasive crayfish. I am interested in aquatic conservation and sustainability programs within zoos and public aquariums.
Working at the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been a long-held dream of mine since I was about four years old, and when I was offered an internship with their Seafood Watch program, I had high hopes of contributing to the aquarium’s mission of not only inspiring conservation of the oceans, but also contributing research that would advance that conservation. The Seafood Watch program is a part of the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Conservation and Science department, which focuses on internal and collaborative research with the world’s leading marine scientists in support of ocean conservation. Seafood Watch uses a science-based approach to assess the sustainability of seafood products that we consume in restaurants and buy in grocery stores and gives each fishery a rating of green (best choice), yellow (good alternative), or red (avoid) in order to help inform consumers and procurers of which products are the best for the environment. Seafood Watch has presented to the United Nations and is a global leader in seafood sustainability research.
While Seafood Watch has undertaken a huge amount of research and action regarding the seafood that we consume, there has not been much research done anywhere regarding the sustainability of the seafood that is fed to animals at zoos and aquariums. My responsibility as an intern with Seafood Watch was to head this project. I collaborated with other zoos and aquariums that had established relationships with Seafood Watch to gather metrics on what types of seafood they were ordering. I then assigned each of the species a rating based on the research done by Seafood Watch, as well identified which species did not have assessments completed, as these were prime targets for assessments in the future. Finally, I presented the results of my research to several members of the aquarium, including the Chief Conservation and Science Officer, the Director of Veterinary Services, several members of the husbandry team, and most of the Seafood Watch team.
There were so many incredible highlights of my internship, but the best by far were the people I met. Nowhere else have I encountered a group of people so knowledgeable about their field, so committed to a single goal, and so collaborative in their efforts to achieve that goal. My co-workers welcomed me so warmly, hosting a welcome lunch party and a goodbye party on the beach outside our office. They were so thoughtful, taking the time to explain acronyms and give me context when I sat in on meetings, and were constantly trying to find ways to keep me involved in Seafood Watch’s work following the end of my internship.
Part of why I am so excited about this internship is that the skills and connections I have gained through this experience will inform my honors research project, in which I will be assessing the seafood that we use in our dining halls using the same methodology that I utilized while on my internship. This honors research will be supervised by Prof. George McCourt and is expected to be completed the fall semester of 2019.
I believe this internship has made a huge difference in my career path. Not only have I successfully entered the professional world in my chosen field and made a number of important connections, but I have also been in conversations with members of the Seafood Watch program to take contract work from them over the next few months, as they were impressed with the work I completed during my internship.
The funding I received helped me significantly in completing my internship as it covered my food, lodging, and transportation expenses, which was essential as my internship was unpaid. Thanks to The Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund Internship Award, I was able to accept this incredible internship position despite the lack of available funds to compensate me for my work. Thank you so much to the Arts Undergraduate Society for their continued work to create and manage this fund.
