Monday, July 9, 2012

Summer 2012 Interns: Post #4

Welcome to another installment of the 2012 Summer Intern Blog!  Here at BIOS the summer education programs, courses, and internships are in full-swing and the research station is bustling with energy.  Taking part in these activities are the following interns:

Beth McKenna, 20, is a rising junior at Princeton University where she is a pre-med studying ecology and evolutionary biology.  She is spending the summer at BIOS working in the Education Department with the Waterstart program.  Originally from Massachusetts, Beth decided to do an internship at BIOS because she saw it as a unique opportunity to explore marine biology while spending time outdoors. She is on the track team at Princeton where she does the pentathlon and heptathlon, and is also involved with Outdoor Action—the Princeton pre-orientation for freshman.



Matt Stone, 30, is a third grade teacher in Washington, D.C. and a Master’s student at Johns Hopkins University where he is getting his Technology for Educators degree.  Originally from Oklahoma, he came to Bermuda last year on his honeymoon and decided it would be an ideal location to pursue an internship that would combine his loves of science, teaching, and diving.  Matt will be spending six weeks working in the Education Department at BIOS with the Marine Science Internship (MSI) program. When not teaching or diving, he sings in a band in D.C. and plays a variety of sports, including American football.



Stacy Peltier, 27, will be graduating from Portland State University this fall with a BS in Earth Science.  Last year she worked Dr. Eric Hochberg in the Coral Reef Ecology and Optics (CREO) Lab as an REU student gathering data to determine if bio-optical methods can be used to set quantitative parameters for coral health.  Stacy enjoyed her experience so much that she returned to BIOS and the CREO Lab this summer to continue her work on bio-optics and assist with lab management, which she hopes will provide her with experience for future work as a lab technician.  In addition to SCUBA diving, she enjoys painting, playing beach volleyball and is interested in anything sci-fi.



Kascia White, 20, is a rising senior at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia where she is majoring in biology with a minor in psychology.  As a Bermuda Program intern she’s spending the summer with Dr. Samantha De Putron in the Ocean Acidification Lab studying the variation in Porites astreodes larval fitness between the rim reef and patch reef.  However, this isn’t her first time at BIOS; Kascia actually began as a Waterstart student five years ago and has been returning every summer to continue gaining marine science research experience.   She loves animals and is interested in pursuing a career as a marine science veterinarian.



Colin Du, 28, recently graduated from Trent University with a M.S. in molecular biology.  He joins us this summer as part of the CABIOS program, which provides scholarships specifically for Canadian students.  Colin is working with Dr. Andrea Bodnar in the Molecular Discovery lab assessing the antioxidant capacity of three different species of sea urchins, including one with an average lifespan of 200 years!  He first heard about BIOS from a fellow student at Trent and went online to learn more about Dr. Bodnar’s work.  He is currently applying to dental school and, in his spare time, likes to cook and learn about world history.



Believe it or not, there are still more interns to introduce you to!  Stay tuned for another installment of the Summer Intern Blog to meet new faces and learn about their research experiences...

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