I gained what I most wanted from the event: experience with education outreach. My favorite part of the day was seeing just how much the students welcomed new methods of learning. It felt wonderful to participate in giving them this experience, and reminded me of my own favorite classroom lessons and activities from middle school, which I still remember today. In this case, I gained as much as the students did from the event!

Sea Turtle Day 2020 was a fantastic experience for me. I was able to become involved in public outreach and science communication, two of my own personal goals, and also to see the response of the community to our actions. I loved my first ANGARI outreach event, and I’m looking forward to the next one!

My first few weeks as an ANGARI Foundation intern were mostly spent bringing me up to speed with the workings of the foundation, what would be expected of me as an intern, and what I could expect going forward. Work through an ANGARI Foundation internship doesn’t all take place in the office.

LagoonFest as a whole, was a big part of my internship, and one of the most fun parts. I was able to interact with the public and get them interested in science. It is often hard to find outlets that allow you to educate the public about science in a fun way, and LagoonFest was definitely a great outlet for this.

Overall, I experienced a lot of firsts on this expedition. This was my first trip to the Florida keys and my first time ever being able to witness some amazing marine species, like Caribbean reef squid and spotted eagle rays, in their natural habitat. Experiences like this are extremely humbling. To me, it is a reminder that we, as a collective group, are working towards conserving these animals and the environments they live in.