Athens, Ga. – The 2010-2011 Georgia Sea Grant Internship Program has awarded prestigious one-year internships to four recent graduates from across the country to serve as educators for the University of Georgia’s Marine Education Center and Aquarium on Skidaway Island, Georgia.
The internships support Georgia Sea Grant’s mission to provide educational activities that promote environmental and economic vitality in coastal Georgia. The interns will teach students from pre-kindergarten through graduate levels, as well as Elderhostel groups, with lessons taking place at MECA as well as on pristine barrier islands off the coast of Georgia, in both the field and lab, and by distance learning. Interns live on site for 50 weeks in studio apartments provided by MECA.
The following interns were selected from a competitive pool of international applicants and began training at MECA in August:
- Lisa Olenderski (Coastal Carolina University) from Lititz, Pennsylvania
- Samantha Narduzzi (Hiram College) from Independence, Ohio
- Jaclyn Miller (University of North Carolina Wilmington) from Lancaster, Pennsylvania
- Rachael Grabowski (Saint Francis University) from Level Green, Pennsylvania
“I’m so eager to learn from all the staff, facility and other interns,” said Grabowski, who holds a bachelor of science degree with a concentration in marine biology. “I’m looking forward to improving my teaching skills so I can more efficiently communicate my passion of the natural world to others.”
The Marine Education Center and Aquarium is a part of the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service and offers both formal and informal educational programs focused on the ecology of Georgia’s estuaries, coastal islands, and offshore waters. MECA’s facilities house a public aquarium containing indigenous species, teaching labs, a lecture hall, touch tank rooms, a 60-person dormitory, cafeteria, docks and boats for teaching/trawling, an aquaculture research facility and a science library.
For more information on the Georgia Sea Grant Internship Program or Marine Extension Service at the University of Georgia, see www.marex.uga.edu.