Athens, Ga. – Georgia Sea Grant has awarded four one-year marine education internships to recent college graduates from across the country. The 2012-2013 interns will serve as educators for the University of Georgia Marine Extension Service.
The interns will spend 50 weeks on Skidaway Island at MAREX’s education branch—the Marine Education Center and Aquarium. They will teach thousands of students, teachers and the general public over the year. Additionally, they will participate in outreach by judging science fair projects, teaching during science nights at local schools and field-testing educational curricula.
The interns were selected from an international pool of applicants and began training in September. They are Kathryn Ruhrold of Fort Wayne, Ind.; Lauren Bien of Cincinnati, Ohio; Kasey Schollenberger of Toms River, N.J.; and Kristen Kelly of Atlanta.
Ruhrold graduated from Ball State University with a bachelor’s degree in zoology and a minor in Spanish. Bien received her bachelor’s degree in biology and a minor in marine science from Wittenberg University. Schollenberger graduated from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington with a bachelor’s degree in marine biology. And Kelly received her bachelor’s degree in biology from Georgia College & State University.
The internship program promotes the mission of both Georgia Sea Grant and MAREX, contributing to educational activities that support environmental and economic vitality and encourage stewardship in coastal Georgia. MAREX offers formal and informal educational programs focused on the ecology of Georgia’s estuaries and coastal islands.
The Georgia Sea Grant Internship Program began in 1987 and has risen to become a nationally recognized marine education program under the auspices of Maryellen Timmons, Georgia Sea Grant internship director, and Anne Lindsay, MAREX associate director for marine education. For more information, see http://georgiaseagrant.uga.edu/article/internship_program/.
Established in 1972, the Marine Extension Service facilities on Skidaway Island include a public aquarium, museum exhibits, touch tanks, interpretive trails and boardwalks, teaching labs and classrooms, dormitory and cafeteria, docks and boats for teaching and study, an aquaculture research facility and access to barrier island field sites. For more information, see http://www.marex.uga.edu/aquarium/.
UGA Marine Extension Service
The Marine Extension Service is a public service and outreach unit serving the Georgia coast to increase efficiency of existing marine industries, identify new industries that do not harm the environment and increase public awareness and understanding of coastal ecosystems. For more information, see http://www.marex.uga.edu/.
Georgia Sea Grant
Georgia Sea Grant is part of a national program within the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration that engages research and outreach expertise from colleges, universities and research institutes throughout Georgia in support of programs that promote the economic, cultural and environmental health of Georgia’s coast and local communities. Georgia Sea Grant is housed at UGA, a land- and sea-grant institution. For more information, see http://georgiaseagrant.uga.edu.