Five Undergraduate Students Gain Experience though Sea-run Fish Internship
This summer, five undergraduate students are gaining experience in sea-run fish research and management as participants in Maine Sea Grant and NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center’s Undergraduate Internships in Diadromous Ecosystem Research Program.
The program, which launched in 2020, pairs student interns with mentors who are practitioners in the field. The 2024 cohort will be working with scientists and resources managers at Maine Sea Grant, Maine Department of Marine Resources, and NOAA Fisheries.
The program is also supported by the Northeast Fisheries Science Center and the National Sea Grant’s Community Engaged Internship program, both of which have provided funding for internship positions.
Students will be participating in 13 weeks of field work, lab work, and hands-on learning experiences, as well as professional development activities focused on science communication and diversity, equity, and inclusion. At the end of their internship, program participants will present their findings at a student symposium.
“This year, students are involved with various projects ranging from Atlantic Salmon habitat evaluation to age and growth studies. This field-based internship is providing invaluable experience from local fisheries professionals to these students seeking to become the next generation of environmental scientists,” said Maine Sea Grant Extension Associate Justin Stevens. Stevens led the Sea Grant effort to organize the internship program and is a co-coordinator of the program with Ruth Haas-Castro of NOAA Fisheries.
Jaidyn Negley, University of Maine
Host: Maine Sea Grant, University of Maine
Jaidyn is working alongside Justin Stevens as an intern on the Orono branch of the Atlantic salmon restoration project, conducted by NOAA and Maine Sea Grant.
“I’m most excited about being able to learn so many new things this summer. Almost all of what I’ve been working on has been new to me and has only helped to build my experience, skills, and knowledge base; I love learning about the inner workings of species and their habitats, which has been a focus so far for Atlantic salmon. I also love that I got to learn how to extract otoliths – it’s something I’ve been wanting to learn for a while now and I’m so thankful this internship gave me that opportunity.”
Read Jaidyn’s profile.
Audrey Fox, University of New England
Host: Maine Department of Marine Resources
Audrey will be spending the summer working on the Jonesboro project doing river restoration and temperature logging. Audrey looks forward to her contribution of the restoration of Maine’s rivers.
Read Audrey’s profile.
Emily Coulombe, University of Maine
Host: Maine Department of Marine Resources
Emily is working with Maine DMR to operate the fish lift at Milford Fishway Trap in Milford, Maine, where Emily and her team count and record the fish that pass through, focusing on the federally endangered Atlantic Salmon.
“My favorite part of this job is getting to directly contribute to the restoration of several endangered or threatened species in our area. Of course, on a simple note, handling live individuals of these important species is really the best part!”
Read Emily’s profile.
Gretchen Ramlo, University of Maine at Machias
Host: Maine Department of Marine Resources
Gretchen has been working in Augusta at the Maine DMR with Jennifer Knoll monitoring sea run fish at the Lockwood Fishway trap and freshwater habitat related work.
Read Gretchen’s profile.
Tory Meringer, Colby College
Host: NOAA Fisheries at Woods Hole
Tory’s will be working alongside Ruth Haas-Castro at the NOAA Fisheries Department at Woods Hole. Tory’s project for the summer includes image analysis for the 2024 Atlantic Salmon scale sampling on sites from the Narraguagus River in Maine to add to the annual data base. She will be contributing to the annual monitoring and data collection from scales of the Atlantic Salmon smolts.
Read Tory’s profile.
Posted 16 July 2024