Experience

In summer 2025,  I worked as an intern at New England Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts. My internship was in the Yawkey Coral Reef Gallery, where I was responsible for the daily care of seven exhibit tanks and three holding tanks. These tanks housed a diverse range of organisms including moray eels, garden eels, dwarf sea horses, and numerous tropical fish and coral species. My duties included life support system and tank maintenance, diet preparation, feeding, nutrient dosing, and record keeping. As I took increasing responsibility over the summer, I became more independent, adaptable, and learned to pay attention to important key details of species wellbeing and equipment function .

I also helped out in additional galleries: for example, I worked with the head of the Northern Waters Gallery to assist with Giant Pacific octopus feeding and enrichment activities, furthering my husbandry skills. There were also networking events, workshops, and intern meet and greets where I got to grow my marine biology community.

     From this experience, I gained not only first hand work with marine life, but also the experience of working as a team with mentors who trained and challenged me. My experience at New England Aquarium has opened my eyes to my love of working hands-on with marine life as well as introduced me to the field of public-science where I hope to grow my knowledge and build a career. 

I am more than excited to announce I will be continuing my work with the New England Aquarium this summer. I will be working in their Marine Mammal Exhibit with the Pinniped Team through Marine Mammal Training internship for 14 weeks. Here I will have the opportunity to work with Atlantic harbor seals and California sea lions through husbandry, assisting in training sessions, building enrichment toys, analyzing behavioral observations, and public presentations. This is a dream come true and I hope to enhance my knowledge of working with pinnipeds to build a future career in marine mammal care and public education.