Summary of Experience
I have to say that my experience at Save the Bay was not only an advance in my professional achievements, but an amazing learning experience. I felt as though I really made the transition from a college student who wasn't entirely sure what she wanted to do after graduation to a young professional who is ready to get out there and reach all her goals. When I accepted the internship at Save the Bay, I thought my duties only included learning tank maintenance and animal husbandry. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my duties extended further than this, to an even higher professional level. I was to use the knowledge and skills I acquired at the aquarium to travel to different sites in Rhode Island and educate a wide range of age groups about the importance of environmental quality and sustainability. In doing so, my confidence in public speaking increased astronomically and I felt that I was truly making a difference, thus confirming why I initially decided to focus on environmental issues as a future career.
I started at the Save the Bay Aquarium in Newport in October 2012. A normal day at the aquarium on a Saturday or Sunday included educating visitors about the different marine animals we had on display including jellyfish, dogfish sharks, an octopus, a calico lobster, diamondback terrapin turtles, seahorses, starfish, spider crabs, horseshoe crabs, and many more. With each day I worked, I gained more knowledge about the different animals and also the importance of delivering educational presentations. One of the tasks I was given by my supervisor was to create a theme centered around an animal of my choice from the aquarium for the month of November. I chose the diamondback terrapins and designed informational signs to put on display around the aquarium along with an activity I created for younger guests.
Unfortunately, Hurricane Sandy's devastating effects at the end of the month of October incurred severe damage to the aquarium, forcing the release of many of the animals. It took a few days to come together and decide our next steps, but we decided that a new aquarium was to be built in a new location and my internship was moved to the main Save the Bay offices in Providence. I was thankful that I still had an internship, but my duties now changed in order to accomodate the natural disaster's permanent effects. My new duties at the Providence location included working with a team of Americorps members to administer educational programs to high school students around Rhode Island. I also took on more tank maintenance tasks including water changes, making salt water, pH testing, salinity testing, and pH buffering. I felt that I was able to adapt to my new work environment and format my objectives to work with the changes to my internship.
The thing I loved the most about working with Save the Bay is that they use hands-on learning to advocate the importance of protecting and restoring Narragansett Bay. They are an agency dedicated to instilling a passion for the environment through their employees who share that same passion. I was able to gain skills that will help me establish individual professionalism such as time management, communication skills, networking, and developing connections with fellow employees and supervisors. I learned so much this semester, and I plan on learning even more next semester when I return to Save the Bay as an intern 2!
