The Science Exchange Interns
“Every aspect of the trip, the overall experience itself was unforgettable. I obtained valuable experience in the field that will increase future opportunities. I networked with experienced and young professionals. I made lasting relationships with the people I interacted with on a daily basis. I was given the opportunity to travel throughout the state of Quintana Roo and explore a new culture of people, food, music and dance…Thank you to The Science Exchange for the AMAZING experience!” Veronica Pollan, Intern 2011
Click here to see our interns on U TUBE
Student Spotlight – Summer 2011
Gabriela Ponce is a Biology major at SDSU and is supported by the MHIRT grant from National Insistute of Health. She is working in Punta Banco Costa Rica where she helps monitor nesting sea turtles at night, and is measuring the physical aspects of the nesting beach such as sand humidity and grain size as a baseline for future global warming studies.
Veronica Pollan is an Environmental Studies major from Florida International University working in Quintana Roo, Mexico where she snorkels transects of Akumal Bay recording the turtles, their behavior, their habitat and tourist interactions with GPS. She also helps monitor nesting sea turtles at night.
Marielle Livesey is a Conservation Biology masters student at Antioch University doing her thesis on global warming effects on the sea turtle nesting beaches at Akumal. She is looking at female preferences and how they will be effected by sea level rise and temperature rise. She also helps monitor nesting sea turtles at night.
Kim Valma is a Biology major at SDSU and is also supported by the MHIRT grant from National Insistute of Health. She is working in Punta Banco Costa Rica where she helps monitor nesting sea turtles at night, and is measuring the physical aspects of the nesting beach such as slope changes as a baseline for future global warming studies.
.Julia Ramos (far right) is a Biology and Women’s Studies major at Chapel Hill University. She is in Costa Rica as well doing the first NOAA protocol plastics survey of her nesting beach, where she also monitors the female turtles who come ashore nightly to lay eggs and protects the nests from predation.
Student Spotlight – Summer 2010
Nicole Gabriel, a psychology major, worked in Quintana Roo, Mexico where she monitored sea turtle nesting activity at night, protecting nesting females, informing tourists about sea turtle conservation, and recording data on the nesting activities. During the day she administered a survey of tourists’ and locals’ understanding of sea turtle protection.Her work will be presented at the International Sea Turtle Symposium.
Nick Furst, a biology major, helped on night patrols translocating sea turtles nests to the hatchery. During the day he took slope measurements of the beach and temperature readings of the sand and air near the hatchery and at different nesting locations. His work will be presented at the International Sea Turtle Symposium.
Allie Baxter is an Environmental Science major performed the same sand temperature study as Nick but on the East Coast, using a hygrometer/thermometer for the ambient air conditions and thermometers in the sand at various locations. She is also publishing at the Symposium.
Cody Smith, a biology major, interviewed locals near his camp on their knowledge of sea turtle poaching and helped monitor nesting females at night in Jalisco.
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Student Spotlight – Summer 2009
Monica Rosquillas, an International Security and Conflict Resolution major, worked in Quintana Roo, Mexcio. Monica monitored sea turtle nesting activity and led tours during night-time nesting patrols. During the day she snorkeled for one hour taking photos of tourists interacting with turtles in the bay,and administered a survey of tourists’ understanding of sea turtle protection. Her work is published in the proceedings of the 2010 International Sea Turtle Symposium held in India. Click here to see the poster!
Sonia Woodbury, a masters graduate from Audubon University in MA, worked for 3 months in La Paz, Baja California Sur with UABCS. She helped with sea turtle tracking and net-capture projects and also mapped sea grass and algae foraging habitat while SCUBA diving in Ojo de Liebre, Magdalena Bay, Punta Abreojos, Laguna San Ignacio, and Isla Espiritu Santos. She published an article in Spanish in a local La Paz newspaper on previous UABCS Marine Lab research.
Jeff Treister, a Geography Major, worked in Costa Rica. He helped on night patrols translocating sea turtles nests to the hatchery. During theday he took slope measurements of the beach and interviewed local residents on beach morphology changes over the last 10 and 20 years.
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Student Spotlight – Summer 2008
Daniel Soares (far right) graduated SDSU with an Environmental Science major. His internship involved taking slope and sand grain profiles to try to predict sea level rise effects on the nesting beaches of concern at San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. His research was published at the 2009 Grupo Tortuguero conference and in 2010 International Sea Turtle Symposium held in India. Click here to see their poster!
Sarah Maxey – Biology major – took sand temperature and humidity at different beaches and elevations to try to determine the impact of rising air temperatures on sand temperatures, and subsequently, the survival of sea turtle eggs that are deposited. Sarah’s work was published at the 2009 Grupo Tortuguero conference.
Jeff Weaver – Environmental Science/Environmental Engineering major – took slope and sand grain measurements, and, in addition, collected and classified trash found on the beach.
Chris Hurtado – Business major/Art minor – measured the relationships between air temperatures and nest temperatures. His work will be presented at the International Sea Turtle Symposium.
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Student and Parent Comments
Student Comments
The placement was challenging in itself in terms of the isolation of camp from civilization, which gave me another opportunity for personal growth. ..I was able to see and learn so much about the wildlife that surrounded us and I felt very connected to the conservation work we were doing. The internship was overall a wonderful experience. Julia
Sitting on the beach, alone, the peace of that beach and the tranquility was amazing. The people in town were also very friendly… this experience has truly changed my life. Chris
The friendships that we made were probably my favorite part of the experience… the Spanish instructors taught me more Spanish than I learned in the previous 10 years of Spanish classes. Jefe
Everyone treated us like one of their own, showed us their culture, taught us everything we know about the conservation of sea turtles, and I can not wait to see them again! Chris
My favorite part was releasing babies, watching nesting females, working on the beach was beautiful! Sarah
I can better dissect information for critical thinking Jeff
My language skills greatly improved. Cody
This trip made it easier to talk to people who don’t speak English as a first language, I learned to adapt. Sonia
I would recommend The Science Exchange to others, it was a great experience! Monica
I would highly recommend this internship to anybody. Daniel
A completely different style of life and culture. Jeff
The experience was one of a kind. Daniel
The entire trip was exciting from the beginning when I left the U.S. Allie
Parent Comments
[My daughter's] experience has helped her grow and expand her global awareness in ways that would not have been possible without the support of the Science Exchange and the SDSU opportunity. I visited the site for a week to see the work. I found her be exceedingly respected by her peers and mentors as well as responsible and accountable for the work she did each night with the turtles. I greatly appreciate the mentoring you have provided. Her writing and statistical calculation skills have improved as she edited the abstract over several months and she is certainly inspired to excel in her classes and put this passion for the environment to work.
Thank you for all you do to support her and the other young aspiring environmentalists and biologists.
