Ocean of Opportunity

Transcript

We are about to meet Sarah, One of the 2,256 graduate students at URI. Sarah from New Jersey, studied marine biology here and is now entering her one year master’s program at URI. Let’s go hear from Sarah who is on the Cap’n Bert boat, a URI research vessel about her experiences with the sea.

– Thank you, Alex and ahoy there, everyone. I got my start at the University of Rhode Island as a marine biology major. And now, I’m here continuing my education as a master student, studying environmental science and management. Today, I’m gonna be talking to you all about how college education is more important than just learning skills for a job. Learning outside of the classroom is just as important in helping to elevate your goals. My first semester here, I was lucky to have Dr. Bradley Wetherbee as my URI 101 professor. Dr. Wetherbee is one of the best shark researchers in New England. And at the end of my class with him, I asked if he had any openings in his lab on campus. He had a few students graduating from his lab so I was able to jump right into tracking sharks off the coast of Rhode Island, California and Mexico as soon as my second semester here. I even got to take some trips out of the marina to tag sharks myself along with a few other students. In January of 2020, I participated in a J Term course led by Dr. Graham Forrester and Katie Nickles in Bonaire, which is a little island off the coast of Venezuela. This was a coral reef conservation scuba diving course where we got to dive three times a day for two weeks. We actually got to spend a little over 21 hours underwater throughout the class. We learned all sorts of things like diver impacts on the reef, fish counting, and the difference between Marine protected areas versus non-protected areas. My knowledge of coral skyrocketed after this course. And I was able to learn many different species of corals as well as some diseases that take over those corals. It really helped me to delve into what I wanna do post-graduation. Two summers ago, I held an environmental education internship at a place called The Wetlands Institute in Stone Harbor, New Jersey. This internship was 13 weeks long. And I learned that not only do I love the research aspect of marine biology, but I also love being able to spark an interest in marine life in young children and adults. Being able to see people’s faces light up when they learn something new or got to hold an animal from one of our touch tanks and learning stations was something quite amazing. I got to practice my public speaking and communication skills by running all the educational programming throughout the Institute. And this really helped show me all the opportunities that are waiting for me once I cross the stage with my master’s degree at graduation next year. The hands-on experiences that I’ve had during my time at URI will have lasting impacts on my career as I continue my work and studies in marine biology. Without URI, I wouldn’t have been able to challenge myself through travel, classes, internships, and other experiential learning opportunities that will make me an overall better environmentalist. That’s my story so far at URI. And I can’t wait to see how the rest of it unfolds. Back to you, Alex.

– Thanks, Sarah. You really had so many hands-on learning experiences that propelled you to the next step in your journey at URI. Tagging sharks, educating young people, and traveling to Bonaire have all definitely shaped your journey. More than 6,700 students participate annually in experiential learning. And the work they do outside of the classroom changes their trajectory. Just take it from Sarah. Thanks again for that.