Maine Maritime Academy > Corning School of Ocean Studies > Internships

Internships

Ocean Studies students are encouraged to seek summer internships that will bolster their skill sets and refine their interests. Below is a sampling of some of the internships OS students have held recently.

Current students should check MMA’s Career Center page for a regularly updated list of internship and job opportunities. Career Services can assist with access to the job board, resume writing, interviewing skills, and professional networking. Stop in the Career Services office (Quick Hall) or contact the office via email.

Additionally, a number of organizations offer regularly-occurring internships, or funding for internships related to oceanic science or diving, that we encourage students to explore. These include:

Sampling of recent internships:

  • Jessica Lindsay – NOAA Hollings Scholarship Program – Western Atlantic – Summer 2018

    As part of Jessica’s acceptance to the NOAA Hollings Scholarship Program, she participated in a 10-day eco-monitoring cruise that started in Newport, RI and zigzagged down the coast to Newport, VA. In Jess’s words, this is what happened: “We hit approximatly 80 stations at which plankton tows were conducted, using bongo nets. There were also 15 or so stations that a CTD and niskin bottles were deployed at. From the bottles we gathered information about chlorophyll concentration, nutrients, dissolved CO2, and optical properties. Also aboard the vessel, and constantly gathering data, was the Imaging Flow CytoBot (IFCB). I was trained on how to monitor and troubleshoot the device. It was attached to a flow-through water system and was gathering pictures of plankton! I also helped the Marine Observers, who were documenting any animal and marine debris sightings. We saw whales, turtles, dolphins, and lots of seabirds! And sadly, we also saw drifting plastics.”

  • Sally Jarmusz – R/V Falkor and Schmidt Ocean Institute – South Pacific – Dec. 2017/Jan. 2018

    Sally spent her winter break aboard the R/V Falkor transiting from Samoa to Honolulu and observing the Ellis Basin in the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Read about her adventures in her blog!

  • Melissa Spaulding – Alaska Department of Fish and Game – Fairbanks, AK – Summer 2017

    Melissa spent the summer as part of a Salmon Counting Tower Project, which meant that she needed to count salmon that swim up river river to spawn, both visually and with sonar. She also conducted boat maintenance, salmon scaling, and salmon carcassing. Melissa loved the internship because she was able to work with great, hardworking people, and because she was able to be outside every day. Zoology class and Ocean Studies seminar helped her prepare for the internship by giving her an understanding of fish reproduction (zoology) and introducing her to Atlantic salmon behavior (seminar), which happen to have some similarities to Pacific salmon.

  • Alexa Cacacie – New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife – Seaside, NJ – Summer 2017

    As part of her internship at Island Beach State Park, Alexa spent time at the Sedge Island Natural Resource Education Center working with 6th – 9th graders. Alexa took the students kayaking, fishing, and taught them about a lifestyle focused on conservation. Alexa feels that the first year of the Marine Bio major helped prepare her for the internship, and she is looking forward to taking botany since the internship introduced her to new plants and how to identify them.