Students, interns, faculty, and staff all exited their designated shelters this morning into the bright Eleuthera sunlight. Island School and Gap Year Students filed out of the Center for Sustainable Development through cheering faculty members, interns are moving back into the grad hall, and our staff are returning to their offices to move everything back into place. Besides a few puddles on floors, our campus fared very well throughout Hurricane Matthew.
Island School and Gap Year students excitedly emerge from the Center for Sustainable Development
Another huge thank you to everybody who sent us good thoughts and checked in with us during the past few days. Our CEI network is strong and we are touched by the concern and compassion that was expressed by our families, friends, alums, and associates.
The Gap Year team
We will continue to track the weather in the coming days as classes resume, Gap Year students gear up for their triathlon, and researchers get back in the field.
The sea turtle research program welcomed four interns to the team this summer. Arriving June 20th, the interns worked hard both in the field and in the lab for 8 weeks learning the research protocols and getting to know the three Earthwatch teen groups that helped gather data over the summer. All four interns had an amazing time gaining hands on experience tagging and handling sea turtles and working with seagrass surveys and habitat mapping.
Interns and an Earthwatch team seining for turtles in Wemyss Bight
Camila Mirow (far left) is 19 years old. Despite growing up in Miami, she chose to move up north to study marine biology. She is now an undergraduate student in biological sciences at Mount Holyoke College where she is also completing a certificate in coastal and marine sciences. When Camila has free time she can be found surfing, SCUBA diving or exploring the island. Camila’s trip to the Island School as an EP in 2015 changed her life and she knew that she had to come back, and here she is! She was so excited to be a part of the IS and CEI community and so grateful for this opportunity.
Intern Camila holding a Green Sea Turtle while biopsies are being taken for genetics and isotope research
Madeline Doten (middle left) is 18 years old from Orlando, FL. She is going to be a sophomore at Furman University in Greenville, SC studying Biology on the pre-medicine track. Madeline was an Island School Summer Term student in 2014 and is so excited to be back on Eleuthera! In her free time she enjoys scuba diving, freediving, volleyball Tuesdays, and helping out with other projects at CEI and The Island School. Madeline enjoyed gaining field experience, meeting new people, and exploring more of Eleuthera this summer.
Sea Turtle research interns and volunteers helping pull the seine net
Lillian Ganske (middle right) is 19 years old and from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a rising Junior at Colgate University in upstate New York, majoring in the natural sciences with a concentration in marine and freshwater topical science. Her interest in the ocean began when she was on Eleuthera as an Island School student for the Fall 2012 term. She was excited to be back on the island after four long years to build on her previous research and fieldwork experience! In her spare time, Lilly could be found scuba diving, hiking, spending time on the beach, and going on run swims.
Josh Ratay (far right) is 20 years old and grew up in Kaneohe, Hawaii, where he acquired his love of the ocean. He is now a rising junior at the University of Miami, majoring in marine science and biology, with minors in chemistry and ecosystem science and policy. His previous field experiences include a semester abroad in the Galapagos Islands, fossil hunting, and wildlife tagging. Josh enjoys snorkeling, freediving and SCUBA, as well as hiking, exploring and wildlife-watching. He has quite enjoyed his summer on Eleuthera!
Sea Turtle research interns and Earthwatch volunteers after a successful day of tagging in Winding Bay
Aside from assisting with our research, all four interns created and presented informative lectures on various topics including threats and diseases affecting sea turtle populations, foraging ecology of sea turtles, and prehistoric sea turtles! It has been a great summer working with these interns, and we thank them for all their help!
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