Hello,
My name is Megan Clampitt and I am one of the new interns at Coral Restoration Foundation for the 2018 spring term.
Some background on me, I am originally from Chicago (if you’re experiencing déjà vu, one of the last interns who was giving you updates was also named Megan from Chicago). I graduated from Hartwick College with a degree in general biology and no idea what I wanted to do with it. I moved abroad to Nice, France where I worked as an English teacher for three years. After that, with an expiring visa looming over my head, I did a solo-backpacking trip to Thailand where I got my SCUBA certification, and then down to Australia and New Zealand. After getting certified, I was instantly in love with SCUBA diving and every time I went diving I fell more in love with the underwater world. It was after that trip that I knew I wanted to be involved in marine conservation and I started searching for internships related to coral conservation.
The first internship I did was with Coral Restoration Foundation in Bonaire and I absolutely loved it so I was so excited to be continuing working with CRF at the headquarters in Key Largo.
We’re finishing up our third week as interns and I’m starting to feel like I understand the swing of things. The first two weeks were orientation and acclimation and working on our independent projects. I’ve decided to do mine on the effect of plastic pollution on coral disease. This week was our first “real” week as interns and I got to participate in a donor snorkel, a dive program and a nursery maintenance dive. It’s been really exciting to get to experience all the different facets of CRF. Although selfishly, my favorite moment from the week was descending into the nursery and getting to see a hammerhead shark!
I look forward to keeping you up to date on the going-ons at CRF and please don’t hesitate to ask me questions!
Cheers,
Megan