Working at Alico Arena involved working in a large team (4-12) to ensure that events were running smoothly and the facilities were maintained. I was flexible in my duties, and you had to be, as working for an arena requires one to work in several different capacities. Depending on the event (basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, volleyball, tennis, special), I could be doing: ingress and egress, ticketing, event supervision, concessions, maintenance, setup, or breakdown. Almost every day I worked there, I was required to do two or more of these things in the same shift. I also had multiple supervisors, although each typically focused on a certain area or sport.

During my time as an intern at the Coastal Watershed Institute, I got to experience several aspects of field and laboratory research. Much of the work I did was on Crassostrea virginica, but there was also research being done at the Institute on crab spp., green mussels, and water quality, which I assisted in. The areas of focus for sampling were the Caloosahatche River and the Ten Thousand Islands (Faka-Union and Pumpkin Bay).As part of our field work, a lab manager and several interns would go out to field sites for monthly sampling in the Caloosahatchee or Ten Thousand Islands. The sites were selected to represent changing salinity in the system. At each site we would perform a variety of tasks, depending on what needed to be done. Some of these tasks include collecting oysters for condition index and Perkinsus, measuring growth of oysters in bags, measuring recruitment via stringers, and collecting water quality data using YSI sondes (6600V2 and 600QS). We would also measure oyster density during wet and dry seasons.Back in the lab, most of the work revolved around preparing for or processing the field data. I would label and weigh tins and scrape tissue for condition index, stain tissue samples for Perkinsus, and histology. For histology, I, or another intern, would do one or all of the following tasks:label and sort slides, embed the tissue in paraffin wax, trim the wax blocks with razors to make slide preparation easier, stain the tissue, and coverslip the slides. All of this was done following lab safety protocols and involved handling hazardous or flammable chemicals.Like any other lab, part of the job is keeping everything running safely, smoothly, and cleanly. Our lab managers made sure that I knew to always store and dispose of chemicals properly, clean and calibrate field equipment, dispose of glass and sharps properly, and return everything to it's place. When the need arose, I would also assist in cleaning and rearranging the whole facility.

I was a teaching assistant for 2 Spring terms and 2 Fall terms at FGCU. During that time, I assisted several Biology professors and one Human Systems professor conduct their classes. I assisted 1-3 classes per semester, depending on what my own class schedule permitted.The classes were all around 70-80 students in size. The majority of my tasks involved attendance, grading assignments and the written portions of tests, and answering questions during labs. I was also expected to proctor exams and practicals to ensure no student was cheating.Occasionally I was called upon to lead the introduction to lab assignments. This involved explaining to the students the purpose of the lab and going through the procedures, as there were often things of note (hazardous chemicals, variations from the lab book, etc.)

I would meet with Dr. Jerome A. Jackson at 5 or 6 AM (depending on DST) and drive out to Babcock Ranch. Upon arrival, we would set up mist nets at sampling sites on the property. We would tend the nets for a few hours, waiting for birds to get caught. When we did catch a bird, I would help Dr. Jackson safely remove the birds from the nets. Dr. Jackson would then identify and measure several characteristics of each bird.When we were done sampling with the nets, we would break down the nets and begin a bird survey of the park. This involved driving several miles through the Ranch, keeping an eye out for any species of bird. All of this information was logged by Dr. Jackson, which was then submitted as a report to Ranch staff.

As an intern, I had several responsibilities at the River Center. One of the largest being leading groups (6-30) of children and teenagers on tours through the Center. During the tour I would explain to them invasive/exotic species, tides, predator/prey interactions, salinity, human impacts, and the importance of the Loxahatchee River to the community.I was also tasked with event supervision. 4 times over the summer, the River Center hosted a Water Play Day for young children (ages 2-8) and I was in charge of set-up and breakdown as well as helping supervise each event. We also had monthly meetings and birthday parties, which I performed many of the same duties.Along with these responsibilities, I also had daily and weekly tasks. This includes tank maintenance (i.e. feeding and moving fish, making water), cashier for the store, secretarial tasks (e.g. answering phones, door greeter), and general upkeep and maintenance of the facilities.While I was being paid for 20 hours/week as an intern, I spent an additional 20 hours/week there as a volunteer. Combining this with the summer before (2009) when I was only volunteering, I logged over 500 volunteer hours.