View our 2019 Summer Interns below

Alec Youngblood

Summer Coastal Tourism Intern

My name is Alec Youngblood and I’m a senior in the Fisheries and Wildlife program here at OSU, and I’ve been lucky enough to be selected for the 2019 MSI Coastal Tourism Internship.  As I see it, this internship exists at the intersection of my two greatest passions: marine sciences and the humanities, and I’m eager to make the absolute most out of the opportunity.

What made this internship standout to me is the emphasis it has on nature-based tourism, of which I think Oregon has so much to offer. Ultimately, my hope is that this internship will afford me with the chance to further develop my networking and entrepreneurial skills; and provide me with the opportunity to demonstrate proficiency and earn some credibility in research adjacent realms, like the ones that I’ll be working in and around over the course of my applied research project.

Mia Arvizu

Summer Whale Ecology Intern

I am a sophomore studying Environmental science with an interest in global development and journalism. More than this academic title, I would also consider myself a culturally immersed dancer and a mindful student striving to preserve culture and sustainability. Cultural traditions, historical stories, and people’s unique connection to the nature are fascinating. To better explore my interests, I have involved myself in various cultural dances. I have performed for India night, the luau, have partaken in ceremonial Aztec dances, have learned a Brazilian Carimbo routine, and am continuing to learn different dances now. I also work at the Women and Gender Center at OSU, and have done a great deal of personal and community growth work. I am also just starting to develop my skills in videography by composing a piece for AYA, the center’s women of color initiative. 

Griffin Thoms

Summer Engineering Intern

My name is Griffin Thoms. Some of my interests and hobbies are rock climbing, skiing, playing guitar, and making random things. I am studying mechanical engineering and will hopefully be done in the fall. My internship for the summer will be focused on designing and building a coring device used to get samples to look at the blue mud shrimp. I am looking forward to not only designing the device but also building it. I really enjoy hands on things and love working in the machine shop, so actually getting to make this thing will be fun. I hope to gain real world job experience. Most of my engineering experience has been in school and it will be a nice change to be working. I also look forward to learning a bit about the biology on the Oregon coast. Biology and engineering are very different so it will be cool to be around something new. My favorite cartoon is sponge bob. My favorite escape place would be anywhere with some climbable boulders, and my favorite comfort food is pizza.

Bailey Burk

Summer Education, Communication, & Policy Intern

My name is Bailey Burk, I'm a Microbiology major with minors in Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at Oregon State. In addition to my classes at OSU I play clarinet in four music ensembles on campus, including Marching Band and Wind Ensemble. I love being outside, reading, playing volleyball, and my dog (his name is Mocha). I have been doing research in environmental microbiology since I got to OSU, and I'm excited to step outside of that a little bit this summer.

My internship is working with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Marine Resources Program. I will be helping to spread the word about the native Red Rock Crab, which is commonly mistaken as an invasive Japanese crab. I'll be researching the misinformation out there and helping create a campaign all about how Red Rock Crabs are native crabs.

Shoshana McClarence

Summer Art Intern

I am a graduate student in the process of transitioning from my OSU Master’s program in Interdisciplinary Studies to my Doctoral program in Interdisciplinarity of Religious Studies. My focus here at OSU has been studying mysticism, and the idea of the beyond, through the contemporary art movement Land Art. My interest has always been in seeing the environment around us as intrinsically interconnected to human life and challenging people to consider the implications of human actions on the ecological world.

In addition to this scholarly work I am an artist. I work in 2D mixed media, sculpture, and painting and try to connect my study of mysticism to the natural world through the creation of abstract images. I find that abstraction is able to capture a type of emotion that is sometimes lost in realism.

Ahmad Amir

Summer Science Filmmaking Intern

My name is Ahmad Amir and I am an international student from Malaysia. I am a junior in Bioresource Research Program with an option of Sustainable Ecosystem at OSU. I love being outside, playing volleyball, traveling and taking pictures.

My passion in Marine Science and photography is what made me apply this Science Filmmaking internship under MSI. I will be working on a short documentary possibly about climate change impact on economy at the coast. I will be cooperating with Oregon State Production and some scientist at HMSC for my 5 minutes documentary. My goal for this internship is to increase the awareness to the public on how climate change could influence our life economically. I will use this video to conduct a research on how science communication could change or improve someone’s opinion on climate change. I am looking forward to gain research experience and increase my photography/filmmaking skills from this internship. I hope to combine my art and science to communicate and engage with either expert or non-expert audience.

Tucker Cochenour

Summer Fishpeople Digital Marketing Fin-tern

Learned social media management and concrete digital marketing skills as the Digital Marketing Fin-tern, while spreading Fishpeople’s message about sustainable seafood. Worked at a more grassroots level to organize interest in sustainability, and helped Fishpeople collaborate with environmentally-focused companies.