FSU/NMFS Institute
for Fishery Resource Ecology

Partnership between Florida State University
and The National Marine Fisheries Service

Undergraduate Education
 

	Certificate program in marine biology: Studies of living marine resource ecology
	Seminar in Living Marine Resource Ecology
	Undergraduate internships       description       current internships available       past internship project descriptions

What the undergraduate internship entails:

Internships allow advanced undergraduate students a superb opportunity to participate in critical research that deals with current problems in conservation and management of living marine resources. They also encourage a closer relationship between student and researcher than undergraduates usually experience, one more akin to that developed between a graduate student and professor during supervised research. It also provides greater perspective and encourages motivated students interested in pursuing research careers in basic and applied sciences.

Each student is given the opportunity to participate in general project activities at FSU, at the NMFS Laboratory, the Florida Marine Research Institute, the Mote Marine Laboratory, or the National Estuarine Research Reserve while performing a discrete task that forms some component of the mentor's ongoing studies. Each is expected to complete the project independently, perform data analyses, and write a paper in the form of a scientific manuscript.  After the completion of the internship, students are expected to give a seminar on their research both at FSU and at their hosting institution. The time commitment for internships is a minimum of 25 hours per week for 13 weeks (a total of 325 hours).

Previous internship projects conducted by upper-level undergraduate students

2003

• Jessica Draughon
• Jacquelyn Ford
• Devon Kase
• Melissa McIntyre
  • Internship: Effects of pollution on .  Conducted at the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute, Key West.
• Karyn McLaughlin
• James Nelson
• Joshua O'Driscoll
  • Undergraduate Honors: Recipient of 2002 McAllister Award at FSU
  • Internship: A comprehensive review of catch and release in the recreational fishery. FSU. 
• Heather Roy
• Caitlin Scott
• Sarah Smiley
  • Undergraduate Honors: Recepient of 2002 Robert B. Short Award at FSU
• Carly Steeves
• Emily Yambasky
  • Internship: Recruitment strategies of four Gulf of Mexico amphipod species.  Conducted at Florida State University

2002

• Karen Kane
  • Internship: Variations in Size and Infestation Rates of Tumidotheres Maculatus.  Conducted at Florida State University
• Michelle Satterwhite (FSU 2003, Bsc)
  • Internship: Trophic relationships among coastal pelagic fishes in the northeast Gulf of Mexico. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service, Panama City,FL.
  • Undergraduate Honors: 2002 *Recipient of Biological Science Alumni Award at FSU.
  • Current Employment: Biology Technician at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City,FL.

2001

• Isaac Adatto (FSU 2001, BSc)
  • Internship: Shell covering behavior and the reduction of dislodgement in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus. Conducted at Florida State University.
  • Employment:
    *2001-2002.  Lab and Field Technician, Wetland Ecosystem Ecology Lab,       Florida Coastal Everglades LTER Program, Florida International University,       Miami.  
    *2003 – present.  University of Massachusetts, Lowell.  Laboratory of Dr. Mark Hines.
• Danielle Winget (ne La Fond) (FSU 2002, Bsc.  Summa Cum Laude)
  • Internship: The bigger the better? An analysis of the reproductive output of vermilion snapper, Rhomboplites aurorubens, in the Gulf of Mexico. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida.
  • Undergraduate Award: Biological Science Faculty Award for Undergraduate  Scholarship  
  • Graduate School: (2002) University of Delaware, College of Marine Studies in Biological Oceanography. Seeking Ph. D. Major advisor: Dr. Eric Wommack.
    Thesis topic: how marine viruses, acting as predators, affect or regulate marine bacterial and phytoplankton community structure.
• Scott Sherrill-Mix (FSU, BSc)
  • Internship: Grandma what big eyes you have aging Atlantic sharpnose sharks through eye lens weight. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida
  • Current Employment: North Pacific Groundfish Bycatch Observer for Data Contractors, Inc., working onboard fishing boats.
• Hayley Skelton (FSU 2001, BSc)
  • Internship: Trophic analysis of tagged juvenile hatchery snook, Centropomus undecimalis. Conducted at the Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida.
  • Undergraduate Honors: 2001 Recipient of FSU Mote Scholarship in Fisheries Ecology.
  • Graduate School (2002) North Carolina State University, Raleigh. Seeking
    MSc in the Department of Marine, Earth, and Atmospheric Sciences. Major professor: Dr. JoAnn Burkholder. Thesis topic: The nutrient ecology of harmful algal blooms
• Maki Tabuchi (FSU 2001, BSc)
  • Internship: A preliminary study to describe the age and growth of dolphin Coryphaena hippurus, in Florida using scales. Conducted at the Florida Marine Research Institute, St. Petersburg, Florida.
  • Graduate School (2002) University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Seeking MSc. Thesis topic: Marine mammal toxicology.

2000

• Anne Amicarelle (FSU 2001, Bsc)
  • Internship: A quantiative analysis of the diet of Atlantic sharpnose shark,       Rhizoprionodon terraenovae. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida
• Ivy Baremore (FSU 2001, Bsc)
  • Internship: Determination of variability in king mackerel stock composition using otolith shape analysis. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida
  • Current Employment: 2001-present.  Fishery Biologist, National Marine Fisheries Service, Panama City, FL
• Julie Cavin (FSU 2001, BSc)
  • Internship: Hypoxia avoidance by juvenile common snook (Centropomus undecimalis). Conducted at Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, Florida
  • Undergraduate Honors: 2000 Recipient of the FSU Mote Scholarship in Fisheries Ecology
  • Graduate School; North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine
• Ginny Chandler (FSU 2002, BSc)
  • Internship: Spawning of the vermilion snapper (Rhomboplites aurorubens) in the   northeastern Gulf of Mexico. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida
  • Current Employment: Reseach Biologist, working on the Sport Fish Restoration  Anadromous Shad Project.  Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Marine Research Institute. St. Petersburg, FL.
• Faith Opatrny (FSU 2001, Bsc)  
  • Internship: A quantitative survey of the three-dimensional structure of vertebrae within  the subclass Elasmobranchii. Conducted at the National Marine Fisheries Service Laboratory, Panama City, Florida.

1999 

• Jean Bendezu (FSU

  • Internship: Age and growth of yellowtail snapper throughout Florida from 1992 to 1998. Conducted at NMFS Panama City Laboratory

• Anthony Knapp (FSU 
  • Internship: Mole crabs as a fishery. Conducted at Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Marine Fisheries Division.
• Julie Krawczyk (FSU
  • Undergraduate Honors: 1999 Recipient of FSU Mote Scholarhip in Fisheries Ecology.
  • Internship: The frequency of Rhabdosynochus rhabdosynochus in common snook, Centropomus undecimalis, in and around Sarasota Bay, Florida. Conducted at Mote Marine Laboratory.
• Maria Wise (FSU
  • Internship: Ecological studies of shark populations. Conducted at NMFS Panama City Laboratory.
  • Graduate School:  (2002-Present). Duke University. Seeking MSc. Degree.  Advisor: Dan Rittschof.  Thesis topic: predator-prey interactions and hydrodynamic influences on chemical signal perception in variable habitats (ex. sea grass beds, coral reefs).

1998

• Laetitia Mourand
  • Internship: Age, growth, and feeding ecology of coastal shark populations. Conducted at NMFS Panama City
  • Graduate School: Masters, France.  Title:
• Stacey Harter
  • Internship: Toxic effects of toadfish on other seagrass-associated finfish species. Conducted at NMFS Panama City
  • Graduate School:  2002. MSc. University of South Alabama. Thesis topic: "Growth rates of juvenile pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides): effects of habitat and predation risk".  Advisor:  Dr. Kenneth L. Heck Jr.
  • Current Employment: Fisheries Biologist, National Marine Fisheries Service   Laboratory, Panama City.  Evaluating the effectiveness of the west florida shelf marine reserves in Madison-Swanson and Steamboat Lumps; and examining the interannual temporal and spatial variability in lane and gray snapper recruitment.
• Kathleen O’Malley
  • Undergraduate Honors: Recipient of the FSU Mote Scholarship in Fisheries  Ecology.
  • Internship: Stock enhancement of snook. Conducted at Mote Marine Laboratory, Sarasota, FL
• Syretta Montgomery (Florida A & M University, )
  • Internship: Spawning frequency in vermilion snapper. Conducted at NMFS Panama City.
• Joan Backey (University of Wisconsin)
  • Age and growth and feeding ecology in coastal shark populations. Conducted at NMFS Panama City Laboratory.

1997

• Andrew Strelcheck (FSU)
  • Internship (published in peer reviewed journal):  Otolith-fish size relationship in juvenile gag (Mycteroperca microlepis) of the eastern Gulf of Mexico: a comparison of growth rates between laboratory and field populations.  Fisheries Research Volume 60, Issues 2-3 February 2003 Pages 255-265.  Partially based on internship conducted at National Marine Fisheries Laboratory, Panama City, FL.
  • Graduate  School:  2001. MSc. University of South Alabama. Thesis topic:
    The influence of reef design and nearest-neighbor dynamics on
    artificial-reef fish assemblages.
  • Current employment (2002). Fishery Biologist, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Division of Marine Fisheries.

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