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The Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center
Internship Program

An internship offers students the opportunity
to work hands on with endangered and threatened sea turtles.


Summer Internships are a minimum of twelve weeks
Housing is provided for the twelve week program
Internships are not
limited to summer.

 
Work at the center includes:

Preparation and distribution of  food

Cleaning tanks

Working with the water system

Involvement in  medical procedures and the administration
of some medications

Introducing  the public to sea turtles and the goals of  the hospital, during afternoon visiting hours.

 
SUMMER INTERNS 2010


FRONT: Krystal Thomas, Holly Burchfield, Amy Bradt, Deven Brayman
BACK:   Jared Monahan, Samantha Ford , Amanda Andrews, Charlie Lynch
  
Amanda Andrews
 Maine Maritime Academy, Senior

Major- Marine Biology & Small Vessel Operations

Amanda has always had a love for nature and an interest in conservation since she was very young. When she was 16, she worked as a camp counselor at the Maine Conservation School in Bryant Pond, ME. It was there she instructed campers in primitive survival skills and how to become better caretakers of the land. She continued that work for three years. Today, Amanda continues her involvement in conservation and hopes to work on a research vessel off the coast of Hawaii.
 
Amy Bradt
 State University of New York at Geneseo, Senior

Major-Biology, Minor- Psychology

Amy had an internship in Hawaii for 5 months before joining us here in North Carolina. She spent her time in Hawaii working with sea turtles, sharks and sting rays. Her long term goal is to get sea turtles off the endangered species list. Amy enjoys drinking pepsi and tanning on the beach. She also supplied the innocent interns with 24 hours of Gossip Girl television and helps in keeping Jared, the only the male in the house, sane by folding his laundry and being super cool.  Amy’s favorite job at the hospital is telling Charlie what to do and giving Lil Bit the Kemp’s Ridley a soapy bath. Her least favorite job is cleaning the blue hole and the RK2!

Devan Brayman
Dalhousie University, Sophomore

Major- Marine Biology
Minor-Environment, Society and Development

Devan is Canadian eh and a former junior intern of the sea turtle hospital! She enjoys pina colada smoothies and coconut ice cream. Devan also has a severe addiction to banana popsicles. She is the only vegetarian among the group, and wears a different sea turtle shirt every day. Her lifelong goal is to see a leatherback sea turtle, and witness a sea turtle nest hatch. In her spare time she enjoys reading books and watching movies about ocean conservation and sea turtles. Her favorite job at the hospital is feeding Virginia and Sunny squid and fish in the morning and giving sea turtle back scratches! Devan wants to spend her life in Costa Rica working with a sea turtle conservation group.
 

Holly Burchfield
Clemson University, Senior

Major- Biological Sciences
Minor-Social Sciences

Holly enjoys spending time in her hammock, wearing tie dye t-shirts and drinking multiple coffees a day. Holly has a fascination with hermit crabs and loves to travel. Last summer Holly interned for a non-profit organization in the Bahamas called Island Journeys. While there, Holly swam with some little green sea turtles and fell in love, leading her to apply to an internship at the Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Hospital. She wants to work in South Africa (or anywhere) doing wildlife rehabilitation. Holly wants go to grad school to study zoology.  Her favorite job at the hospital is cleaning bullet filters, and her least favorite is checking the crab pots.

Samantha Ford
 Allegheny College, Meadville Pennsylvania
, Graduate
Major- Environmental Science with a concentration in Conservation Biology & Psychology

Sam is a recent graduate that enjoys applying to jobs throughout her spare time. Before coming to the Sea Turtle Hospital Sam worked at a bird rehabilitation center and was a ballroom teaching assistant. In her free time Sam loves to watch Disney movies and reads books about adventures and psychology.  She also enjoys learning how to play the piano and likes to sketch. Sam hopes to find a job working with animals or children in need. She dreams of traveling the world. She has already been to India, Italy, and Honduras where she volunteered at an AIDS orphanage.

 
Charlie Lynch
Pennsylvania State University, Junior
Major - Community, Environment, and Development

In his spare time, Charles loves riding his yellow bicycle around the island. His favorite job at the hospital is supervising the hard-working interns and making sure the water system doesn`t explode. Charles lives with his DSG (Dear Sweet Grandma) and this is his fourth year at the sea turtle hospital, obvious by his bleach stained t-shirts. Charles loves playing the saxophone and making up dinosaur-like names for the sea turtles (Leftasauras=Lefty). Charles has a deep passion for sea turtles, and will stop at nothing to find a way to incorporate the preservation of the species in his future. As the lead intern, Charles plays an important role at the sea turtle hospital, by providing knowledgeable guidance to the rest of the group.
 THANKS CHARLES :D

Jared Monahan
University of Maine at Presque Isle, Senior

Major- Professional Biology & Ecology
Minor- Chemistry

Jared, also known as J Rod is an avid soccer player and fan. He does not enjoy the countless hours of girly television played at the intern house, but he spends his time making amazing spaghetti and keeping the estrogen level at the house under control.  Jared spends his spare time working out and training for soccer. His favorite job at the hospital is checking the crab pots, and his least favorite is cleaning the tanks for hours on end. His most memorable moment at the hospital so far was watching Mydas, the amazing green sea turtle be released back into the ocean. Jared hopes to become a zoologist and work with conservation genetics.

   
Krystal Thomas
California State University, Chico, Senior

Major-Agriculture Science with option of Education

Krystal is a California girl, and has intense farmer muscles that aid in the heaving lifting at the hospital. Her mom makes a mean blueberry cake. Krystal’s favorite jobs at the hospital include, cleaning the blue hole, doing treatment on the turtles and walking on the beach early in the morning. Krystal is an awesome R.A. at her university and is also an avid coffee drinker. In her future Krystal wants to swim with a leatherback and travel to Costa Rica and witness a Kemp’s Ridley arribada. Her life goal is to become an agriculture teacher while still incorporating sea turtles into her life.

Life as an Intern
The work schedule  for interns is 5 1/2 days per week,
with Wednesday afternoon and Sunday free.
A daily schedule always includes morning food and vitamin preparation, and feeding of all sea turtles in residence.
Feeding is followed by cleaning the tanks and providing care to the individual sea turtles as needed.  This might involve medical procedures, special feeding elements and  medication administration.

Five days per week the center is open to visitors, two hours in the afternoon.
During this time interns have the opportunity to introduce our visitors to the sea turtles in residence, their injuries and ailments, and the background and operation of the center.

Some days will also include beach survey work early in the morning, locating and identifying sea turtle tracks, and the relocation of nests when necessary.
Some nights will include searching for nesting females and nest sitting in anticipation of a nest emergence, and post hatch nest data collection.

TO APPLY SUBMIT THE  FOLLOWING:
A brief letter including:
Name
Permanent Address
School address
Phone number
email address
Name of School
Length of Internship desired and;
Dates available.
A brief essay
State why you are seeking an internship at the 
Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center;
and what your expectations are of the experience.
Two letters of recommendation
One from  a professor or teacher,
One from a community leader (i.e. scout ,church, civic).
Mail your completed application to:
Jean Beasley, Executive Director
Karen Beasley Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehabilitation Center
PO Box 3012
Topsail Beach, NC  28445