Four recent college graduates have been awarded one-year marine education fellowships with UGA Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant. Funded by Georgia Sea Grant, the fellows will serve as educators for students, teachers and the general public.
The fellows will spend 50 weeks on Skidaway Island at the Marine Education Center and Aquarium offering formal and informal educational programs focused on the ecology of Georgia’s coastal and estuarine ecosystems.
They also will participate in community outreach by judging science fair projects, teaching during science nights at local schools and participating in events, like CoastFest and Skidaway Marine Science Day.
The four fellows are ready for work. They began their training in September and are being mentored by senior educators at the center who will teach them how to lead more than 30 marine science and ecology classes for different age groups.
The marine education fellows are:
Anna Baynes is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. She attended Elon University where she majored in environmental and ecological science and minored in biology. Her experience as an intern at the N.C. Aquarium on Roanoke Island furthered her interest in marine ecosystems, and she is excited to gain experience in marine education at Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant.
Meghan Carpenter is from Carmel, Indiana. She graduated in May from Wittenberg University with a degree in biology and a minor in marine science. She became interested in aquatic systems during yearly sojourns to the shores of Lake Michigan. She is thrilled to be joining the Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant team and looks forward to playing outside and teaching future generations to appreciate and respect nature.
Emily Little is from Loveland, Colorado. She left her land-locked state to earn her degree from the University of Tampa where she majored in marine science-biology and minored in education and environmental science. She loves to volunteer, explore the outdoors and share her appreciation for the environment with others. She is excited to spend the year discovering the Georgia coast and sharing her interest in marine science with the community.
Emily Borger has had a number of hometowns as part of an Air Force family. She graduated from the University of Maine with a degree in marine biology. Borger always has been fascinated by the ocean, and she’s seen many different coastlines while traveling around the world with the military. She looks forward to sharing her interest in the ocean with students who visit the Marine Education Center and Aquarium over the course of her fellowship.