The Science Exchange Sea Turtle Internship: LatAm & the Caribbean

The Science Exchange internship program, was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I was with the first group to go to Abaco, Bahamas instead of latin america for this internship. This internship taught me so much about what it truly means to be a scientist and a marine biologist. From experimental design, turtle tagging, seagrass surveys, drone abundance surveys, baited underwater shark cameras to cultural immersion. I went to Abaco, Bahamas for 3 months helping the WONDERFUL Elizabeth Whitman with her PhD research on juvenile green sea turtles and their interaction with sharks and seagrass.

I loved it so much that I volunteered to go back with her the following summer for 5 weeks. Everyone at TSE was always very helpful and knowledgable if I ever had any questions about anything and Katherine Comer Santos, The director, is truly amazing. She set me up with this internship and I will forever be grateful for that.

I have met friends that will last a lifetime, I have learned skills that continue to help me advance my career and I have made a second home in the Bahamas. What I love about TSE is that it is real science, meaning you are gaining field work experience that looks great on a resume. Yes, that means sometimes things don't go as planned but then you get to problem solve how to fix it which is what actually happens in real life science.

For anyone who is considering an internship with TSE I know it is a heavy price tag, but honestly I would pay ten times that in a heart beat to be able to partake in an internship again. If you are on the fence about it, DO IT!! I promise it will be worth it in the end.

After my first year in Abaco, I went on to present my personal project at the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Las Vegas!! I gave an oral presentation on my work that I myself had come up with while interning in the Bahamas. That in itself made every penny worth it.

I will never forget the very first sea turtle I caught "Bahamian Style" there is no way to describe it, so come find out for yourself, chances are I'll see you there!!

I am so grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program! Not only did I learn a tremendous amount about sea turtles and the global conservation issues that impact them, but also I had the cultural experiences of living and working in a tropical fishing village, practicing Spanish daily and understanding the cultural traditions that have shaped thinking about conservation issues. Upon returning home, many of my friends and family have commented that they notice a difference in me. I am calmer, clearer, happier, and generally more grounded in my purpose and personal mission. Furthermore, as a direct result of my participation with The Science Exchange Internship Program, I am better equipped to conduct and publish my own research as part of my continued education.

What I observed is the students who arrive with an open mind, participate fully, and see it through to the end can have “life-changing” impact and transformative results from their experiences. This certainly was true for me!!

Quick overview
-I went on the Science Exchange Sea Turtle Internship in Puerto Vallarta Mexico in the summer of 2017.
-disorganized
-lack of communication
-dont care for sea turtles
-scam
-the supervisor that was responsible for me and the camp, was clearly under the influence. (one of many times)

My internship was stationed in Puerto Vallarta Mexico (well it was advertised to be in Puerto Vallarta mexico but it was actually in some hole in the wall camp 3 hours south of Puerto Vallarta). To begin this review I would like every potential reader/intern to know that this internship is 100% NOT worth your time. It is a huge scam and a waste of money. It began with the director explaining to me via Skype during my acceptance interview, the tasks that I would be performing and the research I would be doing will in Mexico. None of anything happend. She told me I would be fed and well taken care of, I was told that we would be staying in a hotel the first week and then we would camp for 6 weeks and then stay in a hotel again for the last week. The hotel we stayed at ended up getting a nick name that the interns and I came up with on our short stay there..."The beatle hotel" -I KID YOU NOT THERE WERE THOUSANDS OF BEETLES IN OUR ROOM. They were on the floor, on the curtains and in the bed, they were in every square inch of the hotel room. These beetles could fly and would bump into you in the middle of the night. I would have been comfortable with a few bugs in my room because we are staying in a tropical area but THOUSANDS of beetles was just not something that I was ok with. On top of that we get fed a single granola bar for breakfast (breakfast is from the hours of 7 am to 3 pm, so we would be hungry all day because the hotel we stayed at didn't have any stores near by and the director would leave and not come back for hours at a time.) We then did nothing for the rest of the day up until the 5th day that we were there- we went to the beach for an hour or so and then went back to the hotel room. Finally on the beginning of the 2nd week my research partner and I were left at a campsite with a Supervisor. I was so excited to finally get started on the research we were suppose to be doing since day one. BUT, unfortunately for us, the supervisor's girlfriend got there the following day so while he was occupied with her we were sitting around in our tents doing absolutely NOTHING for one week. We tried to go patrolling with the staff but they said that it wasn't our turn yet or they would be too drunk to be able to drive the ATV that was used to patrol at night to search for nesting sea turtles. My research partner and I did end up going patrolling once because we trekked from the nearest town where there was a party going on- we walked all the way back to the camp(took like one hour) and when we got there and the sun had gone down, one of the staff members came back on the ATV and asked if we wanted to patrol because everyone else was drunk and at the town (we patrolled for 15 minutes and then came back because the ATV broke down).
We contacted our director and asked her for a detailed schedule of what we were going to do throughout the summer because we didn't want to waste more time there(we had already wasted 2 weeks doing nothing) but she said no, laughed in our faces and told the other interns that we "were on crack" for wanting to leave.
We left not the following but the day after that occurred in the back of our supervisors truck while it was raining, it took three hours to get back to puerto vallarta.
Not only was this a huge scam, they are not properly caring for the baby sea turtles that they are incubating because they are putting them in sand that is too hot and they are getting burned alive, but they also clearly don't care for the well being of sea turtles because they skip night and day patrols constantly. This was a huge waste of money.
If you are looking to do an internship DON'T GO HERE IT IS A SCAM.

My trip to baja California with the science exchange was life changing.

I learned more spanish than in my previous 12 years of studying the language and I learned even more about myself.
Initially I was shocked when we showed up at our location. We left a beautiful Cabo San Lucas with thousands of tourists, bars and restaurants for an isolated beach with no one in site.

After a few days of getting used to living off the grid I began to enjoy the simplicity of life.

The typical day started around midnight with a night beach patrol for nesting turtles. Then a second patrol around 6:00 am until just after sunrise. A quick siesta allowed us to catch up on sleep before the midday heat started up. Around noon we would fish and swim in the ocean until we started cooking dinner around 5 or 6.

After a long day of collecting and recording data and relocating eggs into the protected nesting area it was almost impossible not to fall asleep as soon as you lay your head down while looking at a seemingly endless number of stars.
Would have been a little scary(all the time to yourself) to go without a friend but would have still been a great time.

This program provided a unique experience that was aligned with my academic interests by not only exposing me to wet lab techniques but also by immersing me into the Mexican culture for a descent amount of time. I did not only grow as a scientist and as a student, but it also helped me grow more as a person and as an activist for sea turtle conservation. This was an unforgettable experience that gave me so many amazing memories for the future. I personally appreciate the time locals and supervisors shared with us to make this experience a very unique one.

i knew someone else who did this program from my school a few years ago and he had only good things to say. i applied and got accepted and went on the trip and was very happy with my experience. costa rica was beautiful and i learned a lot about pollution while doing my project down there. i even met another volunteer who was able to help us with our understanding of the project, and give insight into other pollution projects he'd been a part of. great way to establish connections within a tight-knit turtle-lovers scientific community.

This program was a beautiful way to experience a new culture, cultivate new friendships, be challenged culturally, academically and intellectually. The turtle work was only part of the experience; we had daily monitoring, hatchery work, etc. (the same thing that goes on for most turtle projects) but with this project, living in such a small community allowed me to better my Spanish, to troubleshoot science in the field, to find new and interesting ways to fill the time of each day, to cook for myself, and to just generally have a broader appreciation for the beauty of life and nature. An amazing experience overall!

This program is not only a wonderful way to get more involved in ecological research, but also an awesome cultural opportunity. Participants work long hours conducting challenging research. However, they also have ample free time to play soccer with the locals, practice some Spanish, and enjoy the scrumptious food options. Furthermore participants get to experience the frustrations and rewards of working with an endangered species.