The Science Exchange Sea Turtle Internships

The Science Exchange Program has been paramount to my collegiate experience as an undergraduate marine biology major. By fully immersing myself into field work and a new culture, I was able to test my limits and gain a better understanding of not only the marine science field, but of myself as a person.

When first applying to the program, I was impressed by the timely and thoughtful responses from TSE staff, Katherine Comer-Santos and Elizabeth Whitman. These amazing women were able to place me in the best internship for me, which happened to be in Abaco, Bahamas. This was close to home as I am currently living in South Florida and it fit my research interests of in-water sea turtle biology.

At first the cost of the internship was daunting and made me not want to go through with it, but thankfully I was able to get a scholarship through TSE, as well as through my university. With those combined, 80% of the cost was covered and I only had to pay for my plane ticket! Having known what I know now about the internship, I would have gladly paid for it full out of pocket.

During the internship, I learned an astronomical amount of practical skills, including data collection techniques, data software, and statistical analyses. The most rewarding part of the internship was the ability to conduct my own research project. This allowed me to gain the experience of completing a project from start to finish.

The days were long during the internship and I definitely gained a lot of muscle. This internship is definitely hard core and requires a lot of physical work and sweat, but the outcomes made it all worth while. Being able to handle sea turtles and observe them in their natural environment was a dream come true!

We were able to have fun on the side too, like going out to restaurants, exploring the islands, and getting to know some of the locals. At times it almost felt like I was on vacation!

By the end of the internship, I can definitely say I grew both as a scientist and a person. I made life long friendships along with some unforgettable memories. To this day I have been utilizing the connections I have made through networking with other interns and people on the island.

Even after the internship was over, I still was able to participate in various things that would have never happened without this experience. I was able to present a poster on my project at the International Sea Turtle Symposium in Las Vegas. I also traveled to the North American Echinoderm Conference in Massachusetts to give an oral presentation on my project.

This opportunity is truly like no other. I can guarantee that if you whole heartedly take advantage of this internship, you will gain more than you could possibly imagine. I am so thankful for the friendships I have made as well as the knowledge I gained during my time in the Bahamas. I implore you to apply to this program while you can and don't waste your time looking for something better because you won't be able to find it!

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.

A regular day consisted of patrolling the beaches at night for turtle nests. After collecting any eggs that were found we would take them back to our hatchery and record the data from the amount of eggs and their progress. The shifts can be tiresome, but the end result is worth the manual labor.

The Science Exchange has created a very unique learning environment geared specifically towards blossoming scientists. If this is to be your first encounter with extensively leading your own field research, The Science Exchange is a great place to start. I was able to make decisions regarding protocol, procedures, and data collection that were pertinent to the success of the study, and learned a lot about hands on management of a project and how to successfully problem-shoot within a study. Overall, the physical work of data collection took about 5-9 hours a week depending on influx of data, and data entry/analysis took roughly 2-3 hours a week. This amount of work kept me busy and my mind at work, while still allowing for ample time to enjoy life in another country. This program allows you to emerse yourself as much as you're comfortable with in both another culture and in scientific growth. This internship is perfect for students just starting their scientific careers at a university level who are looking to gain valuable experience in the field of conservation biology.

I had a great time during my internship for The Science Exchange. I learned a lot during my time in Costa Rica. It was a really fun experience. During my time, I was able to visit three different sea turtle camps. As an international business major I was able to fulfill my travel abroad and internship requirement at one time. My favorite part was immersing myself into the culture. I was able to practice the Spanish language and made a lot of friends. I would recommend this program to anyone.

Working with The Science Exchange and encountering my first abroad experience was life changing. I grew a fond appreciation for sea turtle conservation, Costa Rica and environmental education. Being able to immerse myself in a different culture while learning about Costa Rica culture was an amazing opportunity to grow intellectually.

This was my first field project as a biologist. I knew very little spanish at the time. I lived with a host family for 3 months and gathered a team to help me with the project from the friends I made there. I spent alot of time walking the beach at night watching turtle nesting behavior. Eating with my family and planting a garden in their property and helping them get some ecotourism to help pay some bills and deter turtle egg poaching. I ended up making a family for life there in Panama.

I've been out of the country before. To Belize, countries around Europe, and Puerto Rico. When I first learned I was going to a turtle camp in the middle of Mexico, I was ecstatic. I knew it was going to be a culture shock, but never would I imagine the opportunity to not just change my life, but have a greater respect for these marine reptiles and the people in Mexico. The research I did was temperature profiles down the beautiful beach of Mayto to determine how the temperatures affected the embryos in the hatchery. All the volunteers were more welcoming than the next and it made it into the most comfortable and free living environment. I learned about turtle conservation, Mexican cooking, and a deeper appreciation of working with others to improve the camp.

I chose to intern with La Universidad Autonoma de Baja Californina Sur in La Paz, Mexico for 3 months. Catherine met me at the airport, brought me to my new home and introduced me to the people I was going to be working with...who soon became my friends. The internship allowed me to help post-graduate and PhD students with their field and laboratory work (algea and sea turtle studies), as well as write an article to be published in their local scientific journal. Due to unforseen circumstances (a hurricane and school registrar strike), I wasn't able to work during the entire duration. Instead I helped a local university with the care of their sea horses and traveled to Cabo San Lucas to volunteer collecting and releasing sea turtle hatchlings. When I wanted feedback from the supervising professor on my article, I needed to be very persistant to get him to look at it closely. However, I was able to get more than enough feedback from the students working in the laboratory. My only wish is that I had more direction on how to construct the article (exactly what they were looking for it to cover) and for some of the passion to be translated into the Spanish version, which is easier said than done. All in all, this was an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for the world. I have made some lifelong friends, great networking connections, and have some stories that I still share to this day. When I told Catherine that I wanted to go to California to look for work and conduct an informational interview, she helped me find businesses to apply to, and went above and beyond the call of duty. This is an amazing program that I would recommend to everyone interested.

The Science Exchange internship changed my perspective of biology research and fell in love with the ecology field. The thesis we write upon return helped me understand what it really takes to make it in the science field and prepared me for classes back at SDSU.

The best part of the internship is the finding an actual sea turtle and seeing how they nest. It is a rewarding feeling to find a nest because it gives us a chance to save their eggs and increase the turtles survival rates. Another great opportunity was the various events we took part in to spread sea turtle awareness and the importance of conservation to the local kids of the community in Costa Rica. Something bad that happened daily was the lack of available water to shower and more importantly, to drink. The plumbing and overall housing unit could have used some major repair because often time the electricity and water would be out for days.Of course these things are difficult to avoid in the rain forest.Nevertheless, the experience always left for great stories to be told, and the bottom line is that I was there for the turtles and their eggs. I learned so much both as a science student and as an individual. I also took in the entire culture and beauty of Costa Rica.

Pros -

- One lump sum covers all costs of travel and lodging (minus food and entertainment)
- equipment was purchased for me so I had almost everything I needed when I got there
- Made great friends with other volunteers
- Katherine Comer Santos (KCS)was quick, helpful, and responds quickly to e-mails
- KCS was patient in teaching me how to use the equipment and carrying out my methods
- Centro Ecologico Akumal(CEA)staff was hospitalble and friendly.
- CEA trains their volunteers well and encourages volunteers to educate tourists about the local marine environment
- Support through writing thesis
- Encouragement to publish findings
- CEA rooms were spacious
- CEA allowed overnight visitors for minimal costs
- I learned more than I ever thought I would about sea turtles.

Cons
- I wish I was sent to a place where people spoke more English other than the tourists.
- I would have liked to get there earlier in the season to witness more nesting for a better sample size, but that was mostly a financial issue on my part
- Walking the terrain on the beach was very tough and I wish I was aware how difficult this was going to be as I asked ahead of time how difficult it would be knowing I was soon to be listed on the Double Lung Transplant List.

Interning with the science exchange was one of the most amazing experiences. Living on the beautiful beach of Akumal, Mexico with like-minded people, saving sea turtles was priceless. I arrived in Cancun not knowing what to expect but the experience surpassed my expectations. I spent every day on the beach, snorkeling, and swimming with young sea turtles. I spent the nights patrolling the beaches, watching the females lay their eggs, and marking the nests. Seeing the newly hatched sea turtles coming out of their nest was the highlight of my internship. After I returned to San Diego, my mentor guided and helped me analyze my data and write my paper for which I received an A. I highly recommend interning with the science exchange.