Science Internship Program
Science Internship Blog
Students in the sciences at CSUMB are participating in exciting and fulfilling internships and research experiences throughout the year. Find out about their projects here!
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Melina Chan
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: mechan@csumb.edu
Title: Curation Intern
Organization: CSUMB: Biological Teaching Collection
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: The main goal of this project is to identify and catalog different organisms to create an overall catalog that can be used in educational settings. This includes preparing wet and dry samples for a classroom setting. There is also a digital logging aspect to this project which allows for a visual library of the specimens available.
Project Description: I have mainly worked on two tasks for this project. I have identified many shells and also photographed hundreds of shells. These tasks both contribute to the overall goal of this project.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Emiliano Ortega
Year: Senior
Major: Environmental Studies (ENSTU)
Contact: eortegamorales@csumb.edu
Title: Education Intern
Organization: Ventana Wildlife Society
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: To provide equitable environmental education
Project Description: I teach lessons on wide ranges of environmental topics, and bring awareness to environmental issues of today.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Liam Likens
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Undergraduate Researcher
Organization: California State University, Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: Understanding gull foraging behavior and gull species demographics in Monterey bay.
Project Description: To record and catalogue accurate data of gull species demographics of several sites in the Monterey bay area, gull feeding behaviors, and gull species to species interactions at specific field sites.
Discovered this Opportunity: Gerick Bergsma was a guest speaker in the "Adventures in Marine Science" class at CSUMB and talked a little bit about his gull project.
Mickey Baker
Year: Senior
Major: Environmental Science, Technology, & Policy (ESTP)
Title: Education and Outreach Intern
Organization: Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University
Location: Pacific Grove, CA
Goal of Project: Ocean Education Station (OES) aims to bring scientific knowledge and research to the public. Research is often inaccessible to the public and difficult for the general population to understand. Our goal at OES is to meet people where they're at in terms of scientific understanding and educate them about some of the species that are contributing to ground breaking research.
Project Description: I along with my fellow intern, Deirdre, and service learners help our supervisor, Jenny set up and run an education pop up at Hopkins every Friday. We recruit people in and tell them all about some of the amazing creatures we have. We set up a microscope, display tank, touch tank, and art station. Deirdre and I, as interns, also assist Jenny at local schools by planning the lesson and activities with her and helping her run them. We also take on a more leadership role with the service learners by helping Jenny plan their trainning day, keeping them on task, and answering any questions they have.
Discovered this Opportunity: I started as a service learner and was asked to stay as an Intern by Jenny.
Esmeralda Vazquez Gomez
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: evazquezgomez@csumb.edu
Title: Gull Foraging Ecology Project Research Assistant
Organization: Gull Foraging Ecology Project- CSU Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The main goal of the project is to further gather gull data information being able to identify different gull species, age, foraging behaviors and performing scan surveys.
Project Description: I focused on being a research assistant collecting gull data observations, including focal surveys, foraging behaviors and scan surveys. Properly identifying gulls, conducting the surveys to standard protocols and entering data correctly.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
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Deirdre Doyle
Year: Sophomore
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Ocean Education Station Intern
Organization: Stanford Hopkins Marine Station
Location: Pacific Grove, CA
Goal of Project: The Ocean Education Station is a free outreach tent located at Stanford Hopkins Marine Station next to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It seeks to educate the public about our ocean environments, from intertidal creatures to overall ecology. At the Station, you will find an arts station, a touch tank, a display tank, a multitude of shells and tests, and a microscope station. On occasion, we also have researchers from the labs at Hopkins come and present about their work. We aim to educate people on the research being done on our oceans and broaden their intellectual horizons, while making it fun and engaging.
Project Description: As an intern, I was tasked with helping mentor the Service Learners who worked with us, as well as performing similar tasks as they did. Every Friday morning, we would set up the tents and tables and then go to grab animals, protists, and plants from the aquarium room. Each week, we very often brought new creatures out, including nudibranchs, a kelp crab, a decorator crab, and a six-rayed sea star. Once everything was set up, one of us would go out on the bike path to encourage people to come visit the station while the rest of us would rotate around the different stations and talk to people. At the end of the day, we would clean everything up and go home.
Discovered this Opportunity: Service Learning Site.
Blake Holloway
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: bholloway@csumb.edu
Title: Yolo Bypass Fish Monitoring Program Intern
Organization: California Department of Water Resources
Location: West Sacramento, CA
Goal of Project: Long term monitoring program aimed at observing the ecological functions of the Yolo bypass for fish of the San Francisco Bay Estuary.
Project Description: I predominantly conduct fieldwork taking water quality data, chlorophyll sampling, zooplankton tows, fyke trapping, screw trapping, and beach seining. I also collect fin clippings for special interest species and CESA listed species.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Gianni Juarez
Year: Junior
Major: Environmental Studies (ENSTU)
Contact: gjuarez@csumb.edu
Title: Reserve Stewardship and Research Support
Organization: UC Santa Cruz Fort Ord Natural Reserve
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: Restoration is important work; by the end of the semester, I hope to gain some invaluable knowledge regarding practical skills, proper use of equipment, and a better understanding of the native gilia. I would also like to build connections among peers as well as my superiors.
Project Description: I help with habitat management by planting native species, in particular Gilia tenuiflora, in specific plots of the reserve. On occasion, I also help with the building fences for the next potential plots.
Discovered this Opportunity From my previous biology professor.
Johnali Westmoreland
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: jwestmoreland@csumb.edu
Title: Intern
Organization: CSUMB Natural History/Biological Collections
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of my project was to reorganize specimens in the Chapman building that have been donated to the school and to display them in cases with appropriate biographies to interpret the specimens.
Project Description: I reorganized specimens in the cases in room E127 in Chapman and wrote biographies for them to be displayed.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Joie DeNike
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: jdenike@csumb.edu
Title: Student Researcher
Organization: Moss Landing Marine Laboratories
Location: Moss Landing, CA
Goal of Project: To determine the effect of different temperatures (simulating climate change) on the growth, consumption, excretion and metabolic rates of juvenile Blue Rockfish in relation to their role in nutrient cycling within kelp forests.
Project Description: I participate in the care of the Blue Rockfish by feeding, siphoning, performing tank maintenance, assisting with the measurements of metabolic rate and nutrient sampling (in relation to excretion rates), and performing statistical analysis.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Vanessa Medina
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: vamedina@csumb.edu
Title: Curation Intern
Organization: CSUMB College of Science
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: This internship is aimed to gain the foundation skills of curation practices, by hands-on experience and self study. This will specifically be done via labeling, cataloging, and identification of the collection. Further understanding of this field will be done so by being involved with the management of maintaining a collection through CSUMB.
Project Description: For my internship, I have spent most of my time organizing specimens, updating records, reading scientific literature, and logging weekly journal entries. During the first half of my internship, I primarily worked with dry mollusk specimens, while in the second half, I had the opportunity to handle wet specimens.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Mariel Moore
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: marmoore@csumb.edu
Title: Volunteer Diver
Organization: Aquarium of the Bay
Location: San Francisco, CA
Goal of Project: Opaleye fish dietary improvements and feeding techniques to in hope reduce the development of gallstones.
Project Description: I helped with the hands-on dive-related work, like attempting to hand feed the Opaleye and set down any materials to aid in feeding them. We tied algae like sea lettuce and Turkish towel to weighted milk crates and I set them on the bottom of the tank and observed. I also helped with collaborating these ideas on feeding techniques for the Opaleye fish.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Kato Vandepoele
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: kvandepoele@csumb.edu
Title: Sea Otter Research Intern
Organization: Monterey Bay Aquarium
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The Sea Otter Research and Conservation team seeks to study the Southern Sea Otter through observational studies, rehabilitation, and necropsies.
Project Description: I assist with observational studies. We utilize spotting scopes to record total otter counts of the peninsula, along with what activity the otters are doing. I also used these high-powered telescopes to observe an individual otter and collect foraging data, timing how long their dives take, recording what prey item they come up with, and how large that item is.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Kailey Parker
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: kaiparker@csumb.edu
Title: Research Intern
Organization: California State University, Monterey Bay
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: To understand the most common behaviors seen in foraging gull species in the Monterey Peninsula, and to prove if gulls engage in kleptoparasitism (the term used for when an animal steals food or prey from another animal).
Project Description: I go to different survey sites throughout Monterey Bay and collect data. I write down the date, time, weather conditions, sea conditions, and the species being observed. I take data on all the species observed as well as focal survey data on specific individuals.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Amanda Sanchez
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: amansanchez@csumb.edu
Title: Intertidal Research Intern
Organization: BIO 494: California State University, Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: We aim to quantify various relationships between epibiont cover and basibiont locations, size, and cover type in the rocky intertidal
Project Description:
-Take photo transects of intertidal sites along the Monterey Peninsula
-Conduct field surveys to collect data regarding epibionts on mollusk shells in the intertidal
-Create figures
-Keep records in a designated field notebook
-Read compiled literature on the topic,
-Produce a poster presentation including our introduction, methods, and results regarding our research question.
Discovered this Opportunity: From Dr. Gerick Bergsma
Emily Ferman
Year: Senior
Major: Biology (BIO)
Contact: eferman@csumb.edu
Title: Curation Intern
Organization: California State University, Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The goal is to identify, label, and catalogue specimens, specifically mollusks, for inclusion to the CSUMB biological species collection.
Project Description: I work on identifying the taxonomy of different types of mollusks using multiple resources. After identification the information is added to the catalogue and the specimen are labeled and added to the collection.
Discovered this Opportunity: From taking a winter class BIO 356 - Zoology Specimen Preparation
Brendan Huynh
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: brhuynh@csumb.edu
Title: Intertidal Research Intern
Organization: California State University, Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the project is to get a better understanding of the relationship between epibionts and their basibiont hosts. The focus will be on mollusks as the basibiont host within the rocky intertidal.
Project Description: I will take part in collecting data, statistical analysis, and any subsequent presentations.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Alejandro Fuentes
Year: Senior
Major: Agricultural Plant and Soil Sciences (AGPS)
Contact: alfuentes@csumb.edu
Title: Biological Science Aid
Organization: USDA-ARS
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: The goal is to find a pathogenic fusarium isolate to use for future experiments with our celery plants.
Project Description: I will be setting up the experiment, isolating the organism from diseased tissue (not dead), plant crowns of celery in Komada's media, streak 1 % water agar, identify the organism and morphology in the microscope, re-infect plants with organism to perform Koch's populate and at the evaluate the plants.
Discovered this Opportunity: Hartnell College
Miles Shelter
Year: Senior
Major: Biology (BIO)
Title: Curation Intern: R.G. Pisano terrestrial arthropod collection donation
Organization: CSUMB Biological Collection
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: This internship gives me the opportunity to make more resources available to fellow students and address an overflow of useful specimens that were being left to degrade in storage. By adding these specimens to the collection, we are able to make use of a donated collection for educational purposes, as intended by the donor.
Project Description: One part of my job is cleaning pinned specimens that range in age and condition, identifying them as close to species level as I can manage, providing them with appropriate archival labels, and adding them to the collection’s catalog of pinned insects. I then organize these specimens into order groups and place them in collection drawers to be added to the teaching collection. The other part of my work is pinning the unpinned specimens that remain in the envelopes they were donated in.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Sierra Koop
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Curation Intern
Organization: CSUMB
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of this project is to build up the biological collection for CSUMB by cataloging donated specimens
Project Description: I was charged with identifying and cataloging mollusks from our collection, identifying the shells down to their scientific name and common name, and properly labeling them as such
Discovered this Opportunity: BIO356: Zoology Specimen Preparation
Shulammite Feng
Year: Freshman
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: sfeng@csumb.edu
Title: Biological Collection Intern
Organization: CSUMB College of Science
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of our project is to expand CSUMB's Biological Collection by reviewing and identifying the specimens that have been graciously donated to us. Biological collections stand as incredible tangible records of the variability and abundance of species. However, they can unfortunately be overlooked by many as people prefer to rely on photographs for simpler ways of identification. But tangible collections have something that photographs don't: genetic material. Samples of DNA can be utilized in endless ways for scientific studies, and continue to prove as a useful resource for conducting research. By expanding our collection, we actively foster encouragement for contributions and support towards Scientific collections.
Project Description: As an intern, I work to record, identify, and organize our donated specimen. The identification process often requires me to familiarize myself with new and different species every time I clock in for my shift. When observing an insect unfamiliar to me, I utilize resources that can educate me well enough to understand the reasoning behind its taxonomic ranking and therefore make an identification.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Noe Cardenas
Year: Junior
Major: Agricultural Plant and Soil Sciences (AGPS)
Contact: ncardenascabrera@csumb.edu
Title: Laboratory Technical Assistant
Organization: University of California Cooperative Extension, UCANR
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: To analyze canopy from crops to be used on Crop Manage, which is a software for irrigation and fertilizer recommendations used by UCNAR.
Project Description: 1. Image Processing: Once the images are captured, I might assist in processing them to ensure they are of high quality and suitable for analysis. This could involve tasks like image cropping, resizing, and adjusting brightness or contrast.
2. Data Analysis: I analyze the canopy images to extract relevant information such as crop health, density, and growth stage. This often involves using image analysis algorithms or software to quantify various parameters.
3. Interpretation and Reporting: After analyzing the images, I interpret the results and generate reports that provide actionable insights for farmers. This could include recommendations on irrigation, fertilization, or pest management based on the crop's condition.
4. Integration with CropManage Platform: If CropManage has a digital platform, I might help integrate the canopy image data into the system so that farmers can easily access and utilize the information.
Discovered this Opportunity: Hartnell College Internships
Jocelyn Ayala
Year: Junior
Major: Biology (BIO)
Contact: jocayala@csumb.edu
Title: SPCA Wildlife Intern
Organization: SPCA Wildlife Rehabilitation Center: SPCA for Monterey County
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the program is to rescue, rehabilitate, and release wild animals.
Project Description: I am an active part of the rehabilitation process, and this includes administering medications, aiding in limb wraps and casts, and cleaning enclosures. I also assist in administering vaccines and diagnosing ailments. My position also involves taking and analyzing lab work.
Discovered this Opportunity: SIP Website
Danielle Drygas
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: ddrygas@csumb.edu
Title: BIO394– Biology Intern
Organization: California State University Monterey Bay
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: To asses how position in the mid-intertidal zone influences the percent cover of epibionts.
Project Description: I lay transects and quadrats, record counts of mollusks (in addition to any other organisms present within quadrats), maintain data sheets, digitize data sheets, and analyze and visualize data sets.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Luis Ramirez
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant & Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Biological Science Aid (BIO SC AID)
Organization: United States Department of Agriculture- Agriculture Research Station (USDA-ARS)
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: To develop research/findings for the Western Flower Thrips and its virus transmission, Infectious Necrotic Spot Virus
Project Description: Field Scouting and Pest monitoring to compile data. Also work inside greenhouses to overlook plant development and assist with any necessities a plant may require to grow strong and healthy.
Discovered this Opportunity: I learned about the opportunity through a friend who recommended me to the lead researcher from the Entomology lab.
Graham Piercey
Year: Senior
Major: Environmental Science, Technology, and Policy
Contact: gpiercey@csumb.edu
Title: Grassland Bird BLM Intern
Organization: California State University Monterey Bay, Department of Biology and Chemistry, with Dr. Gerick Bergsma
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: To determine how the presence of Coyote brush (Bachharis pilularis) affects the abundance and behavior of local grassland birds in Fort Ord National Monument.
Project Description: Hiking out to record data on bird count, behavior, and species.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Balin Castillo
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: bacastillo@csumb.edu
Title: Curation Intern
Organization: California State University, Monterey Bay Biological Collection
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: Identification, labeling, and cataloging marine gastropod shells to the lowest taxonomic branch possible.
Project Description: Identifying and sorting shells as well as labeling and bagging shells while adding information into a
catalog.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Aaron Wickware
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: awickware@csumb.edu
Title: Sea Otter Care Intern
Organization: Monterey Bay Aquarium
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) team are key contributors to the restoration of the wild Southern Sea Otter population. Through the surrogacy program, the SORAC team is able to rescue stranded sea otter pups and provide care for these animals. Sea Otter pups are set to be raised by the local exhibit sea otters to be raised and re-released back into the wild where it can contribute to the wild population. The over all goal of the program is to replenish the Southern Sea Otter Population by providing care and by researching these creatures.
Project Description: As a SORAC Care intern my daily tasks are to perform hands on husbandry skills to provide care for stranded sea otters, and sea otter surrogates, this includes daily food preparation, maintenance of the enclosures, data collection, handling and safely moving otters, and being on watch for stranding reports.
Discovered this Opportunity: Through a professor that I had, who was previously in the internship.
Miguel Martinez
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Biological Science Aid
Organization: USDA-ARS
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: To compare lettuce cultivars on their resistance to impatiens necrotic spot virus.
Project Description: PCR, ELISA, DNA or RNA extraction
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Jose Manuel Gonzalez
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: josegonzalez2@csumb.edu
Title: Scout Intern
Organization: Green Valley Farm Supply
Location: Gonzales, CA
Goal of Project: Get as much experience as I can to grow as a person and meet new people in the industry.
Project Description: The tasks performed were soil, petiole, tissue, and water samples. post-thinning evaluation in lettuce and broccoli, Mealybug pheromone traps monitoring, herbicide, and fungicide backpack sprays, gather PCA jobs recommendation to later be applied in the field by the sprayers.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Katie Lampkin
Year: Senior
Major: Environmental Studies (ENSTU)
Contact: klampkin@csumb.edu
Title: Water Conservation Intern
Organization: Marina Coast Water District
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: To evaluate the best conservation practices and approaches to reducing excessive water use and addressing leaks to reduce water waste.
Project Description: Evaluating consumption data to identify excessive usage or leaks and perform other duties related to various conservation programs.
Discovered this Opportunity: SIP Website
Jose Jaime
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: jhjaime@csumb.edu
Title: Biological Science Technician
Organization: USDA-ARS
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: Dress soil-borne pathogens in strawberry cultivars.
Project Description: Doing the molecular biology in the lab.
Discovered this Opportunity: School
Suzette Segoviano-Quiroz
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Biological Science Aid
Organization: USDA-ARS
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: My professional experience is being conducted at the USDA-ARS in Salinas, as a biological aid in the entomology lab, which is under the supervision of Daniel Hasegawa. In the last years we have seen negative impacts of INSV on lettuce in the Salinas Valley, resulting in high crop loss. The objective of my internship project is to improve our understanding of how INSV impacts our lettuce production in the Salinas Valley and to better enhance our management.
Project Description: My area of interest is field work. This includes going out and helping setting up field trials. I also help evaluate and record data from these trials. I am also involved in helping others with their projects, including my own. I am also helping monitor and identify insects. Some housekeeping duties I am part of are insect colony maintenance, planting seeds, watering plants, washing dishes, and keeping greenhouse areas and tools clean.
Discovered this Opportunity: From Dr. Jose-Pablo Dundore-Arias
Marcela Quiroz Hernandez
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Test Plot I
Organization: Driscoll's, Inc.
Location: Watsonville, CA
Goal of Project: With Driscoll's we are part of the first commercial substrate tabletop strawberry system in Watsonville. Tabletop systems could be an option of the future for growers. We are doing various trials with water use, nutrition, sprays, plant density, plant variety to learn what is the best way to grow strawberries.
Project Description: I collect harvest information and based on that i create harvest yield, harvest cost and harvest speed reports to report back to my agronomy team. I also have to write journals for trials of specialty varieties. Im in charge of sending payroll and employee safety program at Sheehy ranch. I do weekly scouting with the agronomy team and aid with the IPM program. Im also in charge of creating weekly spray updates and PURs when we apply. Being a certified product application i also help in supervising spray jobs.
Discovered this Opportunity: Driscoll's website
Marc Guzman
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Research Aide
Organization: USDA
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: To find which lettuce varieties have a higher total polyphenol content and then test how well those plants do with disease pressure.
Project Description: I helped maintain the plants up until harvest and then helped run the trials where we actually checked polyphenol content.
Discovered this Opportunity: CSUMB Job Fair
Alex Rodriguez
Year: Junior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Garden Intern
Organization: Olivewood Gardens and Learning Center
Location: National City, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of this project is to practice and learn gardening skills in an organic urban farm, learn organic growing techniques, and understand local health concerns.
Project Description: I participated in overseeing the production of fruits and vegetables in the garden. The tasks in this project include pruning and weeding plants in growing beds, routinely watering fruit trees and garden areas, managing compost bins, and harvesting.
Discovered this Opportunity: Social Media
Jesus Morales
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: jesusmorales1@csumb.edu
Title: Food Safety Intern
Organization: Taylor Farms
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: Create safety criteria, put them into action, and make sure they are followed, particularly those that pertain to chemical safety and knowledge. The process of ensuring that every food meets the requirements for human consumption in terms of health and safety. It is important to keep appropriate cleaning supply stocks of sanitation aids, chemical cleaners, sanitizers, and other sanitation equipment. Regular training and education should be provided to employees to ensure they have the necessary knowledge and skills to handle chemicals safely. Additionally, conducting regular inspections and audits can help identify any potential hazards or non-compliance with safety protocols, allowing for timely corrective actions to be taken.
Project Description: The tasks I usually performed varied by day and depending on who I was with that week or day. Most of my internship involved sampling a variety of vegetables and leafy greens for diseases. Other days consisted of the approval of documents sent over from farms and ranchers in order for us to harvest the produce. Additionally, I was responsible for conducting field inspections to ensure compliance with quality and safety standards. This involved assessing the overall health of crops, identifying any signs of pest intrusions, and recommending appropriate measures for prevention. But that wasn't all; I was also involved in cheating harvesting crews and making sure they followed all safety protocols and company standards.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/Personal Connection
Jorge Flores
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: jorgeflores2@csumb.edu
Title: Farm Assistant Intern
Organization: Rijk Zwaan USA & Canada: Gonzales Research Trial Station
Location: Gonzales, CA
Goal of Project: The development of vegetable varieties and the supply of seed production for global distribution. I worked closely with the research and development team along with the crop coordinators that facilitated the sales of seeds.
Project Description: I participated in the evaluation/plantings of trials to produce resistant vegetable varieties impacted by local/global pathogens, improving the nutritional value of fresh foods, and being at the forefront of supplying food to the world. Seed supply was collected in a greenhouse setting where plant hybrid seeds were harvested for the pipeline of advancing genetic material to produce a commercial (marketable) vegetable seed.
Discovered this Opportunity: SIP website
Ulisses Peralta Diaz
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: uperaltadiaz@csumb.edu
Title: Biological Science Aid
Organization: USDA-ARS
Location: Salinas, CA
Goal of Project: Western flower thrips research
Project Description: Set up fields, data entry, and rearing thrips
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Erick Quezada
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Contact: equezada@csumb.edu
Title: PCA (Pest Control Advisor) Student Intern
Organization: Green Valley Farm Supply Student Internship
Location: Gonzales, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the project is to prepare students in the field of agriculture to gain a skillset and knowledge needed to become a successful PCA
Project Description: I am responsible for monitoring agricultural fields of pests and recording data for pesticide recommendations, and I also carry out the duties of collecting plant/soil samples for testing.
Other tasks involve ride-a-longs with licensed PCAs, company training, fertilizer/pesticide warehouse duties, and auto-thinning post-evaluations.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/ Personal Connection
Justin McClintock
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Lab Technician Intern
Organization: Monterey Bay Analytical Services (MBAS)
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the laboratory is to provide accurate and precise results to the community ensuring water quality and safety.
Project Description: I work in the laboratory helping out with a variety of lab work as well as performing some analyses as well.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/Personal Connection
Ashley Rawlins
Year: Junior
Major: Biology (BIO)
Contact: arawlins@csumb.edu
Title: Curatorial Intern
Organization: CSUMB Biological Collection
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of our project is to identify, preserve, and catalog specimens donated to the school in order for them to be used as educational aids in courses offered by the College of Science.
Project Description: I primarily work on identifying mollusks and echinoderms before cataloging them. After being cataloged, they are officially added to the university's biological collection!
Discovered this Opportunity: From Dr. Gerick Bergsma's Zoology Specimen Preparation course (BIO 356)
Sarah Moloney
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Contact: smoloney@csumb.edu
Title: Curatorial Assistant
Organization: CSUMB Biological Collection
Location: Seaside, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of my project is to provide accurate identifications of preserved specimens donated to or collected to contribute to educational resources for classes at Cal State Monterey Bay. In addition to identifications, the upkeep, storage, and organization of these specimens both digitally and physically in order to be able to use them long-term is also a goal of this project.
Project Description: I work mainly in the identification, organization, and upkeep of dry marine shells, but have also aided in wet preserves and their preparation, preservation, upkeep, and organization.
Discovered this Opportunity: Through the CSUMB Zoology Specimen Prep course offered in the winter semester
Juliana Schuster
Year: Senior
Major: Biology (BIO)
Contact: jschuster@csumb.edu
Title: Pinned Insect Identification Intern
Organization: CSUMB Biological Collection
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: Gathering donated pinned insects and cleaning, identifying and cataloging them into our system, as well as organizing them for future classes.
Project Description: I identified and cataloged the pinned insects from our collection as well as formulated an identification guide for the order Coleoptera.
Discovered this Opportunity: From Dr. Gerick Bergsma
Alexandra Daikos
Year: Junior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Curatorial Intern
Organization: CSUMB Biological Collection
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the project was to identify, catalog, and organize the pinned/jarred specimens that were donated to the school's biology department.
Project Description: For this project, I spent most of the semester identifying the species of bugs and cataloging them within our system. From there I organized them by the lowest division of classification that I could so that storing them would be much easier.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/Personal Connection
Diana Pereyra
Year: Senior
Major: Kinesiology (KIN), Biology (BIO) Minor
Title: Pacific Rehabilitation and Pain Intern
Organization: Pacific Rehabilitation and Pain
Location: Monterey, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of the project is to be able to gain knowledge in opioid use as the Pacific Rehabilitation and Pain Clinic mainly prescribes opioids and some benzodiazepines. I am pursuing a career in medicine so gaining more knowledge on all things medicine and the science behind it will be greatly beneficial.
Project Description: I help patients make sure they are prescribed what they need, I also shadow the physicians and the owner of the practice, Dr.Deldar, which is when I learn the most as each patient has a different case.
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/Personal Connection
Shaundae Parker
Year: Senior
Major: Marine Science (MSCI)
Title: Animal Care Intern
Organization: Wildlife Center of Silicon Valley
Location: San Jose, CA
Goal of Project: Wildlife Rehabilitation (birds, reptiles, mammals, etc.)
Project Description: Animal care for rehabilitation: feeding (preparation,feed-force feeding, tube feeding, etc.)/ habitat maintenance (cleaning, enrichment, etc.)/ medication (preparation,administration-oral, ophthalmic, topical, etc.)
Discovered this Opportunity: Google
Olivia Equinoa
Year: Senior
Major: Environmental Studies (ENSTU)
Title: Herpetology Monitoring Intern
Organization: UCSC Fort Ord Natural Reserve
Location: Marina, CA
Goal of Project: The goal of this project is to track and collect information on what types of herptiles are present on the reserve, where they are on the reserve, and how many there are in a given area. Monitoring this gives us data to compare to past years and to have as a frame of reference for future years. Additionally, the data collected in this project can be useful in understanding how conservation and restoration work at the reserve is affecting the herptile population(s) at the reserve, which can also be used to inform other projects.
Project Description: As a herpetology monitoring intern at FONR, my primary purpose is to collect data on the amphibians and reptiles found on the reserve. My responsibility is to check the pitfall traps and coverboards for herptiles, take their body as well as substrate temperature, measure their weight and snout to vent length, and log this data into ArcGIS Field Maps.
Discovered this Opportunity: From meeting Joe Miller (the reserve director) while working with the Nature Detectives program.
Ulysses Baza-Lezama
Year: Senior
Major: Agriculture Plant and Soil Science (AGPS)
Title: Mentor
Organization: Olinga
Location: Soledad, CA
Goal of Project: Grow cut flowers from seed to harvest.
Project Description: Exposing the youth to agriculture and its importance in Monterey County
Discovered this Opportunity: From a Friend/Personal Connection