Intern Spotlight – April Almeida

Name: April Almeida
Studied: Biology with a Marine option
Studied at: University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
What brought you to choose to study this subject?
I have grown up on the ocean and I have always been interested in Biology and how different organisms can live together. In seventh grade I had the pleasure of swimming with dolphins and learning more about their lives. From that day on I knew that I wanted to work with marine life and trying to make their environment better.
What have been your major tasks at Ocean Alliance so far?
My major tasks at Ocean Alliance have been organization of the office and helping with events.
What have you most enjoyed about working at Ocean Alliance?
I enjoy the people here and I enjoy the work that we do even though I have yet to actually start working on actual research.
What’s been your biggest challenge working at Ocean Alliance?
I feel that my biggest challenge working at Ocean Alliance has been learning about the buildings and being able to give people who walk in a nice tour. I feel like I don’t know enough about our buildings.
What have you learned about yourself and your subjects at Ocean Alliance?
I have learned that I am very quick to learn something if I am just thrown into it instead of being eased into it. For example, the baleen talk on the Seven Seas boat. I always knew that I had knowledge of baleen, but I didn’t know how much until I was put in the position of having to teach people about it.
What’s it like working for a non-profit compared to studying?
Working for a non-profit is more engaging than studying. I enjoy more hands on work than sitting at a desk and reading a textbook.
What’s your favorite marine mammal – and why?
My favorite marine mammal is the dolphin. This is because I find their intelligence intriguing and I always want to learn more about them. I also love how social they are.
What’s your favorite ocean film – and why?
My favorite ocean film is Dolphin Tales because it shows how some people are very willing to help animals in need and not give up on them no matter what.
What do you hope to become when you finish your studies?
I hope to go back to school to get my master’s in the near future and with that I hope to be able to teach people about what consequences our actions have on the ocean and work to give the creatures of the ocean a voice.
What are your hopes for the future as you look at our world today?
I hope that some day soon people will actually realize what harm they are doing to our planet and work to reverse the problem.