Marissa Hammond '12

Within my first weeks on campus, I landed a work study job with the Environmental Studies Department... I helped with various tasks involving the Department’s Salt Marsh Restoration Project. While volunteering, I met Jeremy Miller, a research associate at the Wells National Estuarine Research Reserve. So, for the next two and half years, I spent time during the school year and summer interning and volunteering at the Wells NERR (sampling and processing for their ichthyoplankton monitoring program), gaining a vast array of skills, knowledge, and experience.

If it wasn’t for my experience volunteering, interning at the Wells NERR, and getting to know each member of the department on a personal and professional level, I don’t think I would have been such a competitive candidate for the (NOAA’s Ernest F. Hollings) scholarship. The scholarship came with funding for two years, along with a paid internship…at the National Marine Fisheries Services (NMFS) field station in Orono, ME.

My internship with NMFS sparked my interest to pursue a graduate degree… I am entering into a Ph.D. program in the area of Fisheries Management and Policy (at Michigan State University)."