Port Orange native Samantha “Sammy” Earney, 20, is currently enrolled at the University of Central Florida and is spending this summer working as an intern in MDC’s conservation program.
While at Spruce Creek High School, she was dual-enrolled at Daytona State College and earned her associate college degree when she graduated from high school. Sammy is now a rising senior at UCF and will graduate in the fall of 2026.
Get to know Sammy in her recent interview with MDC staff writer Lisa D. Mickey:
Q: Have you always been science-oriented?
A: I’ve always really liked science and in particular, biology. I knew I was never going to be a doctor or doing a job that dealt with the human body and I had no interest in teeth to go into dentistry. I wanted to study something animal-related, just not on humans. I volunteered when I was younger at the humane society and my first goal was to become a wildlife veterinarian, but that takes a lot of school. After I was exposed to research, I found that I really liked doing that. So, now I’m going down the path in marine science and we’ll see where it takes me.
Q: Growing up here, what were you involved in at school?
A: At Spruce Creek, I did the color guard with the school’s marching band. I was involved with the performance aspect of the band with the flags.
Q: When did your internship at MDC begin?
A: It began in May this year. As a conservation intern, I help MDC’s conservation team on Wednesdays and Fridays. We just helped finish up the oyster restoration projects with Sea Lab at UCF. We worked with all the BESE mats and led a lot of workshops to make the materials used in restoration. Now, we’re helping maintain the seagrass tanks at MDC and we will be involved with deployment, as well as the collection of seagrass fragments for the tanks. We also monitor the newly restored shoreline at MDC [on the west campus] and do the data entry for that area. It looks great and the spartina [cord grass] out there is as tall as me! So many plants are coming in and we have a lot of crabs out there, too.
Q: How did you connect with MDC?
A: To be honest, I found MDC on Handshake – an app. There was a listing for a conservation intern, so I applied for it. I had heard of MDC because one of my friends had been a summer camp counselor, but I had never actually been there.
Q: Is this your first internship?
A: No, I worked with Hubbs-SeaWorld Research Institute earlier in the spring. I helped with data entry and information they needed while we were on the boat during [dolphin] surveys. I helped in the lab and assisted with microplastics work. I also helped with a necropsy and pretty much did whatever they needed.
Q: What do you enjoy about the MDC internship?
A: I’m trying to be exposed to a lot of different things because I’m not fully sure what I want to do in the future. I do like how the work is outdoors and is a very hands-on experience. I’m always doing something different. It’s not like I’m always stuck inside at a desk or outside in the heat. I’m always involved with a bunch of different projects and everyone here is very helpful and friendly. That makes it a very easy environment to learn in and it makes it more fun. Plus, it’s nice to have a hands-on experience here in my home area. I feel like I’m having an impact where I live.
Q: What is challenging about your internship?
A: Just mostly Florida weather — the heat and the mosquitos, but I enjoy all of it.
Q: What has been the highlight of your internship so far?
A: Really, everything. I like being on the boat, being outside and kayaking. It kind of feels like mixing work and play, but the fact that I’m learning a lot keeps everything alive and interesting.
Q: How has MDC’s conservation staff helped you learn and grow?
A: I love all of them so much and they are super-knowledgeable in different aspects. Sam [Samantha Garcia] is really good with art and I want to learn about that. Abby [Frey] is super-knowledgeable about seagrass and Tess [Sailor-Tynes] knows a lot about a lot of different things. It’s just neat to get all of these pieces of knowledge from them that I did not previously have.
Q: Plus, MDC has two restored shorelines completed about 10 years apart, so you can learn something there, too, right?
A: Yes, that’s a great place to learn and when I work with the conservation staff, they are all so passionate about it.
Q: What are you studying in school?
A: I’m currently a biology major on the marine aquatic track at UCF.
Q: It seems that you are meshing together the things you are learning in college with practical, hands-on experiences in your MDC internship.
A: Yes. I’m taking ecology in my current class and the professor played a video about [UCF biology professor] Dr. Linda Walter’s work with the oyster program and MDC, and I was like, “Yeah, I know about this program.” I’ve never really had a deep interest in oysters before, but I have learned about them and now I can talk to other people about their importance.
Q: Have you learned a lot about coastal shorelines, too?
A: Yes, I’ve learned a lot about mangroves and how they help protect us during hurricanes, and of course, now we are in hurricane season.
Q: How do you think this internship experience will help you in your career moving forward?
A: It’s about me getting experience in different things, gaining new skills and meeting new people. It’s also about me learning what I want to do and what I don’t want to do. I’ve already learned that connections are invaluable.
Q: When does your internship end?
A: In August and then I’ll go back to school at UCF in mid-August. I have an apartment near UCF, where I live during the school year.
Q: What are your thoughts after you graduate from UCF?
A: I plan to go to graduate school after I graduate from UCF and continue in biology. Just being here and getting in on all the feng shui and all the outdoor work – I think that’s good for me. For graduate school, I’m thinking about maybe going to San Diego or staying in Florida and going to FAU [Florida Atlantic University]. They both have very good schools in marine biology.
Q: What are some things you are considering for your future career?
A: I really would like to get involved with federal work. I have a big interest in NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] and I want to try to find connections with them because I really want to work there. Or, I’d like to work for Florida Fish and Wildlife [Conservation Commission] or the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Q: Do you want to stay in Florida?
A: Ideally, I’d like to work on the west coast of the United States. I studied for a semester in Alaska and I feel like a part of my heart has been left on the west coast of our country. I like the rocky intertidal system a lot because I’m a big invertebrate nerd. The Pacific and all the different species that live there are interesting to me.
Q: As a person who grew up in Florida and now studying about this ecosystem, does it give you a greater sense of responsibility to help find better ways to sustain our communities with such things as flooding and shoreline erosion?
A: Yes, I am interested in studying the issues and learning about the different methods to restore habitat. I think it’s a big weight you have to carry, but for the people who support the restoration work and understand, it helps to have people working together. The more knowledge you have and the more you understand, the better it is for everybody. I think a lot of community-science efforts are very good and it helps educate the public. If the issues aren’t talked about, who’s going to know? We have to advocate in a way that helps the public understand the issues and know that actions are important for them, too, even if you don’t live directly on the coast.
Q: Any final thoughts about your experience at MDC?
A: I’m just very, very grateful that I was given this opportunity and that they trust me with tasks here. They have allowed me to find my way as they have given me different responsibilities. It means a lot. And I also think everybody should come check out MDC and all the cool things you can learn here. A lot of things at MDC are free and accessible to everyone.
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