Marine Discovery Center intern Zoe Stuckwisch certainly knows her way around the center after 1½ years of hands-on experience with everything from aquaria, exhibit maintenance, and conservation deployments in the Shuck & Share shoreline restoration program to sea grass fragment harvesting and educational field trips and programs. This summer, the Indiana native will add MDC Lead Summer Camp Counselor to her list of experiences.
Before graduating from Stetson University this spring in three years, she presented her research findings on fish diversity and abundance in the Indian River Lagoon at ShORE (Sharing Our Research with Everyone). She also traveled to South Africa for a field course of study there, so Zoe’s curiosity and initiative has continued to guide her through her various opportunities.
Get to know Zoe in her recent interview with MDC staff writer Lisa D. Mickey:
Q: When did your internship at MDC begin?
A: I started in September of 2023, so I was there for a year and a half.
Q: What were your responsibilities?
A: When I first started, I was mostly doing water changes in the tanks and keeping the tanks clean in the exhibit. As I was there longer, got more comfortable and built some trust, I started rebuilding some of our aquariums. I actually built the camp tank that we will be using this year for summer camp. It will be a tank with a filter system on a rolling cart so we can move it out and about during camp. I’m also helping them put together a new reef tank system we’re going to have with mangrove trees. In addition, I’ve helped collect sea grass fragments in the lagoon that we’re going to plant in our nursery. We have permits for those seagrass collections at Canaveral National Seashore if it’s loose. I’ve also gone on a couple of deployments with the conservation team with the oyster volcanos used on the shorelines, along with mangrove and marsh grass plantings.
Q: What did you enjoy the most about your internship at MDC?
A: I liked the flexibility of when I had an idea and proposed it, they were willing to let me try it – even before I was able to graduate with my bachelor’s degree. They wanted me to get experience in every area while I was there if I wanted to get involved. I appreciate the trust that I’ve gained while I have been at MDC. It’s a great place to be.
Q: What challenged you the most?
A: When I first started, I was the only aquarist intern and I didn’t really know what to do. I tried to figure out where I fit in best and also to know if this was a good position for me. About a year into my internship, there also was a staff aquarist change, so it became even more important to establish good communication because there were some changes with how we did things.
Q: Was there a “best lesson” that you learned during your internship?
A: Just learning to work independently and knowing what to do next without having a list given to me every day. I think that’s one of the most important skills to develop, especially when you’re going into a full-time job after graduating from college. I need to know how to communicate with others as a team, but also know how to get things done without someone watching over me and having to tell me what to do.
Q: Did you feed the animals in our exhibits?
A: Yes, I’ve done food prep and helped train other interns on food prep and feedings. That was one of my main tasks when I started during my first school year.
Q: What exactly is this mobile specimen tank that will be used during summer camp this year?
A: Since we have two locations of summer camp, with our main location being at Marine Discovery Center and the second one at Browns Bay, I will be working at the Browns Bay location. I wanted something that we could take out into the field with us so that if children collect really cool specimens that we want to keep for their week of camp, we could put it into a tank for a week or potentially release it. With our collection permit, we also could keep that specimen in one of the tanks at the center. This mobile tank gives us freedom to roll it around from the lab to the classroom. It is also built so that we can load it into the back of the SUV and take it on the Discovery boat with us or out to Browns Bay or we could even roll it out to the pavilion for a lesson or lecture. The water filter is battery-pack operated, so it’s mobile.
Q: That mobile tank will give the campers a little more time to learn about various species or to observe them before releasing them or adding them to MDC’s exhibits.
A: Yes, and we’re also planning to develop a program that starts at the beginning of each week that allows campers to decorate the tank’s background. A local woman has offered to build us something like a frame around the cart, so it will look like mangroves and the background will be designed by the children at camp each week.
Q: Why did you want to work at summer camp this year?
A: I’ve always loved MDC and I’ve been involved here for a while. I’m going to be really sad when I have to part ways and go to graduate school this fall. I’ve been a substitute teacher at my old high school in Indiana when I’ve gone home for winter breaks. I really love seeing kids have a passion for the outdoors and for the ocean just like how I was when I was a kid. I grew up in a landlocked state, so I’m seeing these kids have an opportunity to do something I never did. It’s an awesome experience and I want to share and spark their curiosity just like I was as a kid when our family visited New Smyrna Beach.
Q: When does camp begin?
A: We started our training on May 19, but I think my first camp will be in the first week of June. I will be the lead camp counselor for Aquatic Adventures in the Browns Bay Lab and probably helping with snorkeling and boat field trips and kayaking. We will be seine-netting in the lagoon and catching fish and crabs. With my background, I’ll be able to help educate the campers about the different species we see.
Q: When do your graduate school classes begin?
A: I start in the middle of August, so I will be moving to south Florida around Aug. 20. I’ll be going to Nova Southeastern University’s Oceanographic Institute for my master’s degree in marine science.
Q: What can you see yourself doing as a career in the near future?
A: I would love to do fisheries research. I love the aspect of research and paper publication. I was blessed with a lot of hands-on experience with my advisor, Dr. Corie Charpentier at Stetson University. I’d really love to continue that kind of work with writing and publishing papers. After graduate school, I may potentially pursue a Ph.D., to become a college professor, but I would also like the opportunity to work for NOAA [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) or for FWC [Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission] or to potentially work for another nonprofit. I’m kind of taking it one step at a time, but I know I really want to be in the research field working with fish.
Q: How has MDC helped you identify your career path?
A: Oh wow, that list can go on and on. When I started there, I was a college sophomore and didn’t really know what I wanted to do. I knew I loved the ocean. Working at MDC taught me how to communicate, how to be professional in the field and how to get experience to build my resume. I learned that you can really enjoy going to work every day in an enjoyable work environment.
Q: This is going to be quite a transitional year for you.
A: I’m super-excited about this summer. I can’t wait and I’m hoping for a good year even though I know it’s going to be busy.
Follow Us!