Caroline McInerney – NAMEPA Intern Essay

Over the course of the four weeks I worked with the North American Marine Environment Protection Association, I have learned about the maritime industry, marine life and worked my creative brain more than I ever would have without this experience. Throughout my internship, I worked with the education team to increase awareness about ways to Save Our Seas, educate the public about important marine habitats and help those understand how certain habitats are being heavily affected by the changing climate. I spent the majority of the internship creating educational videos to accompany pre existing curriculum and education guides regarding things like marine debris, carbon sequestration, polar bears and the arctic habitat, phytoremediation and superfund sites. One of the larger projects I worked on was to create an informational video on how to conduct a safe and easy beach clean up. I took a trip to the beach nearest me in Santa Cruz, California and demonstrated ten easy steps to conducting a beach clean up to keep the seas clean and marine life unharmed.

One of the most enriching pieces of my internship with NAMEPA was our weekly all hands meetings where we not only shared our top three priorities for the week, but also each came to the meeting with a piece of maritime news. This encouraged me to do my research and keep up to date with news on the sea, what companies are doing to become more sustainable and how the industry is affecting our ocean. We discussed topics like the obstruction of the suez canal, seafarer wellness initiatives, companies working towards becoming carbon neutral in the coming years, new ways to sequester carbon through plants like kelp and current events like dock workers on strike in Montreal. Throughout this internship, I increased my awareness of the impact of the maritime industry on the economy and environment and grew my passion for advocating for the protection of our seas. I am so grateful to have had this opportunity with such an impactful company.

By Caroline McInerney