CSS Newest Intern: Evan Flynn

Hello everyone! My name is Evan Flynn and I am the newest conservation intern at Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary!

    

          I was born and raised in Golden, Colorado where from a young age I learned to love the outdoors. However, I first realized my passion for the marine environment through several family and school trips to go snorkeling and hiking along the California and Hawaiian coastlines. Ever since I can remember I have wanted to study the marine environment in one way or another. I decided to pursue my passion further in college, leaving my Colorado home to study marine science at Eckerd College in St Petersburg, Florida. At Eckerd my interest in marine science began to focus on marine geology and coastal geomorphology. My freshman year I began research under a sedimentology professor, studying sedimentation pulses in the Gulf of Mexico that had resulted from the BP Deep Horizon oil spill of 2010. From there, I took on a summer internship at Texas A&M University at Galveston where I studied changes in mercury deposition offshore of the Brazos River just south of Galveston Bay and the Houston Shipping Channel. I found a great interest in investigating the sources, frequency, and mechanisms involved in mercury deposition in the marine environment. Working hand in hand with both Eckerd College and Texas A&M I was able to conduct my own senior thesis researching mercury pollution offshore of northwestern Cuba that had been associated with previous mining activity on the island. Through this multitude of projects I have learned many diverse things about the marine environment and the geology that it is composed of; however, one this has stayed constant and that is my desire to keep the beautiful environment that I love protected. 

       I graduated from Eckerd College in May 2018 finishing with a BS in Marine Science and minors in Chemistry and Coastal Management. I hope to continue my education into graduate school with the goal of one day achieving a PhD in Geological Oceanography, and ultimately pursue a career in coastal research and conservation. I truly believe that my experiences here in the WINGS internship program will help me achieve my goals as I learn more about wetland research methodology and conservation/resource management and policy. I also hope to learn about the relationship between research and management as I one day hope to produce research that will be as effective introducing and promoting ethical and pragmatic management policy and techniques in the field of coastal conservation.