Hi everyone! If you’ve already read my bio on the internship page, then I suppose you can just skip this next paragraph—but for fear of catapulting everyone else into a detailed account of my summer without a little background, I want to introduce myself.

I’m Claire Mullaney, the 2017 Dr. Jamie L. King Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF) Marine Conservation Intern through the Our World-Underwater Scholarship Society^®. Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri and a former student at Indiana University (IU) in Bloomington, Indiana, I am a Midwesterner through and through. I just graduated from IU in May with a B.S. in Biology along with certificates in Animal Behavior and Underwater Resource Management. I am 22 now, but I began diving and taking classes through IU’s academic diving program when I was 18. In addition to diving, I focused my undergraduate years and summers on different areas of biological research, from molecular genetics to marine ecology to human dimensions. While I loved my semesters and summers in the lab, I realized quite suddenly a year ago that my true focus—in my day-to-day thoughts, if not yet in my career plans—was not research for its own sake, but rather marine conservation, marine resource management, and education. My love for literature and writing (my heart still hurts for the dual degree in English Literature that I was not able to complete) also feeds an interest in using writing to evoke compassion for the environment and to communicate marine conservation issues.

My internship at REEF officially began on Monday, May 22. But exactly a month before that, I went to the OWUSS banquet in New York City. And that’s where I want to begin. The weekend of April 22 introduced me to the OWUSS family, brought new friends, and fueled my drive to throw myself into a future focused on marine conservation; it seems like the perfect place to start this blog.

When I leave for NYC at 6 AM on Friday, April 21^st, I am 1) still wondering if I really should be missing my dives to get my Full Face Mask Specialty Certification, which are happening today, and 2) happy to be getting out of town for the weekend; finals and my thesis defense still loom between me and graduation, and I am content to put them off for as long as I can.

That afternoon and evening, the names I have been reading over email become faces: Jenna. Erika. Shaun. Roberta. The 2016 and 2017 interns, along with the OWUSS team, gather in the lobby of our hotel before heading to the Terrace Club—which is across from Rockefeller Center—for a casual dinner. There are more new faces to meet here, and the atmosphere is cheery; people are catching up with old friends, making acquaintances, sharing stories. The faces aren’t all new to me, though. Charlie Beeker, the Director of IU’s Center of Underwater Science, was the first professor with whom I ever had a college class. Now, days before I graduate, we meet again in NYC. I spend most of the evening getting to know the other interns, and I chat with some people Charlie has pointed out to me. Standing on the balcony and looking at the New York skyline, surrounded by divers and ocean enthusiasts from around the country and world, I have a “I can’t believe I get to be in this place and do this thing” moment.

There will be many more in the coming days and months.

The next morning, we head to the Explorers Club for refreshments and to learn about the summers and years of the 2016 Interns and Scholars. The Explorers Club is the perfect backdrop for this event. I don’t really remember what I was expecting the Explorers Club Headquarters to be, but definitely not the museum/gathering space hybrid that it is. The halls and rooms hold relics of famous explorations: rocks from the moon, old game trophies (hunting trophies would never be taken on any current expeditions, of course), and the whip of Roy Chapman Andrews, who inspired the character of Indiana Jones (much to my dismay, the whip was absent for restoration purposes…I’m already counting down the days until next April). I was too busy gazing wide-eyed at all the artifacts and daydreaming to take many photos, but I do quickly snap these two as I am heading down the stairs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought the only thing that Bob Ballard, Buzz Aldrin, and I would have in common was that we were all from the same planet—certainly not members of the same club.

The fanciest, and my most favorite, part of the weekend is the Saturday dinner at the New York Yacht Club. Spirits are high, and it is another wonderful evening of talking to old friends—including Mylana Haydu, the DSO at IU and my instructor for the better part of the last three years—and making new ones. I come away from the evening, and from the weekend as a whole, marveling at both the friendliness and experience of everyone I have met. Despite my youth and relative inexperience, I feel included, welcomed, and—please know that I never use this word lightly— inspired.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Still here? Thanks for sticking with me. More soon.