Recent graduates who gain experience in their field through internships, fellowships, or part-time work often have a real advantage when entering the workforce. Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant (IISG) provides these opportunities to help train the next generation of young professionals to address Great Lakes issues and work with communities throughout the region.

This summer, IISG welcomed 12 interns who will gain hands-on experience through a variety of projects while participating in professional development opportunities. Learn more about the interns, their backgrounds, and the projects they’ll be working on below.

Are you an undergraduate student interested in an internship? We post opportunities on our Great Lakes Undergraduate Internship page each year in early December, so be sure to check back every year. You can also contact Angela Archer for more information.  

Traci Bennet

Stormwater Infrastructure Intern

I am Traci Bennett, a senior at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign completing a B.S. in Geology with an environmental concentration. I hope to pursue a career in water resources, especially water quality. Working with Eliana Brown and Layne Knoche on Green Stormwater Infrastructure (GSI), including the Red Oak Rain Garden (RORG), strengthened this interest. On days without events or maintenance, I analyzed Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4) reports. Many Illinois municipalities use MS4s, which carry stormwater runoff directly to local waterways instead of wastewater treatment plants. These communities submit annual reports to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) detailing their stormwater management. This information helps track pollution, evaluate programs, and enforce Clean Water Act standards while giving me valuable environmental data analysis experience.

At the garden, I helped with maintenance, educational tours, and volunteer activities. Leading tours was rewarding, especially seeing children explore the garden. I also enjoyed planting and weeding with volunteers and observing wildlife, including bumble bees, monarch butterflies, katydids, a yellow garden spider, and a spicebush swallowtail caterpillar. Overall, my MS4 work and experience at the RORG increased my excitement about a career in the natural sciences. I am grateful for this opportunity before graduation.

Fun Fact: Over the span of my junior high and high school track and cross country career
(~7 years), I ran over 3,000 miles—all of which is documented in my logbook.

Morgan Hamilton

Aquaculture Intern

I’m Morgan Hamilton (she/her), and I will be a senior this fall at Purdue University majoring in Aquatic Science with a concentration in Marine and Freshwater Biology. This summer, I have been working with Bob Rode through Purdue University’s Recirculating Aquaculture Program, where I have gained hands-on experience in aquaculture production and fisheries management.

My work focuses on both indoor and outdoor aquaculture systems. I help raise tilapia in recirculating aquaculture systems to support efficient fish production and have worked with newly hatched walleye fingerlings, monitoring their growth and development from the egg stage. I assist with managing broodstock populations of bass and walleye in outdoor ponds, as well as maintaining recreational ponds that contain species such as redear sunfish used for biological control. This experience has strengthened my interest in fisheries, aquaculture, and aquatic resource conservation.

Fun Fact: I studied abroad in the Turks and Caicos Islands, where I conducted marine field research and had the opportunity to scuba dive while studying coral reef ecosystems!

Kaleigh Pullie

Community Engagement Intern with National Park Service

Kaleigh Pullie (she/her) is a rising junior at Michigan State University working towards a degree in Environmental Biology/Zoology. This summer, she is a community-engaged intern at Indiana Dunes National Park working under Erin Argyilan and with Joe Gruzalski and Eric Plath. Her main goal for the summer is collaborating with staff at INDU to develop outreach programs and community science in the park. Included in the outreach programs would be a strategy for implementing iNaturalist more in volunteer events and with visitors. She is also working on monitoring monarch populations and sampling dragonflies for national community science projects.

Fun Fact: Kaleigh has a pet leopard gecko “Otter” and loves cooking.

Penelope Reynolds

Aquatic Invasive Species Intern

I am Penelope Reynolds, a rising senior at Loyola University Chicago, double majoring in Conservation & Restoration Ecology and Environmental Health. I am passionate about aquatic conservation, water quality, and environmental health, and hope to pursue a career in these fields. This summer, I worked with Katie O’Reilly, Greg Hitzroth and Natalia Szlaruk, the Illinois-Indiana Sea Grant Aquatic Invasive Species (AIS) team, to assess University of Illinois Extension’s needs for AIS outreach and educational materials. I interviewed Extension professionals and conducted qualitative data analysis to better understand these needs and how Sea Grant could support them. This experience strengthened my research and communication skills while deepening my interest in aquatic conservation and environmental education.

It was a very fulfilling and eventful summer working with IISG, and I gained so much valuable experience in qualitative research and data analysis. I was also able to learn more about the human dimensions of conservation and outreach work involving invasive species and see how the AIS team works to spread awareness and educate different audiences about the issues affecting our environment.

Fun Tidbit: I recently presented my research about invasive crayfish and water quality at the Society for Freshwater Science annual meeting and received an award!

Sofie Van Til

Water Conservation Intern

Sofie Van Til is a rising senior at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign majoring in Integrative Biology with minors in Chemistry and Public Health. This summer, she worked with Margaret Schneemann as a Water Conservation intern. She contributed to a variety of projects, including researching water conservation resources, collection and quality control of water rate data, and comparison of groundwater governance across different states. Her favorite project, however, included conducting a review of existing methodology for calculating water affordability metrics. Getting to participate in a process that affects water affordability programs was an incredibly rewarding and engaging experience!

Fun fact: Sofie loves to crochet!

Ray Wallace

Youth Education Intern

Ray Wallace (they/he) is a recent Purdue University graduate with degrees in Theatre and Creative Writing and a wildlife minor. This summer, they had the opportunity to work as a Youth Education intern with Megan Gunn. During this internship, they helped develop and deliver engaging science-related programs for youth throughout Indiana and supported programming for Megan’s extension work with Purdue University. This internship was a great place for Ray to develop skills as an informal educator, and they are excited to begin their new position as a zoo educator in August!

Fun fact: Ray is a hobbyist voice actor! They’ve had the opportunity to do voice-over work for several different types of independent projects and audiobooks.

Kendall Williamson

Aquaculture Intern

Kendall Williamson is a rising senior at Ball State University studying Aquatic Biology and Fisheries Management. This summer, she served as a recirculating aquaculture intern at Tippco Fish Farm under Phil Shambach. The internship included hands-on experience in water quality, fish behavior monitoring, and fish husbandry.

In addition to the internship, she was granted the opportunity to work on a fish health project. This included building a portfolio of parasites common on fish farms and developing extension materials for fish farmers. The highlight of this project was getting to travel to a few other fish farms to test their fish for parasites and add them to the collection. Contributing to a resource for helping farmers and the health of their fish was an incredibly rewarding experience.

Fun Fact: Kendall also has a lot of experience with electrofishing!