The Puget Sound Institute welcomes four student interns from the University of Washington this summer. The interns will work with Institute scientists and staff on a range of topics including collaborative leadership, dissolved oxygen, temperature thresholds of key species, and estuarine habitat. Three of our interns come to us through the University of Washington EarthLab program and one is working on her senior capstone project.
This fall, Kayla Engelhardt (she/her) will begin her final year at UW, majoring in environmental studies with minors in environmental science and restoration management, and in earth and space sciences. Kayla grew up hiking, skiing, and rafting in her home state of Colorado. Her constant connection to nature has resulted in a dedication to environmental science. This summer, she will collect information on the temperature thresholds for key species in the Salish Sea, as part of her senior capstone project. She will report the findings in a concise and accessible way for use in future restoration projects. During her second year in Washington, Kayla has enjoyed exploring the Seattle area. In her free time, she also likes to weightlift and take trips to national parks with her friends. Advisors for Kayla’s project include Christopher Krembs of the Department of Ecology, and Stefano Mazzilli and Marielle Larson of PSI.
Mary Flynn (she/her) is an upcoming junior at UW studying environmental science and terrestrial resource management and marine biology. Having grown up in and around a wildlife reserve in northern New Jersey, Mary has long been devoted to the environment. She hopes to share this passion with others while working as an editorial assistant with our communications team this summer. As an Earthlab intern, she will help increase public knowledge of estuarine habitats in Puget Sound, focusing on their importance for different salmon species. She will summarize available information to make it more useful for estuary and salmon restoration projects. On the weekends, Mary enjoys reading and exploring Seattle. This summer, she is planning to try new hobbies, starting with hiking.
Iris Miller-Sherman (they/them) will start their junior year at UW in the fall, with double majors in environmental science and laws, societies, and justice. Iris grew up in Corvallis, Oregon, and has long been interested in environmental justice and how law and policy can be applied to create more equitable outcomes for those who have been treated unfairly by resource management policy decisions in the past. As an Earthlab intern, they will be working with PSI’s Director of Special Projects Michael Kern to make public nearly 60 oral histories of the collaborative approaches to resource conservation policy. They will also interview the 16 other Earthlab interns to understand how the future generation of leaders in natural resource management feel about collaborative governance. In their free time, Iris loves to read and crochet. They also play the guitar and drums, in addition to writing their own music.
Isabella Showman (she/her) is majoring in atmospheric sciences with a concentration in climate and minoring in oceanography. She will be starting her junior year in the fall at UW. Although she was raised in Redmond, WA, Isabella feels that she has not truly explored Puget Sound. Her Earthlab internship this summer will center on dissolved oxygen vulnerability and climate change, and give her the chance to learn about the ecosystem she grew up in. Under the direction of UW professor Tim Essington and PSI staff, Isabella will research and report on the survival threshold of many key species in Puget Sound, focusing on the critical oxygen limit of each species. When she isn’t working, Isabella enjoys spending time outdoors, hiking and skiing, and she has recently started backpacking.