By Sydney Mahan, Virginia Sea Grant Student Correspondent
This spring, Virginia Sea Grant had three undergraduate communication interns who helped cover events and projects.
Joy Staley
Joy Staley joined Virginia Sea Grant as Photo Intern this spring. She first learned about the internship from the Director of Communication at the Virginia Sea Grant Janet Krenn, who had come into one of her photography classes to talk about opportunities to practice photojournalism with Virginia Sea Grant.
As a Spring Photography Intern, Joy covered a variety of events including the Blue Crab Bowl quiz competition and the Working Waterfront Workshop. She will finish up the semester working on landscape photography.
For Joy, shooting events meant learning to respond on the fly to conditions that she couldn’t control.
“It helps me to do better at problem solving,” she said. “The buildings I go into are very dimly light so it presents the challenge of shooting in a dim area. It pushes me to react more quickly to these issues.”
Joy will graduate this spring from Thomas Nelson Community College with a degree in photography. She hopes to make a career in landscape photography.
Julia Robins
Julia Robins joined Virginia Sea Grant as a Student Correspondent last fall and is continuing her work through the spring. As a Student Correspondent, Julia covers events sponsored by Virginia Sea Grant throughout the Hampton Roads area. She has contributed stories about community supported fisheries, cownose ray research, and aquaculture.
As a senior at the College of William and Mary, Julia first heard about the opportunity through her Nonfiction Writing class, when Director of Communication Janet Krenn spoke to the class about internship and writing opportunities with Virginia Sea Grant.
“I’m super excited for this opportunity because I’ve been looking for writing opportunities, and working with the Virginia Sea Grant has allowed me to attend events affecting the community,” she says.
Julia will graduate from the College of William and Mary this May with a Bachelor of Arts in English. On campus, she is currently involved with the College’s newspaper, The Flat Hat, and yearbook, Colonial Echo.
Sydney Mahan
Sydney Mahan joined Virginia Sea Grant as a Student Correspondent in the fall and continued her work through the spring as well. As a Student Correspondent, Sydney writes bios on the VASG’s interns, staff, and graduate fellows.
“I’m excited to work with the Virginia Sea Grant because I hope to become a journalist one day, and by writing bios I am able to practice my interviewing and writing skills, while learning about coastal and environmental issues I normally wouldn’t have known about,” she says.
Sydney learned about Virginia Sea Grant through a professor who encouraged her to contact the Director of Communication.
A native of Chantilly, VA, Sydney is currently a sophomore at the College of William and Mary. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Arts double major in Government and Film/Media studies.
