Name: Sarah Hall
Nationality: United States of America
Current Profession: Research Scientist at NOAA
Programme (s) completed at CCMI: 2-week Winter Internship – Reef Research Experience
Year programme was completed at CCMI: 2017

As an intern at CCMI for two weeks in the winter of 2017, Sarah feels that despite the short programme length, the number of activities she experiences seemed endless.

According to Sarah, CCMI introduced her to efficient collaboration, effective communication, problem-solving, and creative thinking when posing research questions.

During her internship in Little Cayman, Sarah also learned valuable skills such as coral nursery maintenance, reef organism identification, and scientific writing/presenting.

Sarah fondly recalls the teamwork environment at CCMI, which helped her gain experience as both a leader and a follower. After the internship programme, Sarah felt more confident incorporating her ideas during teamwork activities and asking questions about unfamiliar topics!

Sarah has many favorite memories from her time at CCMI, including campfire nights, biking around the island, beach cleanups, playing soccer with locals, scientific dives, dissecting lionfish, and deploying baited remote underwater videos. She particularly enjoyed outplanting corals onto the reef.

Sarah’s journey from a curious intern to a dedicated research scientist at NOAA is truly inspiring. Her story highlights the transformative power of hands-on experience and the importance of fostering a love for science and its impact on the world.