For my second info interview, I spoke to Andrew Ibarra, a lead intern at Coral Restoration Foundation in Florida. Andrew and his fellow interns do 60% of all dives and also conduct educational outreach for schools. They maintain the world's largest coral nursery by growing coral, out-planting, and cleaning coral trees.
In high school, Andrew was never sure of what he liked; he took mechanical engineering in college but was then introduced to environmental science and scuba diving. He was then able to find this CRF internship online.
Skills important to Andrew's job of coral restoration is public speaking, being comfortable with presentations, good communication, organization, and being detailed. His biggest challenge has been public speaking, but through this internship, he has been able to tackle it and practice. Andrew's favorite thing about his job is being able to scuba dive as a job, restoring the ecosystem, and being a part of something bigger than himself. His least favorite thing is the schedule. Being a diver isn't a 9 to 5 job and involves flexibility; there are 10-12 hour days, and you have to wake up early in the morning to make use of the daylight for dives.
The marine biology and conservation field is broad. For people thinking about getting a career in this field, Andrew says to be open to anything and to volunteer and gain experience, especially as a teenager with more time on your hands.