Northeast Region Interns
CROSS MCHUGH
Growing up in central North Carolina I have always enjoyed my time at the coast. I spent a good portion of my childhood summers roaming and fishing all over our beautiful coastline. It was while fishing our beaches that I began to understand the impact of pollution and knew that I wanted to be a part of the positive changes to reverse it. As a rising senior at Apex Friendship High School, I look forward to learning more about the federation’s work and the opportunity to help them reach their goals. This summer I will be working to identify areas where rain gardens and other best management practices could be installed in a Nags Head watershed to improve water quality in the sound. I would also like to use this summer to learn more about how conservation efforts by groups like the federation tie back into business opportunities since I hope to pursue a business degree in college.
KATIE MIDGETT
As a native of the Outer Banks, water has been an integral part of my life and has influenced my involvement with coastal education and preservation. Currently, I am a rising senior at North Carolina State University, majoring in environmental science with a focus in water resources. I am excited to work with the Wanchese office for a second summer, through funding from the Golden LEAF Scholars Leadership Program. This year I will focus on developing and testing a living shoreline data monitoring app to increase the efficiency of collection methods at our project locations. I will also establish regular monitoring of water quality at the office shoreline and assist with outreach events. I look forward to further expanding my knowledge with this remarkable organization and educating others about the significance of protecting our unique ecosystem.
Central Region Intern
SASCHA ROSIN
Growing up on Long Island not only gave me a great taste for seafood, but also made me appreciate the ocean and its creatures from a personal perspective. I was fortunate enough to be raised on the beach and taught about the importance of the estuaries and ecosystems of the coast, which I became increasingly interested in as I grew up. Although those shores have their charms, I originally came to North Carolina to explore other areas of our beautiful Atlantic coastline. I am currently a rising sophomore attending Stony Brook University in New York, studying marine sciences with a journalism minor. I look forward to learning more about our aquatic ecosystems more this summer at Hammocks Beach State Park and applying it to my own studies in college. We have been studying very similar ecosystems but with different environmental strains, and I hope to apply the conservation lessons and methods learned here to the environment at home.
Southeast Region Interns
JAMES ARNUK
As a self-proclaimed “coastal junkie,” I have spent my entire life on one coastal plain or another. Raised on the shores of New Jersey, my love for the beach and the outdoors started to bloom at a young age. I received an undergraduate degree in earth science and mathematics from Salisbury University, where I graduated in 2017. Now I am pursuing a M.S. in geoscience at University of North Carolina Wilmington. My research interests focus on constraining historical (past ~3000 years) rates of relative sea-level rise to better inform coastal management and decision-making for the future. When I am not at UNCW’s Center for Marine Science conducting research or studying, you can find me surfing, fishing or photographing the beautiful beaches of North Carolina. As an intern at federation, I look forward to making a positive impact on our local environment. As Ralph Waldo Emerson so astutely stated, “To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.”
DESTINY CLAYTON
I am working on my Master of Science in environmental studies with a concentration in coastal management and conservation. I grew up in a military family so we never were in one place for long. We were always near a coastline though and had access to beaches, from Japan to here in North Carolina. I took a trip to Australia, went diving on the Great Barrier Reef, and it was there that I knew I would protect our coasts for a living. I did whale shark research in Mexico and diving in Bali so this is not only a career path, but a passion of mine as well. I am cliché with believing that if you do what you love then you never work a day in your life. I feel this way with the ocean and our coasts. I am beyond excited to be working with the federation this summer.
TREVOR ROCHE
I was born and raised in the mountains of Colorado, thousands of miles away from any ocean, but in Colorado I gained great respect and admiration for the natural world. Then, after just one day of snorkeling in Hawaii, I fell in love with the marine environment. That passion for nature and the marine environment is what lead me to go to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington where I am currently pursuing a marine biology degree. Interning for an organization like the federation is allowing me to follow my passion for protecting these amazing places.
CASEY WHITE
I naturally have a deep appreciation and sense of stewardship for the coast as a native Wilmingtonian. As a rising junior at North Carolina State University, I am pursuing a double major in geology with a minor in biology to better understand the processes impacting the coast and its ecosystem. I am also majoring in science education after firsthand Title I educational experiences pushed me to recognize the lack of funding for supplemental opportunities in addition to the different hardships students face. I am excited to intern with the federation through the Z. Smith Reynolds Non-Profit Internship Program as I learn alongside and develop educational opportunities for members of our community.