I love teaching. I love the way students get giddy when they notice a pattern in nature for the first time. I love watching them become confident, respectful and skilled scientists both in and out of the field. But more than anything, I love watching them struggle with questions or physical tasks, and watching them find a solution. The featured interns are those whom have helped me with my Master's work over this last year:
Andrew Maya High Tech High School-June 2017
Image: Tristin (left) and Patrick (right) getting ready to dive at La Jolla Cove, San Diego, CA
Hello my name is Andrew Maya, I am Junior at High Tech High in Point Loma, San Diego, CA. I am sixteen years-old and have lived in San Diego my whole life. While others kids went to Disneyland and Legoland, I spent my childhood going to the Birch Aquarium sitting at the big tank just watching the kelp move around; it’s funny how everything always comes back. I have a engineering background from school projects building drones to working for MIT in Boston, MA. This passion for engineering grew, and I was so set on engineering then I started interning here at San Diego State University’s Coastal Marine Institute. Shortly after arriving, marine biology took over and my passion for marine science came back to me. Being able to help out with the research that is going around the lab showed me what being in the field is really like. The graduate students taught me so much, and the experience I had here could not have happened anywhere else. My mentor, Tristin took me on three field days in only a week to help with her thesis. In addition to going in the field, I am writing my own research paper that is looking at how epiphytes impact red algae’s photosynthetic capabilities. Being able to be out in the water and see the kelp forest truly amazed me, I learned so much about this complex ecosystem and it all helped me decide what I want to do in the future. -Andrew