I came up with the idea of dressing as a shark to draw people in, and it was a hit! Hello! I’m Fernando Gutierrez, a fourth-year undergraduate at California State University, Long Beach, and a first-generation student to Mexican parents. Starting my 2025 COAST internship with California Ocean Access is my first time engaging with social science. Through this research, we aim to deepen the connection between marine conservation and the people living in the areas it seeks to serve,...

It’s 12:30 pm on Sunday, July 13th as Fernando (a fellow intern) and I drive laps around Echo Park, Los Angeles, desperately trying to find parking in the packed streets around the 44th Annual Lotus Festival. As we spend the next hour doing so, let me fill you in on how we got here… This morning I was up by 8:30 to work on some homework for my online microeconomics class — I’m originally from Sacramento, CA, and I am now a fourth year college student at Johns Hopkins University studying...

Hi! My name is Izzy Orozco, and I’m a senior at Cal State Monterey Bay, majoring in Marine Science with a minor in Journalism and Media...