Welcome, Fall 2025 - Spring 2026 Interns!

Kamala, Tori, Kayla, Yuri, Leighton, Haley

Due to a lower patient load, we revised our internship schedule for Fall 2025 through Spring 2026. We staggered arrival times for interns to allow for fewer interns when we were slow and more interns in our busy cold stun season. We appreciate this group's flexibility and contributions! 

Haley C: My name is Haley and I am an environmental science graduate from Illinois State University. I am from the suburbs of Chicago and became interested in sea turtles after seeing hatchlings on the beach during a study abroad trip to Mexico. I fell in love with wildlife conservation after my internship at the North American Bear Center in Ely, MN. I spent this past summer in swamps working with NY State Parks to help monitor Blanding’s turtles and protect their nests. This is my first experience working with sea turtles so I am grateful for this opportunity to work with them and learn about wildlife rehabilitation! After my term here I will be working as a seasonal diamondback terrapin technician with the Georgia Sea Turtle Center in Jekyll Island, GA.

Kamala C: Hi I’m Kamala! I grew up in Massachusetts and graduated from UConn with a B.S. in marine sciences. My goal is to use science, education, and conservation to help protect our natural world. My love for sea turtles commenced while working with nesting turtles in Costa Rica and Panama for two summers where I collaborated with locals to protect sea turtles from poachers, collect data, and educate the public. I hope to continue protecting turtles and learning about rehabilitation at KBSTRRC and throughout my life, though I am open to a variety of environmental-focused careers. In addition to interning at KBSTRRC, I am teaching students marine sciences at Ecological Marine Adventures. While in college I assisted in research and outreach with the Connecticut Reserve and conducted research on mussels. After graduating, I taught English in Spain and SCUBA diving in Italy. In my free time I enjoy traveling the world, spending time in nature, and learning all I can.

Kayla C: Kayla graduated from Hiram College in Ohio with majors in Biology and Environmental Studies and a minor in Art and Design. She has previous sea turtle experience from the Clearwater Marine Aquarium and wildlife rehabilitation experience from the Kevin P. Clinton Wildlife Center. 

Leighton G: My name is Leighton and I am an Organismal Biology and Ecology graduate from Colorado College. I originate from Boston and my love for the ocean and sea turtles started when I went to the Island School in the Bahamas in high school. I spent a year after college in the Bahamas doing shark and stone crab research and recently did an internship at the New England Aquarium in Boston at their sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation center. After completing my internship at KBSTRRC, I will be continuing my studies at the University of Miami doing a master’s in tropical marine ecosystem management.

Tori R: Hi, my name is Tori! I was born and raised in Las Vegas, NV. In 2024, I graduated from Oregon State University with a degree in Environmental Science, specializing in Applied Ecology, and a minor in Environmental Law and Policy. After graduating, I worked for a year as an AmeriCorps Wildlife Educator with the Nevada Department of Wildlife where I got to work with big horn sheep, raptors, and other desert wildlife. I chose this internship because I’ve always wanted to work with sea turtles and I wanted to see if I was interested in rehabilitation as a career path.

Yuri B: Yuri served as KBSTRRC's first Life Support Systems intern! Hailing from Greensboro, NC she graduated from NC A&T with bachelors degrees in Animal Science and Laboratory Animal Science. She previously interned at the Greensboro Science Center. Her goal is to pursue veterinary school.

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