Meet the Intern Who Once Costumed as a Crane to Save the Chicks
Foundry10 graduate intern Ellie Kravets believes powerful science learning opportunities for youth are key to a more equitable and sustainable future.
Foundry10 graduate intern Ellie Kravets is currently working on a Master’s degree with the UW Museology Graduate Program and holds a degree in Biology and Marine Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her long-term passion for informal science education brought her to the Salish Sea in 2018, where she quickly fell in love with the rich landscape of community-centered marine science learning so characteristic to this region. Outside of work, she enjoys taking advantage of the spectacular PNW environment: gardening, tidepooling, and just generally soaking up the rain. Read on to learn more about Ellie!
What is your favorite sea creature and why?
Hear me out: barnacles! There’s not a whole lot more mesmerising than watching a really active barnacle bed doing their filter feeding “scoops.” I first noticed this behavior shortly after starting my first educator position in Washington, and those industrious little barnacles have captured a big part of my imagination ever since. When the light is just right, they make their tidepools shimmer!
Describe your experience so far as a foundry10 graduate intern. What are you learning?
It’s been really interesting to learn about the wide array of programs and efforts that foundry10 is supporting, and great to dive into those efforts where I can. Most of my projects this summer involve working with a group of local marine science centers, so it’s been wonderful to get a chance to stretch my collaborative development skills as well as learn from the perspectives of so many local educators.
What is one thing you think most people would be surprised to learn about you?
I’ve worn a lot of different hats throughout my professional career, but one of the more memorable is the summer internship I spent costume-rearing endangered Mississippi Sandhill Cranes for refuge release. While in full-body crane costume, I worked alongside a team to teach the chicks a suite of appropriate survival skills: foraging behaviors, predator aversion, social cues, etc. It was an amazing experience!
You are working on a degree in Museology at UW. Cool! What interests you about that field and how does it intersect with your passion for Marine Science?
I came to Museology out of a long-standing passion for informal science learning, with a specific interest in the rich landscape of community-centered marine science learning characteristic to the Salish Sea region. I believe that museums, and other nontraditional learning organizations, can be sites of powerful science learning opportunities for youth, and I believe that those opportunities are critical to creating a more equitable and sustainable future. Although my background is in hard science, Museology gives me an opportunity to think about the roles museums and community organizations play in getting science into everyone’s hands.
What are you currently reading/watching/playing?
I just started Suzanne Simard’s Finding the Mother Tree. I’ve been following her work for several years now, and find her thoughts on plant communication really fascinating. Give me some paradigm-shifting biology any day!
Other than that, this time of year I’m often found helping harvest and preserve all of the fruits and veggies exploding out of friends, family, and neighbors’ gardens. It can get busy, but the reward of homegrown produce in the middle of winter is so worth it!
Learn more about virtual internships at foundry10 here and visit us at foundry10.org.
