50% Shark Nerd, 50% Educator, 100% foundry10 Intern
We are lucky to have Alijah Benbrook with us this year as a marine science intern at foundry10! Alijah is a current junior at University of Washington triple majoring in marine biology, education focusing on communities/organizations, and photomedia. In high school, she volunteered and worked at the Seattle Aquarium and the Pacific Science Center. We caught up with Alijah on her favorite sea creature, how she hopes to put her triple major to work, and her love of roller skates.
What is your favorite sea creature and why?
My favorite sea creature is a black tip reef shark! I am a total shark nerd, and this species in particular holds a special place in my heart because it was one of the first sharks I got to see in an aquarium space. I love how small, but powerful, they are and I just find them beautiful to look at.
Describe the project you’re working on at foundry10
I am working on MarS CReW, a marine science careers resource webpage! This will be an interactive and multimedia source for youth, and people in general, that are interested in marine science and possibly marine science careers. This webpage will highlight the large depth and breadth of marine science careers, because there are so many different ways your career path can intertwine with the ocean and marine science. I am hoping this tool will be useful for youth in deciding what may be of interest to them, and also just to see the many different possibilities and paths that are out there.
What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
This is a tough question to answer. I would say that the best piece of advice I’ve received was “break barriers, and follow your heart”. I think this has stuck with me because when I was younger and engaging with different STEM clubs or teams, sometimes I was the only girl there, and being able to be passionate enough about something, even if it was harder to find support in certain spaces. I would say as I’ve gotten older opportunities and those barriers are less, but still are present sometimes, and just knowing that even if there are or have historically been barriers, if you are driven enough it is worth it to break through those. The follow your heart portion has always been something important to me, as a person who has a lot of different interests and passions because I struggled with deciding what path to follow until I realized I could follow my heart and intersect a lot of my interests.
How do you hope to put your triple major to work? What does your dream job look/feel/sound/smell like?
This “what is your dream job?” question is one that I get a lot when people are curious about my triple major. My dream job would ideally look like working directly with youth and supporting youth in educating others about conservation and marine life. My dream job would feel like a place where all of my hats were able to be worn, where I can feel like all parts of my brain, both the scientific marine brain and my creative brain were active.This job would sound like a lot of time near the water with waves hitting the shore, and it would sound like a lot of laughter and close relationships. I haven’t really ever thought about what my dream job would smell like, but I guess it would smell like saltwater, sunscreen, and sometimes the smell of school buses or longer car rides on the way to or from amazing adventures with youth.
Describe a memorable moment volunteering at the Seattle Aquarium.
There are so many throughout my years volunteering there, but one does come to mind often. Every year in March there is a night at the aquarium, or a few nights, called Dream Night, where families with special needs are able to come into the aquarium for a few hours with a much safer and more targeted experience for that audience and those families.
This is always one of my absolute favorite events to volunteer at, and my memorable moment was during one of these nights. I was at the orca skeleton station where there is an outline of an orca on the floor, and then boxes of all of the pieces of the skeleton of an orca that are numbered and able to put together.
This young boy, he was probably 8–10 years old, had such a blast putting it together and was so intricate while doing it, he wanted to learn more about a lot of the bones and about orcas in general. I got to spend a very long time interacting with him and going through different books and resources about orcas, and I loved this because he never really ran out of questions and was so engaged and curious about orcas as well as the skeleton parts.
The fun thing about this interaction was that I saw this kid, and his family, in future years at that event and even once at the Pacific Science Center as well, and having that connection and having the family remember was touching for me.
What are you reading and watching these days?
I’ve been reading a lot about international education systems, and what education looks like in different countries outside of the US. I have gone through a lot of different movies and shows over the last few months, but recently my roommate and I started watching The Umbrella Academy on Netflix. I’ve definitely watched a lot of older 2010ish Disney era shows/movies as well, because they warm my heart.
What is something you think people might be surprised to learn about you?
Usually, I would say my triple major is something that people are surprised to learn about me. Outside of that though, I really love to game, and have spent the last 8ish years gaming, and I also greatly enjoy roller skating.
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