By Ryan Mastrangelo, director of marketing and communications, August 2019
It’s not every day that Bill Nye the Science Guy gets schooled. Who better to do it than a UMF elementary education major with a concentration in science? Sophia Manning ’19 (left) had the distinct pleasure of teaching Nye a thing or two about lobsters when he visited the Maine State Aquarium on Wednesday, Aug. 7, during her summer internship there.
“The day that he walked into the Aquarium was unlike any other. I grew up watching Bill Nye the Science Guy throughout my school years, and I was completely starstruck,” says Manning, who will be teaching science at Biddeford Middle School this coming academic year. “I showed him the difference between male and female lobsters, talked about the amount of pressure that a lobster’s crusher claw can exert, and how they are keeping up in the ocean. I could not believe that I was actually teaching Bill Nye. It was definitely an experience that I can’t wait to share with my future students!”
While not every summer internship supported by Internship Coordinator Meghan Price ’02 of UMF’s Partnership for Civic Advancement promises encounters with luminaries like Nye, they all provide students with opportunities to move from theory to practice, sharpen critical thinking and communication skills, and explore career options. For sheer professional-development value, Manning says her summer internship at the Maine State Aquarium in Boothbay Harbor “did not disappoint.”
“From giving day-to-day presentations on various topics, taking care of the marine creatures behind the scenes, to shadowing in the Department of Marine Resources labs, I gained so much knowledge.”
Manning’s account of how she met Nye first appeared on the University’s official Facebook page. Follow along there and on Instagram (@umainefarmington). Those interested in sponsoring UMF students as interns through the University’s Partnership for Civic Advancement can learn more here.