Bonnie Sue Internship Program

The Batten School & VIMS campus will be closed on Monday, March 15 due to the National Weather Service prediction for severe weather including periods of rain, damaging winds and the potential for tornadoes.

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- Purple marsh crabs are significantly disrupting carbon cycling in salt marshes along the East Coast of the U.S., according to a study led by Batten School & VIMS scientists.
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- The R. Todd Stravitz Scholars Program will provide full tuition support for students pursuing the new bachelor’s degree in coastal & marine sciences at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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- Popular, free camps enable rising third through eighth graders to learn about the Chesapeake Bay, coastal ecosystems and environmental stewardship.
  
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- National TRAP Program funds large-scale cleanup of discarded fishing gear, first round of subawards totaling more than $1.4M supports 11 projects focused on removing derelict fishing gear from coastal waters in nine U.S. states and Palau.
  
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- As an expression of parental pride in their daughter, Taylor Spencer ‘83 and Martha Spencer recently established an undergraduate field research endowment at the Batten School & VIMS.
  
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ESL

Education and Outreach

Bonnie Sue Internship Program

Photo by Reba Turner Smith.

VIMS ESL offers a summer internship program to hire local high school and college students from Accomack and Northampton Counties each year. This has been supported by donors to the Bonnie Sue Scholarship Fund.

During the summer that they spend working at ESL, interns primarily assist ESL staff with ongoing research projects. Recent projects have focused on: aquaculture of clams, bay scallops and oysters; habitat needs of juvenile marine fishes; water quality; and general marine ecology and monitoring.

Former ESL summer interns go on to receive undergraduate and advanced degrees in biology and environmental science. Many return to the Eastern Shore after college and find employment in the local aquaculture industry, teaching and research.