Summer Intern Marco Vallejos Advances Research on Microplastics & Seagrass
If there can be a silver lining to last spring’s quarantines for college student Marco Vallejos, it’s that he found a professional development opportunity in environmental sciences near his family’s home in Martin County: a summer internship with Florida Oceanographic Society. During his volunteer internship, Marco conducted research to determine if microplastics are accumulating on seagrass in the Indian River Lagoon. Unfortunately, the answer was affirmative. He presented his findings with Florida Oceanographic at a recent webinar attended by over 60 people.
Click HERE to view the webinar.
Marco graduated this spring from Williams College in Massachusetts with a degree in Geosciences and a concentration in science and technology studies. He has a special interest in improving communication about science and sharing research in ways that can be understood and more easily engaging to non-scientists. “My interest in
storytelling comes from my grandfathers and my dad,” says Marco. “Growing up in our family there were always stories being told, and I remember listening intently for the nugget that was there. At a young age, I tried turning talk about a mundane day into an adventure, and I liked seeing how people reacted to it. After I started reading, I also realized that you could read the same story at different ages and get a completely different message. I enjoy storytelling so much and want to continue that in some way.”
Marco was born in Port St. Lucie and grew up in a bilingual household. His father is from Chile and his mother is from New Jersey. Marco, his sister Maria Alejandra, and his parents take frequent trips to Chile to visit the paternal side of his family.
Marco is now back in Williamstown, Massachusetts doing an internship through NASA DEVELOP. He is part of a virtual team working remotely at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama on research into the effects of mining on soils in the Amazon in Peru. He is also volunteering for an organization that is building access to healthy food in underserved communities – an interest he began pursuing as a college student.
“I really enjoyed my time with Florida Oceanographic Society,” says Marco. “I appreciated how the research department gave me the encouragement and backing to pursue the microplastics study. It gives me confidence that I can pursue science in my future.”
Marco Vallejos Snapshot
Bilingual: English and Spanish
Good eats: Taco trucks in Port Salerno and Stuart; La Granja in Port St. Lucie; Public, a farm-to-table restaurant in Massachusetts, where he can eat the plants he harvested that day as a volunteer.
Favorite reads: Short stories, stories/characters expanded upon by a second author
On the horizon: Applying to grad school
