Annika Larson has joined North Coast Land Conservancy this summer to help with the organization’s Marine Program and expand the Tidepool Ambassador Program (TAP).
Annika’s two-month internship with NCLC, which runs throughout June and July, is part of the capstone project for her graduate degree in environmental conservation with the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The project is designed to assist students in accessing applied professional experience relevant to their degree with a professional organization or business.
Hailing from Madison, Wisconsin, Annika knew she wanted her project to take place in the Pacific Northwest.
“Ever since I was a kid, I’ve dreamed of moving here,” she says. “So, I took advantage of this opportunity to test it out, if you will.”
In researching organizations, she came across NCLC and was “blown away” that the organization has a Marine Program.
“That’s immediately what drew me to them,” she says, adding her undergraduate degree—also obtained through the University of Wisconsin system—was in biology with a marine biology and freshwater ecology emphasis.
“Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been aware of the fact that our environment needs help,” Annika says. “As a young kid, when I was biking through our neighborhood, I’d pick up trash and put in my basket to dispose of. Not because anyone told me to do it, but just because I knew that needed to be done.”
Developing a Love for Our Oceans
Like many children, Annika dreamed of being a marine biologist. She recalls that many of her childhood memories took place outside, especially as her family loved camping. Surrounded by a plethora of lakes in Wisconsin, that’s where her interest in aquatic science took root.
When she finally got to visit the ocean at 16, she knew immediately that she wanted to live beside it one day and “work to save it.”
“Our oceans impact every single ecosystem that we have,” she says. “There is so much pressure on the marine ecosystem. It’s so important to preserve the biodiversity that it has and do what we can to keep those ecosystems, keep our ocean, at a balance as well as we can.”
She had the chance to learn more about marine biology when she spent nine months in Warrnambool, Australia, as part of her undergraduate program. Located on the southern coast of Victoria, the region boasts a vast array of kelp forests and stunning sea life, much of which is endemic to the area.
“It was in Warrnambool that I completely fell in love with the rocky intertidal systems,” Annika says.
Having interacted with them in three geographically different areas, she can speak to their importance and significance as an ecosystem, although the range of marine plant and wildlife that they support may vary depending on region. In Australia, in particular, she got to see “how completely treasured they were.”
Working on the Oregon Coast
Now, Annika’s goal is to continue working in the rocky intertidal and in community facing positions—both of which are being accomplished through her internship with NCLC. It was designed to be mutually beneficial for both her professional development and to support the organization’s Marine Program.
Together, Annika and NCLC Marine Program Manager Angela Whitlock decided to have her expand TAP, which involves streamlining data collection to better coordinate across the different TAP sites on the Oregon Coast.
While my focus on marine conservation may seem unconventional for someone from Wisconsin, every step in my life has built on the last and has now led me here to protecting our incredible coastal marine ecosystems. I think that’s so special.
Annika Larson, NCLC Marine Program Intern
“It’s such an amazing program and there’s so much potential for it,” she says, adding she would love to see TAP implemented at all of the marine reserves. “It impacts so directly these ecosystems we’re working in.”
Additionally, during her internship, Annika is creating a framework for a formal evaluation of the program, to be able to establish and communicate its efficacy.
Wanting to learn more about TAP from the inside, out, she has been attending the shifts at Short Sand Beach, along the Cape Falcon Marine Reserve, since she arrived in June. Through that immersive experience, she’s been introduced to volunteers and worked closely with Michelle Schwegmann and Mylasia Miklas, the TAP Coordinator and TAP Guide, respectively. Their passion, she says, has been “amazing and so inspiring.”
“It almost makes you want to be out there every single day,” she says.
Some of her favorite rocky intertidal treasures include nudibranchs, which she describes as “just the most magical-looking creatures” as they float and crawl around the tidepools, and kelp, which provides incredibly important habitat for marine organisms.
“It’s so beautiful, too. The way that the sunlight shines through it—it’s magical as well,” she says.
She feels grateful to be spending her summer on the Oregon Coast and benefiting NCLC’s Marine Program in any way that she can.
“While my focus on marine conservation may seem unconventional for someone from Wisconsin,” she says, “every step in my life has built on the last and has now led me here to protecting our incredible coastal marine ecosystems. I think that’s so special.”
Comments
Annika is one amazing giving individual. I love watching you live your dream.
It’s great to know that there is someone like Annika to help with the future of our oceans.
Debbie Gray
Way to go, Annika! 🤗
Go Annika