In celebration of National Intern Day, NOAA’s Atlantic Oceanographic & Meteorological Laboratory (AOML) is proud to recognize its FY 2025 class of interns. Ranging from high school to graduate students, these talented individuals are gaining hands-on experience across a wide array of research areas—including coral reefs, microbial ecology, hurricanes, ocean acidification, physical oceanography, science communication, and more.
This year’s interns join us from a variety of programs such as NOAA Ernest F. Hollings scholarship program, William M. Lapenta – NOAA student internship program, and Knauss Fellowship program. Other students join AOML through collaborations with our partners, such as the University of Miami, Cooperative Institute for Marine and Atmospheric Studies (CIMAS), Broward College, Miami-Dade College (MDC)–through the CIMAS/Miami-Dade College internship program, and Miami-Dade County Public Schools. To learn more about student opportunities with NOAA, please visit the NOAA student opportunities database.
Elizabeth Berg is a 2025 Knauss fellow at AOML focusing on Transition Program Support and working alongside Annette Hollingshead. Elizabeth has become intimately involved with AOML’s transition plans, from sargassum inundation reports to tail Doppler radar. Elizabeth recently completed her PhD in Environmental Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
William Bouza is a CIMAS intern with the Hurricane Research Division (HRD), contributing to a hurricane reconnaissance data recovery initiative which brings valuable flight data from as far back as the 1970s into modern digital formats. Working with Neal Dorst, Stanley Goldenberg, and Gus Alaka, he is also assisting in updates to databases and re-designing NOAA’s STORM website. Currently, William is completing a bachelors degree in meteorology at the University of Miami with the hopes of one day pursuing a PhD.
Ramon Castro is a CIMAS-MDC intern working with Lew Gramer, Ph.D. in HRD using machine learning to develop predictive models that could improve disaster response and planning. Now he is pursuing a Bachelor’s in data analytics at MDC and hopes to use his passion for AI and background from his construction-consulting company to support his internship work.
Matt Donahue is working alongside Lew Gramer, Ph.D., in the HAFS Ensemble Product Team in HRD for his internship. He hopes that his pursuit of a Masters degree in atmospheric science at the University of Miami will aid his internship project developing experimental graphics for ensemble hurricane forecasts.
Aiko Abo Dominguez joined the Ocean Chemistry and Ecosystems Division (OCED) as a Lapenta intern working in the ‘omics group. Aiko is working with Stephanie Rosales on eDNA bioinformatics pipelines and developing an assay to quantify a spiny lobster virus.
Kenny Garcia joins as a CIMAS-MDC intern working in the Ecosystem Assessment lab. He is processing preserved plankton samples with an imaging device and performing classification workflows using EcoTaxa and other tools. Kenny recently received his bachelor’s degree in computer science from MDC with a focus on software engineering.
Ryan Gay joins AOML as a CIMAS-MDC intern from Broward College with hands-on experience in coral husbandry, saltwater system maintenance, and coral health monitoring. He has a strong passion for the conservation of South Florida’s coral reefs and marine ecosystems. Through his internship at AOML, Ryan aims to expand his practical knowledge of coral research while supporting ongoing efforts to protect and restore local reef habitats.
Michael Igbinoba, a William M. Lapenta intern, joins HRD working with Gopal, Jun Zhang, and Gus Alaka on the HAFS hurricane model. Michael is a rising junior at Princeton University majoring in Computer Science with a minor in Climate Science. His primary research centers on tropical cyclone and vortex dynamics, with recent work spanning hurricane modeling, rapid intensification, and stratospheric water vapor injection.
Nicole Kobasa joins OCED as a NOAA Hollings Scholar for a 10-week summer internship working with the Coral Program on the Florida Regional Ecosystems Stressors Collaborative Assessment Project to determine coral stress thresholds in the Experimental Reef Lab. Nicole is an undergrad at the University of Rhode Island who enjoys baking, playing softball, reading, and running.
McKenna Lindsay is pursuing her Master of Professional Science degree from the University of Miami in the Climate and Society track and joins AOML’s communications team through CIMAS for a year-long internship. McKenna has a bachelor of science degree in Environmental Studies from Alma College where she also minored in Biology and Communications. She is very excited to be starting this August and further pursue environmental communication here at AOML.
Barbara Lorenzo is a CIMAS-MDC intern in the Physical Oceanography Division (PhOD). Barbara is working with Marlos Goes and Denis Volkov on the project “Defining relationships between ocean tracers and the Florida Current transport”. In this project, Barbara is analyzing oxygen profile data across the Florida Strait, ultimately reconstructing the Florida Current transport over the past 1000 years.
Genna Nordling is a Master of Professional Science student studying marine conservation at the University of Miami. She is a graduate of the University of Florida with her bachelors in marine science and a minor in communication. She is very excited to further pursue science communication at AOML as a year-long CIMAS intern doing hurricane communications.
Caroline Terry joins OCED ‘Omics and Ocean Biogeochemistry teams as a NOAA Lapenta intern, where she is using ‘omics techniques to help characterize the ocean biological carbon pump and the effects of ocean acidification and climate change on the system. Caroline is a PhD student in the School of Biological Sciences at Washington State University, where she employs proteomics, metabolomics, and physiological techniques to study the intertidal copepod, Tigriopus californicus.
Charlie Remmers is a Hollings scholar working in HRD with Sundararaman “Gopal” Gopalakrishnan and Jun Zhang. He joins AOML from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where he is pursuing a degree in Atmospheric Sciences. His project at AOML focuses on the tornado outbreak in Eastern Florida before Hurricane Milton made landfall, specifically how the operational HAFS models captured both the large-scale and mesoscale features of the event.
Isabella Valdes joins OCED Coral Program as a CIMAS-MDC intern. She is working on the FDEP-funded urban coral spawning project with mentor Ashley Rossin. Isabella is performing field- and land-based spawning observations, as well as learning coral husbandry methods at the UM Hatchery.
High School Interns
Julian Nixon is a rising junior at MAST Academy, who is collaborating with AOML via the Miami-Dade County Youth Summer Internship Program. This summer, he is working with Sim Aberson and Kathryn Sellwood on organizing all tropical cyclone GPS dropwindsonde data in preparation for creating a research-quality dataset for the community.
Oscar G. Rodriguez is a rising senior at Coral Reef Senior High School, who is collaborating with AOML via the Miami-Dade County Youth Summer Internship Program. This summer, he is working with Sim Aberson and Kathryn Sellwood on organizing all tropical cyclone GPS dropwindsonde data in preparation for creating a research-quality dataset for the community.
Armaan Shrivastav is a rising junior at Amity Regional High School in Woodbridge, CT. He worked with Sim Aberson on three-dimensional visualization of dropwindsonde data in tropical cyclones through the Amity Science Research Program, a four-year program for students who aspire to pursue their passion in STEM.
