Warsaw Grad Works With Sea Turtles At Florida Aquarium
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Sara Hamman McConnell never thought she'd get to work with sea turtles.
But on weekends, that's exactly what she's doing at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida.
In a telephone interview Thursday afternoon, the 2003 Warsaw Community High School graduate said every Saturday she volunteers at the aquarium, primarily with the sea turtles. She prepares their food, helps with minor medical procedures and other duties.
After graduating from Butler University in 2007 with a bachelor's degree in biology, she was married in December 2007. She and her husband moved to Florida in May 2007. When they moved, McConnell began her job search, hoping for anything.
The aquarium didn't have any paid positions available, but had many volunteer opportunities. McConnell checked it out and fell in love with the aquarium.
"I would love to work there, but they have 20 paid positions and 400 volunteers," she said. "If I could volunteer every day, I would."
During the week, she works full time at a veterinarian's office. But even just volunteering at the aquarium, she said she's learning a lot.
"It's so different than working in the classroom," she said. She gets to work with the marine animals hands-on. The aquarium is more of a working animal hospital than an aquarium, she said. They rehabilitate the aquatic life and return it to the oceans if possible.
"I grew up in Warsaw, lived in Indy, and coming to Florida was just a dream," she said.
