Anna Nadolny is a junior at First Flight High School and interned with the CSI Education & Outreach team during the Fall 2025 semester. Below, she reflects personally on her internship experience.
As an intern at CSI, I got to experience everything I could have dreamed of in an internship. From completing hands-on projects to meeting people who made me feel welcome and helped me reach my goals, CSI made this fall semester as perfect as it could be. This internship and the people at CSI will always hold a special place with me, and I will always be grateful for the time I spent here.
Living in the Outer Banks has had a major impact on my life. I moved here four years ago, and living at the beach has proved very different from living in the Midwest. To say I fell in love with the ocean is an understatement. Moving here opened my eyes to many more opportunities and paths that I never previously had access to. Marine science is one of the only things that has really sparked my interest, which has only grown with my being so close to the ocean.
As a high school student, my goal for this internship was to learn more about the field I potentially want to pursue in college and to gain new experiences I would not otherwise have access to in high school. At the beginning of my internship, I chose between a few ideas for my overall project, and I also agreed to write a few stories for CSI digital publications.
Under the mentorship of John McCord, Parker Murphy, and Lauren Kerlin, the project I decided upon involved building and designing three Standard Monitoring Units for the Recruitment of Larval Fishes, more commonly referred to as SMURFs. A SMURF is typically a cylindrically shaped cage filled with mesh that rests at the bottom of nearshore environments. It provides structure and therefore attracts larval fish. I placed each of the three SMURFs I made in a different location and monitored them regularly over the semester. I kept track of the size, number, and species of fish I found inside each SMURF, as well as the water quality at each location.
By the end of the semester, I found that the site by the dock at CSI in the Croatan Sound had the most fish recruitment over a two-week period and that Kitty Hawk Bay showed the least amount of recruitment. Throughout the fall semester, I have noticed that the weather and water quality played an important role in my data collection. At the Oregon Inlet site, the second time I collected data, I observed the highest number of fish in the SMURF. It had almost the same water qualities as the previous collection except for the temperature, which was extremely cold. I also noticed there was a difference in biofouling between each location. The Oregon Inlet SMURF showed major biofouling with marine algae throughout, and the SMURF by the CSI dock had silt covering everything. Finally, the SMURF situated in Kitty Hawk Bay exhibited no biofouling and was otherwise unremarkable.
Checking for any fish that had temporarily found shelter in the SMURF.
The process of retrieving data and comparing sites has opened my eyes to the true unpredictability of the ocean. Over the semester, I gained a better understanding of the different directions data collection and scientific research can take me. Doing an experiment for the full semester led to many different questions and conclusions, and it showed me how important it is to consider all the aspects that can change during an experiment.
Learning is a huge part of life. I have realized the more adventures I have, the more I learn. Being able to conduct scientific research and pick a project about something that interests me was an amazing experience. At school, I’ve never gotten to pick my assignments, and it has been extremely hard to find something that excites me enough to consider doing it for the rest of my life. I hope to graduate early in December 2026 and would like to attend the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. I plan on studying marine sciences and possibly computer sciences, too.
Overall, I found that completing this internship provided me with an opportunity to find what I am most passionate about, and it helped drive me to learn and study marine science. It was truly, from the bottom of my heart, an amazing experience being an intern at CSI. I strive to learn new things every day, and CSI definitely helped me achieve this goal. I will always cherish the time I had there, and I am beyond grateful for everyone I met at CSI who helped me along the way.
The preceding story first appeared in the Winter 2026 edition of CoastLines, published in January.
Based at the Coastal Studies Institute (CSI), the North Carolina Renewable Ocean Energy Program (NCROEP) advances inter-disciplinary marine energy solutions across UNC System partner colleges of engineering at NC State University, UNC Charlotte, and NC A&T University. Click on the links below for more information.
ECU's Integrated Coastal Programs (ECU ICP) is a leader in coastal and marine research, education, and engagement. ECU ICP includes the Coastal Studies Institute, ECU's Department of Coastal Studies, and ECU Diving and Water Safety.
The ECU Outer Banks campus is home to the Coastal Studies Institute.
