Aspiring Marine Scientists Off To Texas Gulf Coast

Each summer, Texas A&M University at Galveston gives young people a chance to explore the marine environments of the Texas Gulf Coast through Sea Camp — a series of week-long programs educating kids and teenagers about topics such as marine biology, oceanography and conservation.

At a recent session of the Marine Biology Research camp — a Sea Camp program geared toward gifted high school students — participants got hand-on experience with a huge variety of marine life, wading through marshes and heading out to sea on one of Texas A&M’s research vessels, the R/V Trident.

“We all come from different places, but everybody is here at Sea Camp for the fish and the science, and because we want to learn,” said Eryn Zinsmeister, one of this year’s campers. “I’ve always wanted to be a marine biologist, and this just solidified that for me.”

The campers had a chance to perform a number of real experiments under the direction of current and former Texas A&M at Galveston students like Mario De Leon ’23, a recent graduate from the Department of Marine Biology. De Leon said programs like this give Aggies an opportunity to train and inspire a whole new generation of marine scientists.

“Seeing them get that experience, seeing the joy in their face, it really means a lot to me,” he said. “I know it leaves an impact and they’ll want to keep that spark going.”