Experience

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  SEA TURTLE CONSERVANCY, INC.

  • Gainesville, Florida Area

  • Development and Policy Coordinator

    • Aug 2016 - Present
    • Gainesville, Florida Area

    40%: DevelopmentWorking closely with the Executive Director, I complete grant requests and reports to foundations to fund programs for the Sea Turtle Conservancy, which requires me to be an expert on all of STC's programs. 30%: Sea Turtle Lighting I work as a part of a team to retrofit beachfront properties to be sea turtle friendly as part of a multi-year grant awarded to STC by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation as a result of the BP Oil Spill. I make pitches to property managers to convince them to retrofit, manage multiple lighting retrofit contracts, collect pre- and post-retrofit data in the field, educate the public and building professionals about sea turtle lighting, present at various conferences and meetings about the program and work closely with STC's lighting team to accomplish our conservation goals. 30%: Advocacy As issues arise around Florida that may negatively impact sea turtles, I write letters to lawmakers and mobilize STC's following with action alerts on various media platforms. I am STC's member of the Florida Coastal and Ocean Coalition, which is a group of organizations working together to conserve, protect, and restore Florida's marine environment.

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  UF College of Journalism and Communications

  • University of Florida

  • Academic Adviser

    • Aug 2014 - Aug 2016
    • University of Florida

    As an academic adviser, I assisted undergraduate students in the College of Journalism and Communications with various questions or concerns they may have about their courses. Because the college has seven different major tracks, I was responsible for knowing how each major is structured so I could adequately advise students; I was also aware of all of the resources available on campus so I could point students in the right direction if I could not help them directly. It was my job to maintain a welcoming and understanding yet professional relationship with the students.

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  UF Health Communications

  • Intern

    • May 2015 - Aug 2015

    I wrote feature stories regarding UF Health that appeared in the Post, a monthly magazine that is distributed throughout the UF Health campus. I also wrote radio scripts for Health in a Heartbeat, a daily radio segment about health news that is broadcast on two UF radio stations.

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  The Independent Florida Alligator

  • Copy Editor

    • May 2014 - Jul 2014

    I worked along two other copy editors and a copy chief to copy edit each story that was published in the Independent Florida Alligator, the largest student-run newspaper in the nation. I interacted face to face with reporters and confirmed facts, quotations and names to ensure accuracy.

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  USF Human Resources

  • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

  • Communications and Marketing Assistant

    • Jul 2013 - Feb 2014
    • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

    I assisted the Communications and Marketing Officer in planning and implementing three major faculty and staff events throughout the year. I managed USF Human Resources' Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. I also proofread and revised several forms of communication that go out to USF's 16,000 employees, as well as internally, before they were sent to the AVP for approval.

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  Tampa Bay Newspapers

  • Seminole, FL

  • Intern

    • May 2013 - Jul 2013
    • Seminole, FL

    I processed community briefs and wrote one to two feature articles a week regarding Pinellas County, mostly in the Clearwater area. I received a large volume of press releases each week and had to discern what was pertinent to the newspaper's audience. When writing feature stories, I kept in mind what the residents of Pinellas County are interested in reading and kept the stories as localized as possible.

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  Bulls Radio

  • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

  • News Field Writer

    • Nov 2012 - May 2013
    • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

    I wrote around two articles per week about campus events and student-related activities. I attended weekly meetings and improved my writing skills through receiving constructive criticism from my editor.

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  Backslash Magazine

  • Managing Editor

    • Jan 2012 - Aug 2012

    I oversaw each of the section editors and provided feedback after they had edited the interns' articles. I published their articles to the site once they had been edited and provided personalized feedback to each of the interns.

  • Section Editor

    • Aug 2011 - Jan 2012

    I provided personalized feedback to each intern and published their articles to the website. I also contributed during conference calls and addressed issues that were prevalent.

  • Intern

    • May 2011 - Aug 2011

    I wrote one article a week for the online magazine and attended one conference call every Sunday. I gained experience in magazine writing, and ventured into writing product reviews as well.

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  The Oracle

  • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

  • Correspondent

    • Jan 2011 - May 2011
    • Tampa/St. Petersburg, Florida Area

    I wrote one to two news stories a week. I honed in my interviewing and investigating skills, and learned to take risks as a journalist to provide accurate, relevant information to the USF student body.