Back for Round Two!

Hello everyone!

bless you!
(Xiao Liu Chiu Island, Taiwan)

Welcome back to summer programming. My name's Kaya, and this is my second summer at Save the Harbor, Save the Bay as a Senior Harbor Educator (SHE!). I am so excited to be back on the Harbor with you all! For those of you who don't know me, I graduated from Scripps College in '18, but am originally from Cambridge, MA. I'm so grateful to be back in New England!

My passion for environmental issues started in the third grade, when a group of friends and I started an environmental group under the global organization Roots & Shoots, founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. Since then, my experiences have taken me all over. I love tide pooling, kayaking, clamming, and being in the Harbor! Anything marine/environmental/animal related, and I'm in!

In college, I studied environmental analysis, biology, and Hispanic studies. My junior year, I studied conservation ecology and Spanish in Ecuador. During my summers, I followed my passion for environmentalism by interning at the Franklin Park Zoo (here in Boston!), studying golden orb spider behaviors in Costa Rica, and conducting research on the social/environmental effects of naval bombing in Vieques, Puerto Rico. Most recently, I spent six months living in Taipei, Taiwan, learning traditional (Mandarin) Chinese.  Since my return to the States, I've been working as a Youth Programs Facilitator at Thompson Island Outward Bound Education Center (TIOBEC), another incredible non-profit organization based here in Boston Harbor! My greatest passions in life are education, environmentalism, increasing communication (I heart learning new languages!), and activism (especially relating to issues of social justice!).

Kharliyah is not a sea worm lover
(aboard the Belle, during orientation this week!)

Orientation was a blast, getting to learn more about who I'm working with this summer, and making some fresh hake ceviche while fishing on the Belle. Bruce taught us how to make sashimi and ceviche from scratch--super cool! While exploring Spectacle Island with David Coffin, I learned more about how there used to be a bulldozer that sank under all the debris, and is likely still under the hills somewhere!

shark attack!
(Singapore aquarium's giant shark tank)

I am so happy to be back at SHSB with you all, and to get to help others find the same love and belonging I feel when I am on the Harbor and outside in Boston. It's such a privilege to be able to spend another summer outside catching crabs, fishing, and splashing around. I can't wait to spend it with you, so come find me at Piers Park and Courageous! Let's explore some of the cleanest urban beaches in the United States!

~Kaya