Document Type

Article

Domestic/International

Domestic

Location

Old Lyme, Connecticut, United States

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

This reflection looks back on my summer with Connecticut DEEP, where I worked on the Marine Recreational Information Program at fishing sites around the state. I spent most of my time talking with anglers, measuring fish, and entering survey data, but the job ended up pulling in parts of my background I did not expect to use as much, especially Russian, Spanish, fishing experience, and computer science. I write about what I learned from collecting data firsthand, including language barriers and mistakes in data entry, and how those experiences influenced the fisheries-data projects I chose later in the summer. I have continued working with DEEP into the fall, and the experience made environmental and fisheries data work feel like a much more realistic career direction for me.

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The views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author.