Every month our Volunteer office sorts through piles of nominations from supervisors and honors one of our volunteers for their truly stupendous efforts. Meet our latest Volunteer of the Month.

So far this year we’ve awarded volunteers who work with visitors, in the Gift Shop and the health of animals here on Central Wharf. This month, we are honoring a volunteer who works in another important dimension of our work at the New England Aquarium: conservation.

Emily Goczalk volunteers with the Marine Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Department

Emily Goczalk is a Rescue and Rehabilitation volunteer with over 2,200 hours. She’s not only volunteered on the husbandry side of Rescue and Rehabilitation at our Quincy facility but also as a field volunteer on our on-call list to respond to stranded animals (see picture).

Here’s what her supervisor, biologist Linda D’Eri had to say:

Emily started with the Rescue and Rehabilitation team as an intern in the fall of 2009, after the completion of her internship she stayed on as a volunteer. During her time here, Emily, has shown great enthusiasm and dedication to the program. She is reliable, self-sufficient, and always willing to go above and beyond what is expected of her. I think Emily would be a great pick for volunteer of the month. 

Thank you, Emily, for your service both onsite and in the field!

If you are interested in joining the vibrant community of volunteers at the New England Aquarium, consider reading through a list of positions and applying here!

Rescuers and volunteers pulled an all-nighter to bring the turtles to the warm Florida waters.

A Kemp's ridley sea turtle moments before its release

And they're off!

Happy Earth Day and safe travels, turtles!

One last look at a loggerhead before it heads out to sea

Learn about the start of these turtles' journey back at the Animal Care Center.

Against the backdrop of Boston Harbor, one generation of prominent environmental leaders with Massachusetts roots had a conversation with the emerging generation of ocean stewards about their Earth Day inspirations today.

Teens present about effects of ocean acidification and climate change

Teens hauled up a lobster trap out of the harbor to illustrate the effect of warming waters on the declining range of lobsters in New England and the effects of ocean acidification on all marine animals with shells. Long glass tubes filled with sea jellies were displayed to show how they are the only group of marine animals that thrive as ocean waters become warmer, more polluted and more oxygen deprived. Lastly, another teen group spoke about the effects of sea level rise in Boston Harbor.

Visiting dignitaries listen to teen presentations and ask questions, including Dept. of Energy Secretary Dr. Ernest Moniz, who is also an MIT professor (standing),  EPA Chief Gina McCarthy (seated in green) and Sen. Ed Markey (seated to her left).

The officials also shared what originally motivated them to pursue environmental and leadership careers and discussed their own hopes and concerns for the future.

Boston Mayor Martin Walsh addresses teens and shares what inspired him to care about our blue planet

This was a special opportunity for teens from the Aquarium’s three youth programs to engage with environmental leaders, and for the leaders to share their background and hopes for the future. Many of the teens are involved with an Aquarium group called ClimaTeens, which is a new highly selective and diverse group of teens that have been training since last fall to better engage other youth in discussion and action around climate change.

EPA Chief Gina McCarthy talks with Aquarium teens

Aquarium president and CEO Bud Ris served as moderator and also shared some of his vast knowledge about climate change.

  
To cap off this special event, the Environmental Protection Agency's leader Gina McCarthy presented Aquarium President and CEO the EPA's Environmental Merit Award because of his long history of tackling important environmental issues, including climate change, sustainable seafood, endangered species protection and marine protection areas. For example, as head of the New England Aquarium, he has spearheaded nationwide collaboration of aquariums and zoos to educate millions of visitors about climate change, its impact on the oceans and what we can do about it.   

EPA Chief Gina McCarthy presents Aquarium President Bud Ris the EPA's Environmental Merit Award!

Spend Mother's Day with rock legends and rockhopper penguins. Dig in at Boston's Hard Rock Cafe Mom's Rock! brunch buffet on Sunday, May 11, between 9 a.m. and 12 p.m.

Hard Rock Café Boston is just a short walk from the Aquarium

Kids can meet the lovable Aquarium turtle, shark and penguin characters while moms indulge in the impressive collection of rock memorabilia. Adults dine for $13.95, children for $9.95, and kids 2 years old and younger eat for free. Reservations are suggested; please call 617-424-7625 or email Jordan.

The best part of the Mom's Rock! brunch is that every mom gets a voucher for free admission to the New England Aquarium on Mother's Day! See real turtles, like Myrtle the green sea turtle, in the newly renovated, 200-thousand-gallon Giant Ocean Tank, and watch those rockhopper penguins bound, preen and splash in their watery exhibit at the New England Aquarium.

Who knew turtles could be so cuddly!

Celebrate Mother's Day in a way the whole family will enjoy. Enjoy a brunch with the family and spend some time together exploring the blue planet and getting to know the penguin, seal and fish families at the Aquarium!

Many of the penguins in the exhibit hatched right here at the Aquarium!

Tomorrow, runners with the New England Aquarium marathon team will motor out to Hopkinton and run all the way to Boston. The marathon is a physical feat that's to be respected. But these Boston marathoners are going above and beyond the exhaustion. They're helping to reach, engage and inspire future ocean protecters. That's because they've been fundraising in support of our education outreach programs at schools and community centers in addition to logging hundreds of training miles around Boston—and around the world.

Here we go! Marathon Monday is days away | Photo: BAA Facebook

The efforts of these runners and the significance of the Boston Marathon has not gone unnoticed by the media. We've collected just a few of the news stories about our local runners below. Recognize anyone? Is your hometown represented? Take a click around so you'll get to know who you're cheering for on Monday!

Meg Rabinowitz, the Somerville Patch, Massachusetts

Sean Marden, the Lowell Sun and Boston.com, Massachusetts



Sarah-Anne Johnson, Taunton Gazeztte and Danvers Patch, Massachusetts



Mark Goodwin, Boston Business Journal and Wilmington Town Crier, Massachusetts




Alex Shopov, the Lynn Daily Item and Swampscott Patch, Massachusetts

Amanda Stonely, Plymouth Patch, Massachusetts


Chris Bauernfeind, Jamaica Plain Patch, Massachusetts



This is less than a third of the runners on our New England Aquarium marathon team. Meet the whole team, and considering sponsoring a runner or the team as a whole.

2014 New England Aquarium marathon team shirts—give a cheer for these folks on Monday!

Good luck New England Aquarium Marathon Team!

High five! Way to go team—we'll be cheering you all along the way.

Look back at the training season with the Aquarium runners:

• The team that volunteers together, trains together
• Running through the winter

The Aquarium recently celebrated National Volunteer Week. In 2013, our 938 adult Aquarium volunteers and interns donated over 100,000 hours towards our mission of protecting the blue planet. In posts all week, we're highlighting some ways that people donated their time to the Aquarium. Today's post profiles volunteer Liz Burmester.

Coral reefs are one of the world’s most fragile and important ecosystems. However, worldwide, coral reefs are declining at a precipitous rate due to a host of local causes (such as overfishing and pollution) and global impacts (like climate change and ocean acidification).

As a graduate student at Boston University, I work with professors at BU (Drs. John Finnerty and Les Kaufman) and Dr. Randi Rotjan at the New England Aquarium to address questions about the health of corals and their ability to recover from stressors in our changing world.

When most people think about corals, they think of sunny locales and warm tropical breezes. However, many aren’t aware that there are corals in our own local (and temperate) coastal environment! It is this special species—the Northern Star coral—that is the center of my research, and the research of the Rotjan Coral Lab.

The Northern Star coral, or Astrangia poculata, seen here with polyps extended, is a unique cold water coral that occurs in Woods Hole, MA, with (brown) and without (white) symbiotic algae. Courtesy: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute

The Northern Star coral (Astrangia poculata) is an interesting study organism in a number of ways. First, it has an incredible geographic range, extending from Florida and the Gulf of Mexico all the way up to Cape Cod (making it one of the most northern species of coral on earth!).  Second, and most importantly for my work, it has a unique relationship with a species of symbiotic algae that lives inside of its tissue.

In most corals, the relationship between the coral host and their algal symbionts (Symbiodinium sp.) is fragile and obligate, and corals obtain up to 95% of their energy from these algae. Under stressful conditions, these algae can be expelled from their hosts, causing the coral to appear white because you can see the white skeleton under the clear tissue (coral bleaching). This can be fatal to the coral if it is unable to take in new algal symbionts. However, the Northern Star coral has a facultative relationship with its symbiont, so it can live in stable conditions both with this algae (appearing brown) or without this algae (appearing white).  This special relationship gives us the opportunity to study the coral in healthy or stressful conditions (for example, where temperature is higher or lower than normal) and observe how corals can handle these stresses both with and without these important algal symbionts.

The Rotjan Coral lab | from left to right: TOP: Nick, Liz, Randi, Aaron, Tasia  BOTTOM: Julio, Katrina, Lukas

Interns and volunteers in the Rotjan lab assist with and take on their own projects and experiments to help explore the biology of this fascinating coral. In the end, hopefully what we learn from the Northern Star coral can be applied to aid conservation efforts in the tropics and across the globe.

The Aquarium is celebrating National Volunteer Week. In 2013, our 938 adult Aquarium volunteers and interns donated over 100,000 hours towards our mission of protecting the blue planet. In posts all week, we're highlighting some ways that people donated their time to the Aquarium. Today's post is about live blue™ Service Corps leaders. 

The Office of Volunteer Programs and Internships is excited to announce the 2014 Service Leader class! These dedicated individuals will spend the next year and a half learning to design, implement and lead volunteers during field service projects throughout the Greater Boston area on behalf of the New England Aquarium’s live blue ™ Service Corps.

live blue™ Service Leader Sharon Lowe

This year’s service leaders come from a diverse range of backgrounds and history of involvement with the Aquarium. Each one of these leaders has demonstrated a commitment to service, leadership, and protecting the blue planet. The live blue™ Service Leaders will focus on bringing the Aquarium’s mission to the community and a whole new group of volunteers. In preparation for this role, Service Leaders will attend an 8-part workshop series and attend service events with the goal of developing their own service projects and leading volunteers in the field. The 2014 Service Leaders range from full time staff members to individuals who have never before volunteered with the Aquarium! We’re happy to have them on board and can’t wait to get started.

We asked Casey Galante to tell us why she is excited about taking on her new role, and this is what she had to say:

Casey Galante

My name is Casey Galante and I am a new member to the aquarium family, serving in a new position known as a live blue™ Service Leader.  I've lived in Boston for six years now, first as an architecture major at Wentworth Institute of Technology, and now as a full-time professional. Coming from New York, I didn't have the opportunity to explore the Aquarium on school trips like many of my college classmates had. After finally visiting the Aquarium my sophomore year, I realized how important it was to Boston and to the visitors that waited in line to see all the magnificent inhabitants that call the Aquarium home. Once I graduated from college last May, I decided to seek out information on becoming a volunteer. So many opportunities flooded into my email, but I found that the time constraints from working a full-time job made it difficult to be able to commit. I still wanted to get involved, but it wasn't until I received an email about a new initiative called live blue™ Service Corps, did I get excited about a possible position that seemed perfect for me. 

We are extremely lucky to have a resource like the Aquarium right in Boston. It is hard to comprehend how much our local Aquarium is involved in with projects all over the world. I'm excited to begin my adventure with the Aquarium and my new responsibilities as a live blue™ Service Leader. I believe that it is up to us as volunteers and community members to serve as ambassadors for the ocean and take responsibility for our personal imprint upon the environment. I hope that as a service leader I can reach out to people within the large 18–25 age group in and around Boston, involved and interested in the mission of the Aquarium and like-minded organizations. I look forward to learning new things, expanding on my experiences as a leader, meeting as many new people as possible, and inspiring others to make a difference. As a Service Leader I plan to coordinate service opportunities that are fun and exciting and allow volunteers to get a different view on how they can help. I hope to see you all at a future volunteer event!  Please don't hesitate to contact myself or the Aquarium for information or future volunteer opportunities.  

Here is a quick introduction to each of the 14 2014 Service Leaders:

Deanna Celi
Volunteer Programs and Internships Intern, Dive In Episodic Volunteer
Started June 4, 2013
Hours: 259
Deanna is a former intern in the Office of Volunteer Programs and Internships. Her commitment to and passion for service is longstanding and includes spending two of her college breaks volunteering in New Orleans and even led one of the projects in 2013. Currently, she serves as a Foundations Associate at the Union of Concerned Scientists in Cambridge.

Laura Donovan

Laura Donovan
Aquarium Guide Volunteer
Started October 10, 2012
Hours: 218
Laura is a current Visitor Education volunteer on Saturdays and works as an attorney for a local law firm during the week.  She grew up in Massachusetts and attended Boston College where she was an active member of Ecopledge, a student organization designed to increase environmental awareness in the student body and administration.

Ken Furuyama

Ken Furuyama
Aquarium Guide Volunteer
Started February 1, 2006
Hours: 1,198
You can see Ken at the Aquarium on Mondays during his shifts on the floor as a Visitor Education volunteer.  Ken works at Trader Joe’s, is a vegan chef and loves to fish.  His commitment to service and volunteerism is something you see the moment you meet him!


Casey Galante
live blue™ Service Leader
Started April 2014
Casey is new to the Aquarium but has a long history of volunteerism and service ranging from volunteering in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina to leading orientations as a student at Wentworth Institute of Technology. You read about Casey and why she became a service leader above!


Erinn Hasselgren
Rescue and Rehabilitation Volunteer
Started May 4, 2014
Hours: 359
Erinn volunteers on Saturdays in Quincy as part of the Rescue and Rehabilitation team.  Though she is currently based on land as an Individual Giving Assistant at Harvard School of Public Health, she has spent time at sea as an at sea monitor and lead biologist on fishing vessels for National Marine Fisheries Service.

Noel Keady,  Visitor Experience

Noel Keady
Current Visitor Experience staff member and
Former Marine Mammal volunteer
Started August 18, 2011
Hours: 567
Current Visitor Experience staff member
Noel works at the Aquarium as a Visitor Assistant/Educator and is a former Marine Mammal volunteer. During his time at Emerson College Noel volunteered as an orientation leader and served on the board of the SPEC student screenwriting organization. He has a degree in media production and is an ice breaker extraordinaire!



John Killeen
Aquarium Guide Volunteer
Started December 21, 2013
Hours: 148
John joined the Aquarium in January 2014 as a Visitor Education January term intern.  A current student at Endicott pursuing a degree in environmental science, John has volunteered as a Weymouth Youth Soccer Coach and ran a soccer drive to send soccer equipment to Haiti after the earthquake.

Anna dressed for Fish, Fun and Fright—the member Halloween party

Anna Krowczynska
Giant Ocean Tank Diver Volunteer
Started December 17, 2005
Hours: 2,031
Anna spends her Saturdays with Myrtle in the Giant Ocean Tank and in addition to being the Secretary for the New England Aquarium Dive Club.  Originally from Poland, Anna received her Ph.D. in biochemistry and currently works as an application scientist.  She has a passion for beach cleanups, especially ones that happen both in and out of water!

Tony LaCasse, the Aquarium's Director of Media Relations

Tony LaCasse
Media Relations Director and
Spokesperson for the New England Aquarium
Started 2001
Tony has been in charge of the Aquarium's media relations since 2001. He has developed stories about the Aquarium that have been picked up by thousands of worldwide media outlets and has ensured that the work done at the Aquarium has a regional, national and global impact. In addition, Tony has been the Program Director for Thompson Island Outward Bound and a firefighter for the US Forest Service!



Sharon Lowe
Aquarium Guide volunteer, Episodic Fabrication Volunteer, Episodic Volunteer
Started September 1, 2011
Hours: 647
Sharon is a Monday Visitor Education volunteer, a Boston Cares Volunteer Leader, and holds board positions at a number of different nonprofits.  She’s interested in develop projects targeted towards cleaning the waterways that feed into the Charles River.


Kate McClure
live blue™ Service Leader
Kate is new to the Aquarium family but is no stranger to the Boston area.  She is currently pursuing her PhD in Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology with Northeastern University.  In addition to her studies, Kate has volunteered as a science tutor with Girls Incorporated of Lynn, a Teaching Laboratory Volunteer with the Museum of Science, and a Bottom Trawl Survey Volunteer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Survey Branch in Woods Hole, MA.


Paula Meyer
Penguin Colony Volunteers
Started June 28, 2013
Hours: 264
Paula spends her Saturdays in 50-degree water as a Penguin Colony volunteer. When she isn’t feeding the penguins, Paula is an Access Services Specialist with The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston. In addition to being a certified EMT, Paula has volunteered with organizations such as Pets on Wheels, the New England Wildlife Center and the MSPCA.


Donna Paterson
Penguin Colony Volunteer, Rescue & Rehab Volunteer, Field Volunteer, Episodic Marine Mammal Observation Volunteer
Started December 21, 2002
Hours: 2,247
Donna has spent time in a number of volunteer positions during her time at the Aquarium but was most recently a volunteer in the Penguin Colony. She is currently an office administrator but her passion lies with service. Most notably, Donna is a ski instructor/guide for visually impaired adults!

Meaghan Sorce

Meaghan Sorce
Marine Mammal Volunteer
Started November 11, 2013
Hours: 175

Meaghan volunteers with the fur seals, sea lions and harbor seals on Saturdays. In addition to volunteering, Meaghan works as a Dog Playgroup Attendant and Assistant Manager at a dog daycare in addition to attending the Harvard Extension School pursuing a Masters degree in Ecosystems and Sustainability.

One of our goals at the New England Aquarium is to cultivate the next generation of ocean stewards, and our internship program is designed to help build the next generation of experts in this field.
With this important goal in mind, in 2013 we were able to expand our internship program by over 50-percent compared to the previous year.

Summer 2013 intern community

Last year, 129 individuals served over 36,000 hours in our intensive, mentorship based internship program. They came from many different backgrounds—undergraduate students, graduate students, and career changers and brought diverse experience into our institution.

Chris Laudani, Penguin Colony intern

But not only did these individuals bring develop valuable skills for their future careers and perform meaningful work through their internships, they achieved one of the arguably most important functions of an internship program: they formed a network by building a supportive community.

Lauren Ma, Visitor Education intern

With individuals from across the country serving in departments across the Aquarium from behind the scenes in research and galleries, diving in the Giant Ocean Tank and working with visitors, we wondered…how exactly was this community built? We identified one intern in particular who through a magnetic personality was able to bring interns from across the institution together and asked him to give us an idea of how he did it.

Here is the take Sam Mintz (Northern Waters Gallery intern) took on the summer intern community and some strategies he recommends interns use to take advantage of it!

Over the 2013 summer cycle, we had almost 60 interns working in different departments, and people can become isolated. We overcame this and quickly developed a strong sense of community and friendship that became unique to our cycle. From the Galleries, Dive, West Wing, Lobster Lab, Whale Watch and Mammals, we connected and spent the whole summer becoming a close knit group of friends.  

I was big part of establishing this sense of community, and it ended up being the part of my internship I look back on most fondly.

• First of all, any time the Internship office has an event, those are the best places to meet in a group setting. Face time is key and don't be afraid to talk to your co-interns (I know meeting new people can be scary sometimes);
• Don't hesitate to trade phone numbers, as this can coordinate lunch at the aquarium or even hanging out after your work day is over;
• Food prep is another great place to see people and build friendships while you slave lovingly over the food for animals in your care;
• Another way to build community in your group is to find out which interns are working on your days, and introduce yourself to them. For example, I first met one of the Lobster Lab interns by chance when I ran up to the lab one morning. I introduced myself and invited him to lunch with my friends in the Galleries and West Wing, and we were inseparable for the rest of the summer!

This year we’ll be launching an alumni network to make sure our interns can stay connected and we can keep up with their careers. Interested in joining our community? We will be accepting applications for Fall internships soon.

National Volunteer Week is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals. – Points of Light

Here at New England Aquarium, we are spending the week highlighting some of our amazing volunteers and opportunities for you to get involved! So, without further delay, we would love to introduce Zara Z. and our most flexible of service opportunities: the live blue™ Service Corps!

live blue™ Service Corps
Lesser known than our traditional volunteer and intern programs is our episodic program. Now known as the live blue™ Service Corps, volunteers within this program take part in service opportunities that occur both at the Aquarium and in the field. While they don’t start out making the one-day-per-week, 6-month commitment, many of these volunteers spend just as much time at the Aquarium and earn just as many hours.

Volunteers seed muscles on coastal habitat

Following is Zara Zsido’s story.  Zara is a live blue™ Service Corps member who started volunteering during an Educator Appreciation Night in October of 2013 and has since become involved with service all over the Aquarium!

Stories about Octavia, the octopus, first brought me to the Aquarium. On my way to her tank I encountered a color, light and grace of movement I (being a creature of the land) hadn’t previously encountered. As a naturalist, walking through the doors of the Aquarium has opened yet another realm of spectacular unknowns.

After that first visit, I wanted to spend more time at NEAQ, and so perused the website for possibilities. A click on “volunteers” led to locating “one-shot”. One-shot led to a variety of volunteer opportunities, from special events to weeks of marine mammal behavior observation – the intelligence and personality of these fur-balls is pure joy to behold. A research project for the Diversity Council and a weekly gig with the crew in Membership allows ongoing encounters with the fine folks at NEAq – and the ability to visit exquisite critters anytime. 

Now, if I could just remember to bring my sketchbook next visit. — Zara

A volunteer pulls invasive weeds from the Charles River watershed

We are hosting orientation on the following dates:

April 8, 6–7 p.m.
April 13, 1–2 p.m.
May 6, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
May 22, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
June 3, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
June 19, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
July 15, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
July 31, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
August 5, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
August 21, 5:30–6:30 p.m.
September 9, 5:30–6:30 p.m.

Please RSVP to vols@neaq.org and put ATTN: LBSI Orientation in your subject line to book your space in as a live blue™ Service Corps participant!

National Volunteer Week, April 6–12, 2014, is about inspiring, recognizing and encouraging people to seek out imaginative ways to engage in their communities. It’s about demonstrating to the nation that by working together, we have the fortitude to meet our challenges and accomplish our goals.

National Volunteer Week is about taking action and encouraging individuals and their respective communities to be at the center of social change – discovering and actively demonstrating their collective power to make a difference. – Points Of Light

We're celebrating National Volunteer Week! First, we wanted to take a moment to highlight some of the amazing contributions of the Aquarium’s unpaid staff and highlight some opportunities for you to get involved.

In 2013, our 938 adult Aquarium volunteers and interns hit an incredible milestone by donating over 100,000 hours towards our mission of protecting the blue planet. What did that many people spend so much time doing? Most of our volunteers and interns served in one of the following top three departments: Husbandry, Rescue and Rehabilitation and Visitor Education.

Aquarist Husbandry Volunteers

• 127 Volunteers and interns donated nearly 24,000 hours here on Central Wharf
• Took care of tens of thousands of animals including: 
• the nautilus in the Tropical Gallery 
• the weedy sea dragons in the Thinking Gallery
• the octopus in the Cold Marine Gallery
• the anacondas in the Freshwater Gallery
• the sharks and rays in the West Wing and 
• the jellies in the Wet Lab

Lydia Glenn, Aquarist Intern

Rescue and Rehabilitation
When you have over 300 sea turtles to rehabilitate of in the course of a year, 192 volunteers and interns help get the work done—spending nearly 17,000 hours helping to ensure these animals can return healthy back into the wild.

Eran Hornick, Rescue & Rehabilitation Volunteer

Visitor Education
It’s certain that the last time you visited the Aquarium, one of the 106 trained volunteer interpreters helped make your experience meaningful (and they spent over 15,000 hours doing it).
[We are currently recruiting individuals with weekday availability for Spring Aquarium Guide Training! Visitor Education volunteers serve half day shifts once per week and make a six month commitment to the position after completing Aquarium Guide Training.  Interested in joining the team? Please click here for the application process.]

Maureen Trainor, Visitor Education Volunteer

These departments certainly have a lot of volunteers serving many hours, but that doesn’t mean some of our smaller departments aren’t making the same impact towards our mission. Here are some stories about our smallest two departments who engage volunteers and interns in their incredible work:

Museum Operations
Here’s where we get to talk about the Volunteer department's volunteer! Whitney Tibolt served over 100 hours assisting the Office of Volunteer Programs and Internships with the data entry, filing and other office support that is helping us provide more impact reporting.  She’s also helping us scan our files to electronic versions as we work to live blue!

Whitney Tibolt, Volunteer Programs & Internships Office Assistant Volunteer

Animal Health
Alex Shopov was named Volunteer of the Month in August 2013 and a current member of the New England Aquarium Marathon Team. As an educator, Alex brought unique skills to the position as he was not only able to assist with medical tasks, but also could inform the public when helping out with tasks like performing a whale necropsy on the beach! He’s also a former penguin volunteer and has served over 800 hours during his time as a volunteer.

Alex Shopov, Medical Center Volunteer

Each of our individual volunteers and interns plays an integral part in the 100,000 hours served last year and we thank each and every one of them for their impact on protecting the blue planet. If you currently serve, either at the New England Aquarium or elsewhere throughout our community, we would like to thank you for your incredible donations of time, energy and passion. We know that it can be hard to take time out of our daily lives for the betterment of another, but each time you do our community is indebted to you!

This April 6–12, New England Aquarium will be celebrating service by featuring some of our incredible volunteers and a variety of service opportunities. To start the week off right, we thought we would show you a few different ways you can get involved and start volunteering today:

• Become a regular volunteer with New England Aquarium and commit to serving with our animals, guests, community programs, or administrative roles.
• Need a more flexible commitment? Sign up to become a live blue™ Service Corp volunteer.
• Not in Boston, or interested in working with other kinds of animals? Find another AZA institution near you that needs volunteers.
• Consider a citizen science program like Frog Watch USA.
• Boston Cares has a fantastic calendar of click-to-sign-up service opportunities throughout Greater Boston focused on a diverse array of impact areas from homelessness to education.
• You can learn about national service initiatives and find a local volunteer action center by visiting HandsOn Network.

Stay tuned for more posts celebrating National Volunteer Week!

The circus is in town! And no, we're not talking about the boisterous energy at the marine mammal center. It's the Big Apple Circus and their latest show— LUMINOCITY.

We're sharing a special offer to save 25-percent off select tickets to the show. Catch the high-spirits and pulse-racing thrills of the circus on City Hall Plaza in Boston. No seat is more than 50 feet from ringside! Watch rowdy pups perform amazing tricks, double trapeze artists soaring high above, a bashful clown, an irrepressible flimflam man and a juggler extraordinaire; teeter-board acrobats flying through the air, a cavalcade of magnificent steeds, and a couple of amazing wire-walkers suspended in mid-air. The show runs two hours, including one intermission.

Save 25% off tickets to Big Apple Circus with promo code NEAQ14.

Show runs now through May 11 at City Hall Plaza.

After 9 successful years at the New England Aquarium, CEO and President Bud Ris is turning the helm over to Nigella Hillgarth, head of San Diego’s Birch Aquarium.

With a record number of tourists visiting the New England Aquarium’s newly renovated Giant Ocean Tank, the completion of a $43-million capital campaign and the expansion of critical ocean research and conservation initiatives, New England Aquarium CEO and President Bud Ris has decided to step down after a successful nine-year tenure revitalizing Boston’s popular aquarium and marine conservation organization.

New England Aquarium CEO and President Bud Ris is stepping down after 9 years

Ris will be succeeded by Dr. Nigella Hillgarth, the longtime Executive Director of UC San Diego’s Birch Aquarium at Scripps, which is part of the world renowned Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Dr. Nigella Hillgarth will assume the vacated leadership post at the New England Aquarium

Aquarium board chairperson Donna Hazard said, “Bud’s legacy is best represented by his vision for the Aquarium both as an important cultural and educational force in Boston and also as a global leader dedicated to protecting the oceans.” She added, “We are thrilled to have found in Nigella an experienced aquarium leader and scientist who shares the Aquarium’s passion for the oceans and commitment to education, conservation and research.”

Since coming to the Aquarium in 2005, Ris has worked closely with the Aquarium’s immediate Past Chair Bill Burgess and COO Walter Flaherty to revitalize one of America’s most prominent aquariums. Together, they helped raise $43 million over a six-year period that rebuilt infrastructure, enhanced mission programs and developed popular new exhibits including the dramatic renovation of the Giant Ocean Tank last year, the opening of The Trust Family Foundation Shark and Ray Touch Tank in 2011, and the construction of the spectacular harbor-side New Balance Foundation Marine Mammal Center and Harborwalk in 2009. The Aquarium also developed a state-of-the-art, multi-million dollar sea turtle hospital and animal care center in the old Quincy Shipyard.

Renovation of the Giant Ocean Tank included new exhibits, new lighting and new education spaces at the top of the tank.

Since its opening in 1969, the Aquarium has emphasized marine conservation and research. Under Ris’ leadership, the Aquarium was instrumental in helping to create one of the world’s largest marine protected areas in the Phoenix Islands of the central Pacific. Critically endangered right whales are enjoying a resurgence along the U.S. east coast, thanks in part to protection measures initiated by Aquarium whale researchers. The Aquarium’s sustainable seafood program has worked with some of the nation’s largest seafood companies and helped make sustainability become an integral business practice in the industry. Aquarium researchers have also benefited from the modernization of their laboratory for cutting edge work in assessing the impacts of noise and other human activities on the stress levels of marine animals.

Schooling fish on a reef of the Phoenix Islands Marine Protected Area in the Pacific Ocean

Ris, who is also a policy expert on climate change, served on several commissions advising both Mayor Menino and Governor Patrick on mitigation measures that can better prepare the city and the state for the impacts of sea level rise. Also over the past several years, the New England Aquarium has spearheaded a nationwide collaboration of aquariums and zoos to educate millions of visitors about climate change, its impact on the oceans and what to do about it. That project is funded by $6 million in grants from NSF and NOAA.

“Among the top accomplishments of our board supporters and staff during my tenure here has been restoring the Aquarium to good financial health and building a strong foundation for future growth and impact,” Ris stated.

Moving that legacy forward will be Irish native and Oxford-educated Hillgarth. She has led the San Diego aquarium since 2002 and prior to that headed up the largest bird park in the United States at the Tracy Aviary in Salt Lake City. While at the Birch Aquarium, she spearheaded the renovation of exhibit halls and brought in regular changing exhibits including the award-winning “Feeling the Heat: The Climate Challenge.” She also dramatically increased private giving to an institution, that like the New England Aquarium, receives only a small amount of direct operating support from local or state governments.

The New England Aquarium exhibits three species of penguins and participates in species survival breeding plans.

Dr. Hillgarth is also a highly regarded zoologist and has conducted research on penguins and other birds. Her field work has brought her to the Arctic, Antarctica, Argentina, the Amazon, the Galapagos, Peru, India and Thailand. While at Scripps, she also serves as the assistant director for outreach in oceanography working to ensure that the institution’s mission and research are effectively communicated to the world.

"I'm very proud to have led Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, for nearly 12 years and the many successes that I shared with colleagues there, from exciting new exhibits to community outreach and conservation programs," said Hillgarth. "I now look forward to a wonderful new opportunity at the New England Aquarium."

As Ris wraps up his work over the next two months, he will travel to the remote, island nation of Kiribati in April to meet with government officials there to review progress in the management of the Phoenix Islands Protected Area. Ris will finish his turn at the Aquarium’s helm in May.

Dr. Hillgarth will begin working in Boston full time just after Memorial Day.