Meet the Participants

Hi all!  My name is Claire Quinn and I am a junior majoring in biology with a focus on ecology and evolution.  I am also minoring in sustainability.  I am so excited to be participating in this Alternative Break trip because I absolutely love the Chesapeake Bay.  Growing up in Baltimore, it's hard not to be interested in the Bay and all it provides to the region.  After spending a summer as an education intern with the National Aquarium, I realized my passion for the Bay was something I wanted to address in my future career plans.  Since then, I have been educating myself about the Bay and how I can positively impact it, and I hope this trip will help with this mission!

Hey everyone! My name is Lyndon Baltazar and I'm a junior aerospace engineer at the University of Maryland. I also minor in international engineering, but that's not so important. I really enjoy the outdoors, playing sports, helping people out and giving back to the community. I'm happy to be on this alternative break this spring since the Chesapeake Bay has always been a favorite place of mine to visit while growing up, whether it was camping for a weekend or fishing for the day. It has become a source of pride for anyone born and raised in Maryland, like myself. So environmental issues and conservation concerning the bay has always been an interest of mine, and this break, I'm excited I can be a part of these efforts.

Whaddup y'all.  My name is Mike Benavides, but my friends call me Mike, and I am currently a junior aerospace engineering major.  I am a pretty simple guy and my interests include fitness of all types, casual socializing and stamp collecting.  Mostly just the first two.  I don't get much diversity in my studies, and I have always felt I do not take advantage of my surroundings as much as I should, so this AB trip is something that I feel can really teach me a lot about both myself and the natural habitat around my home.  I have always been fond of the water and the Bay has so many great resources that I would hate to see go to waste, so this trip is something that I am really looking forward to.

Hey everyone! My name is Suhani Chitalia and I am a junior Environmental Science and Policy major with a concentration in politics and policy at the University of Maryland. I grew up right on the Chesapeake Bay watershed and much of my childhood was spent on the Bay. In my field every teacher has told me that you cant have policy without the science so this alternative break trip was the perfect gateway to the science aspect of my major. Every trip to the Chesapeake Bay has taught me something new and I'm sure this Alternative Break trip will be no different. I'm so excited to give back to the Bay community and the state I grew up in! My goal is to become an environmental lawyer and hopefully work on water related policy so the Bay is the perfect place to be.

Hey everyone! My name is Sean Hurley and I am a junior Neurobiology and Physiology major and Spanish minor at the University of Maryland.  I am from Massachusetts, but I am interested in learning more about the Chesapeake Bay, and being part of the effort to save it.  I also do not have a lot of experience with camping, so I wanted to be a bit more exposed to the environment, and learn how to live more sustainably.  I really enjoyed my AB trip last year to Chicago (Hunger and Homelessness) so I decided to go on another trip, and try to help another cause.  My goal is to attend medical school in the future, so I need to take advantage of the time I have now to volunteer.

Hey guys, , my name is Rhea Ramakrishnan and I am a junior Biology major at the University of Maryland. I grew up in Baltimore, MD where the bay is a big part of people's lives. I've always enjoyed hiking and biking and generally being outdoors, so I try to integrate nature with my education as well. Last summer and part of this past fall, I worked at Bladensburg Waterfront Park in Prince George's County helping to facilitate Anacostia Watershed education programs, so I was interested in learning more about the Chesapeake Bay which is a major source for many nearby tributaries. I'm hoping to be able to make a positive impact this spring break.

Hi everyone! My name is Elvina Newton Tryer and I am a junior majoring in Civil/Environmental Engineering. I learned about the ASB service trips through my sister and I knew that after transferring to the University, I would want to be part of one of these volunteer service trips. So this year, I signed up to be part of the Chesapeake Bay ASB trip. Ever since taking an Environmental Science class in high school, I've had a passion about learning and caring for the environment, and organisms that live in the environment. I hope that through this trip, I can learn more about environmental issues, and the advancements/efforts in solving the problems.

Hello all, my name is Katarina Stim and I am a sophomore Chemical Engineering student at the University of Maryland. One of the main reasons I decided to get involved in the Alternative Break program, and specifically with the Chesapeake Bay, was because I wanted to give back to my community. I've always been an outdoorsy sort of person, as I hike and canoe in my free time and genuinely enjoy getting dirty if it means being outdoors. And there was nothing more close to home than the Bay, and the importance of conservation and other environmental issues was not lost to me. As such even doing the tiniest bit to help would mean preserving the natural wildlife that I so appreciate for many more people in the future.