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Samuel Janofsky, a freshwater fisheries biology student at Humboldt State University is seeking a summer internship. Systems that Samuel is most interested in working with are pond, in pond-raceways, or split-pond systems. He is most experienced with white sturgeon, channel catfish, and western mosquito-fish.

Below is an introduction/cover letter from Samuel. His full resume can be viewed here. Please contact him with an available opportunities.

To whom it may interest,

I am seeking a summer internship within the aquaculture industry. Currently, I am attending Humboldt State University as a Freshwater Fisheries Biology major. While I am learning about fish biology and fisheries management, my interest lies with aquaculture. So in order to pursue my interest at Humboldt, I have sought out experiences working with fish in a controlled setting. These opportunities include volunteering at an established on-campus trout hatchery, and more importantly, having a part in the production of an aquaponics system from the ground up. This experience in particular has been important, as it has allowed me to assist and observe the production of an aquaculture system. As part of this start up project, I took part in preparing a system with proper flow rates and aeration, as well as preparing the water quality for the fish transfer. Currently, we have 2 tanks of white sturgeon and are growing several different varieties of vegetables in our system.

The deep interest I carry for aquaculture arose from assisting on my parents catfish and mosquitofish farm as a child. While I was too young to understand the significance of what I was doing at the time, I now realize that growing up on a fish farm had a large impact on what I would later strive towards. At this point, I had little knowledge of what was actually occurring in the water, but I learned many of the basic skills that would later become essential. Building cages, transporting and acclimating fish, and observing signs of stress and acting on it became routine work for me. Essentially, I learned how to think on my feet to become an efficient first line of action when my father (the owner of Copper Crayfish) was not around to respond to the needs of the fish. Thinking back on the experience, I am filled with nostalgia of the days spent out in the sun. However, that is not just a simple memory to me, it is a springboard that has led me to have the driving force to become educated and further experienced within the industry, to have aspirations of someday running my own pond cultured facility.

However, I need several years of work experience and education to achieve my goal. This is where you, the employer comes in. You should expect that if you hired me, some time would spent training me on the specifics of your facility, as well as the specifics of fish cultures I have yet to grow. Your payoff would be much larger though. You would be receiving a worker that is not only quite knowledgeable regarding water chemistry and fish/system biology, but a worker that is incredibly motivated to impress. It is part of who I am as a person to push myself in every facet of life, and this is especially true of my desire to become proficient and learn multiple aspects of the trade. This includes spawning, rearing, growing out, system development, and marketing. While I do take my work and education very seriously, you will still find I am easy to communicate and work with. After all, if I am working to provide your customers with the best possible product.