Daily Pioneer News

PLATTEVILLE-Angela Woroniecki a Freemont native and University of Wisconsin-Platteville graduate will travel to Connecticut for a unique and interesting hands on internship experience with penguins and sea lions.

Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration, located in Mystic, Connecticut, is part of the Sea Research Foundation, a nonprofit organization specializing in deep-sea research and ocean exploration.

Woroniecki will be working on independent enrichment projects based on animal behavior, research methods and classical as well as operant conditioning and response. She may also have the opportunity to rescue beached or stranded animals.

She is involved in the Biology Club and the Swing Club on campus and enjoys water-skiing and traveling in her spare time.

Her future goals involve earning a master's degree, focusing on animal behavior, and attaining a position working with and researching dolphins and marine life.

"I love the ocean and have always had a passion for working with animals," said Woroniecki. "Their innocence and earning their trust is unique and amazing."

Wayne Weber, UWP professor and biology department chair, and Corinne Enright, UWP professor of psychology, were extremely supportive and helpful in Woroniecki's quest for finding an internship.

Woroniecki had hoped to travel to Hawaii for an internship, but funding for the program was low and subsequently the position and program was cancelled. Woroniecki, persistant, applied to other marine programs around the U.S and caught the eye of Mystic Aquarium and Institute of Exploration. The internship at Mystic Aquarium will begin on Tuesday, May 25 and last through the end of August.

More information on Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration can be found at http://www.mysticaquarium.org.