“Hello, my name is Owen Sobel. I'm originally from Long Island, New York, and I graduated from Franklin & Marshall College last year with a degree in Environmental Studies and Economics. My past fieldwork experience includes working at a fish hatchery in Arizona, a farmland trust in Pennsylvania, and spending last summer in Sequoia National Park as part of a forest fire reforestation research project.
I have a strong passion for travel, exploration, and working hands on with the environment, which made volunteering on Midway a perfect fit both professionally and personally. I've thoroughly enjoyed the diverse range of work on the island from banding albatross chicks to learning about Midway’s native plant species. One of the most rewarding parts of the experience has been working with Hawaiian monk seals. Participating in their tagging has not only been incredibly valuable in terms of hands-on conservation work but also memorable, especially because they’re such endearing animals.
It has been incredible becoming deeply familiar with the island, its ecosystem, and the native species, to begin understanding the complex relationships and dynamics between them, and I am looking forward to the rest of my time here.”