McCall found a change worked best 

By Avalon Schnelker
English ’27

Avelyn McCall came to Trine University expecting to be a Pre-PA student who just took a few ecology and biology general education courses. That carefully curated plan went out the window when she got invested in environmental science. 

“The professors were super enthusiastic about what they were teaching and focused on how crucial environmental science is as a field,” she commented. 

It was that enthusiasm that gave way to a new path for Avelyn, as she is now pursuing a master’s in aquatic ecology and limnology at Auburn University with thoughts of going straight into the industry or into a PhD program (leaning toward the latter).  

While at Trine, the search for an internship was not easy. She had to do a lot of research into the fields that she wanted to go into, like fisheries and aquatic science. 

She made a big list of various potential internships. When she saw the flyer for Dr. Sam Drerup’s water quality internship, she added it to the list. 

Avelyn said that during the search for internships she “would recommend other students in the field looking for internships talk to their professors and look for lots of different input and advice on the application process.” 

The internship took her all around Steuben County, as she tested and monitored water quality of area sources. She collected samples of the water in the field and brought those samples into the lab for further testing and data compilation. 

The internship cemented for her that environmental science was the field she truly wanted to go into. She enjoyed not spending all the time in the field or in the lab but instead switching between the two. 

“When you’re exhausted from running experiments and wrangling data you get a little break to go outside, and vice versa,” Avelyn said. 

She added that this kind of work “shows you the beauty of the natural world you’re working to conserve.”  

While the work was tiring, it invigorated the interns to do more rather than turning them away. She said the experience showcased not only the beauty of nature, but also the science side. She learned about ways she could help preserve natural beauty through rigorous testing and data collection.  
 
One of her biggest take-aways from not only this internship, but also from Trine, was learning to trust herself. 

“Changing majors was stressful because I had a pretty solid plan for my future at the time, but I put in the work and have gained the opportunity to study what I love at an R1 university because of it,” she said. She continued, “Support from professors and peers at Trine helped me realize that hard work will lead to achieving my goals.”