July 20, 2003 – Coral World Marine Park has a new curator — Andrea Stephens, who has been promoted from assistant curator at the St. Thomas attraction.
She succeeds Donna Nemeth, who has taken a faculty position at the University of the Virgin Islands.
It is Stephens' hope that "many young children will visit Coral World and leave wanting to learn more about the underwater world and how they can preserve and protect such an amazing place," a release stated.
Stephens joined Coral World two years ago as senior aquarist.
She is a 1993 graduate of the University of North Carolina. During her college years, she logged more than 1,600 hours of work as a volunteer at the North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher. After finishing college, she joined the staff as an aquarist.
In 2000, she spent a year preparing for the opening of a new $70 million aquarium in Charleston, South Carolina. Following the facility's inauguration she moved to St. Thomas to take the senior aquarist position at Coral World.
According to the release, Stephens, who grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C., was inspired to pursue a marine science career by her fascination with the National Aquarium.
Publisher's note : Like the St. Thomas Source now? Find out how you can love us twice as much — and show your support for the islands' free and independent news voice … click here.
