![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/04\/Outdoor-Study.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There\u2019s not many opportunities that blend marine conservation and medical sciences. So Jacob Hromyak considers himself lucky to volunteer at PedsAcademy at Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital.<\/p>\n
PedsAcademy is a pediatric school program that provides hospitalized children research-backed educational opportunities.\u00a0 It was founded earlier this year under the leadership of Megan Nickels, Ph.D., an assistant professor of STEM education. On a recent Friday afternoon, it was a team of marine biology students at PedsAcademy under the direction of Linda Walters, Ph.D., sharing their knowledge.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/04\/Nemours-II.jpg\")
At one table, Biology majors Carly Grimson, Reyanna St. Juste and Miranda Magnan took turns teaching a young girl about ocean acidification and the impact of rising sea levels. Across the room, Hromyak helped a boy classify threatened and endangered wading birds and the characteristics that make them suited for shoreline living. Their habitat is currently under restoration by Walters and her colleagues.<\/p>\n
The hands-on teaching suits Hromyak\u2019s passion for conservation, and confirms his choice to go into the medicine.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really meaningful seeing how this impacts the lives of patients and families,\u201d Hromyak said. \u201cIt takes them away for just a few minutes from whatever brought them to the hospital for treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Grimson, who plans on going into dentistry after graduation, echoes the importance of giving back. Being part of a service-learning marine biology class project at the hospital made her compassionate and sympathetic toward the hardships other people endure.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really opened my mind,\u201d Grimson said.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sciences.ucf.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/29\/2019\/04\/Nemours-VIII.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
The opportunity to volunteer and give back will be majorly scaled up on May 16, when the first-ever UCF STEM Day is hosted at the hospital in Lake Nona. Walters is currently on the search for faculty and associated laboratories willing to host an interactive project for patients, visitors and family members in the hospital\u2019s lobby.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have such a deep pool of talent in STEM at UCF, so I\u2019m excited to see who steps up,\u201d Walters said. \u201cThis is a can\u2019t-miss opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There\u2019s not many opportunities that blend marine conservation and medical sciences. So Jacob Hromyak considers himself lucky to volunteer at PedsAcademy at Nemours Children\u2019s Hospital. PedsAcademy is a pediatric school program that provides hospitalized children research-backed educational opportunities.\u00a0 It was founded earlier this year under the leadership of Megan Nickels, Ph.D., an assistant professor of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":24633,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[34,38,39,13,28,5944,29],"tags":[916,6211,6212,3975],"class_list":["post-24632","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-biology-departments","category-breaking-news","category-faculty-news","category-news","category-top-news","category-ucf-coastal","category-ucf-news","tag-department-of-biology","tag-jacon-hromyak","tag-pedsacademy","tag-ucf-stem"],"yoast_head":"\n