BAMSI summer intern Danielle leaning over a coral holding tank under blue lighting at the Bahamas Coral Gene Bank.
September 2026 | Bahamas Coral Gene Bank
From Colorful Rocks to Coral Science: Meet Our First BAMSI Intern

The Bahamas Coral Gene Bank is a collaborative initiative spearheaded by the Perry Institute for Marine Science, involving The Government of The Bahamas, Atlantis Paradise Island, the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, and the University of The Bahamas, with longstanding support from the Disney Conservation Fund.For the Summer 2026 internship session at the Bahamas Coral Gene Bank, we welcomed our first intern from the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute. Her name is Danielle Mason, and she is a second-year marine biology student with a particular interest in coral ecology.

BAMSI was established in 2013 and runs its accredited marine science, aquaculture and environmental science programmes from an 800-acre campus in North Andros. Bringing a BAMSI student into the Gene Bank matters for a simple reason: the people best placed to look after Bahamian reefs over the long term are Bahamians trained here at home.

 

BAMSI summer intern Danielle Mason leaning over a coral holding tank under blue lighting to tend to coral fragments.

Danielle Mason at work in the coral holding systems. Photo: Perry Institute for Marine Science.

 

We asked her to write a short introduction. Here it is in her own words.

 

How It Started

 

 

I have wanted to become a marine biologist since I was 13. That summer, while swimming, I noticed many colorful "rocks."

 

"When I returned home, I researched what they were and how I could continue seeing them throughout my life. I discovered that they were corals, marine animals threatened with extinction at an alarming rate. Further research introduced me to marine biology and to scientists working to study and protect corals. From that day, I committed myself to becoming a marine biologist."

 

Portrait of Danielle Mason, a second-year marine biology student at the Bahamas Agriculture and Marine Science Institute.

Mason is the Gene Bank's first intern from BAMSI. Photo: Perry Institute for Marine Science.

 

 

What the Internship Involved

 

"I am now completing an internship with the Perry Institute for Marine Science, where I have had the opportunity to work at the Bahamas Coral Gene Bank. In a short time, I have learned about life-support systems, different coral species and their behavior, and the diseases affecting them. I have also observed the many ways the team cares for and protects corals."

Life-support systems are the plumbing and equipment that keep the water in the holding tanks at the right temperature, chemistry and flow. They are the reason corals can be held on land at all, and learning to read them is one of the first things any coral aquarist has to pick up.

 

Danielle Mason using a diamond band saw at a laboratory bench to cut a small coral fragment, with water testing supplies on the shelf above.

Cutting coral on the diamond band saw. Fragmenting colonies is routine work in a coral holding facility, and it is how one rescued colony becomes many. Photo: Perry Institute for Marine Science.

 

 

A Second Season on the Water

 

The Gene Bank was not Mason's only placement this year. She also completed a six-week internship with the MSC Foundation at its Marine Conservation Center on Ocean Cay, one of the first two BAMSI students to do so, earning academic credit toward her Associate of Science in Marine Science. There she worked on coral nurseries and support facilities, and on talking to visitors about why any of it matters.

 

 

Danielle Mason in a Marine Conservation Center polo shirt at the MSC Foundation facility on Ocean Cay, The Bahamas.

Mason during her six-week internship at the MSC Foundation's Marine Conservation Center on Ocean Cay. Photo: MSC Foundation.

 

My passion is coral ecology and reef restoration, and being able to learn alongside experienced professionals has strengthened my confidence and reaffirmed my commitment to pursuing a career in marine science.

 

Two placements in one year, at two different facilities, is a serious amount of hands-on time for a second-year student. It is also a good illustration of how these partnerships add up: no single organisation trains a marine scientist on its own.

 

Why This Matters

 

The Gene Bank exists to hold Bahamian coral genetic diversity safely until it can go back on the reef. That is long-term work, measured in decades rather than seasons, and it needs a steady supply of people who know how to do it.

Mason found corals by accident, swimming over something she could not name. Ten years from now she may be one of the people other students learn from.

 

I am truly grateful for this opportunity and for everything I have learned at the Bahamas Coral Gene Bank.

 

 

About the Bahamas Coral Gene Bank

 

The Bahamas Coral Gene Bank at Atlantis Paradise Island is the first facility of its kind in the region. It is led by scientists from the Perry Institute for Marine Science, with funding and support from the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation, and it exists to protect Bahamian coral genetic diversity from disease and heat until it can be returned to the reef.

 

Help us protect coral reefs in The Bahamas.

Donate at blueprojectatlantis.org