Biology Major Chloe Smith Lands Internship at Smithsonian

As a little girl, Chloe Smith was fascinated with earth science and its creatures, especially dinosaurs. As a teenager, she enrolled in Early College at SPC, then the bachelor’s in Biology program. Having earned her Associate of Arts degree in May, 2021, Smith will graduate this spring with her bachelor's in Biology with a concentration in Ecology and Evolution from SPC.

It took a few lab classes for Chloe to realize her passion was in research. Inspired by movies like Night at the Museum, she volunteered at UF’s Paleontology Program at the Florida Museum of Natural History, driving to Gainesville twice a week for the past year.

In search for an internship, Chloe applied to several places, including one place she referred to as ‘reaching for higher than the moon.’ The process wasn’t easy – After writing several essays and listing her volunteer experience, her number one pick was the one she got!

In summer 2024, Chloe completed her internship at her dream job – working at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum, in Washington, D.C. in the Paleontology department. Following a summer of collecting and researching the ostracod – a crustacea sometimes called seed shrimp – the Smithsonian is sending Chloe to California in fall 2025 to present at a conference on her findings.

Currently working as a Biology Lab Assistant on the Clearwater campus as a Federal Work Study student, Smith is now busy applying to several grad schools, enthusiastically commenting, ‘I’ve read their papers for years, and I’m a fan girl of their work!’

With her sights set on becoming a Paleontologist, Chloe says she is grateful for so much; her internship tuition scholarship from SPC Foundation; funding from the Smithsonian to make it all possible; and especially grateful for words of encouragement from her professor Kelli Stickrath.