This summer, Katie Ray Holloman has been an Animal Care and Training Intern at the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys. Interns prepare diets, conduct animal talks, create animal enrichments, and observe training techniques while also completing classroom seminars and training courses.

The DRC is home to bottlenose dolphins, sea lions, birds, tortoises, and iguanas. The original Flipper lived at DRC and his descendants are still residents.      

Katie Ray visited SeaWorld at age three and from that day forward, her obsession has been all things ocean. Living in land-locked Kentucky has not stopped her. She attended the summer Dauphin Island Sea Lab Marine Science Course, was an intern at Pennyroyal Scuba Center, has her Open Water Scuba Certification, and was an intern and seasonal trainer at The Gulfarium on Okaloosa Island, Fla.

Katie Ray is a 2019 Russellville High School graduate. She will graduate in May from Murray State University, majoring in Wildlife Conservation and Biology with an emphasis in Zoology.

She is the third daughter of Chris and Kerry Allen Holloman of Adairville.