Career Day 2015
For Career Day, I went to the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) building in La Jolla to shadow my neighbor, Mark Lowry. Mark is a marine biologist who researches different species of sea lion and seals, so I saw where he did his research and where he tested his samples. I really enjoyed shadowing him because I got to tour the building where they do all their lab work and research. The building was three levels, each having a different purpose. I noticed that the top level was more for research and compiling data since it was an office space. The second story was more about examining samples and testing them. The first level was where they dissected animals and prepared samples for testing. I got to visit all three levels, starting with where they dissect dead animals to figure out the cause of death. It just so happened that a dolphin was dissected the previous day, so I saw a bucket with water and dolphin blood, and a dolphin skull with some meat still on it. I thought this was very interesting because I got to see a little bit of what they do even though I didn't witness the actual autopsy. Mark collects data on the diet of sea lions to see how they change over the years, so he was prepping bags of feces under the fume-hood for future testing. I helped log data of where the feces was taken and when. Next, we went to his little lab where he and a partner count the sea lion population and examine the remnants of animals in the sea lion feces. Sea lions eat a lot of fish and squid based on what I saw in his lab. He collected these things called otoliths from the sea lion feces and they are remnants of fish. Mark could tell the species and size of the fish based on the size and shape of the otoliths. It was very interesting to watch him work and measure under the microscope, dealing with such delicate samples. He showed me a drawer full of otoliths labeled with when it was collected, what feces it came from and much more information that describes where they came from. I thought Career Day was very interesting and it definitely made me think more about pursuing a career in marine biology or a career that is marine related. I learned a lot about how everyone interacts, the typical work days and how this job is always different everyday. I may see myself pursuing this career in the future, but I would like to learn more about marine biology before I set my mind and heart to it. If I go to a college with an excellent marine biology class, it will prepare me for this path I may take. However, I am still deciding on what I want as my career. I am considering an internship for NOAA during Junior year because I think this would be a great opportunity and a lot of fun. I am very excited to see what is in store for me next year if I do intern at the NOAA building in La Jolla.
Interview
What in your educational background has prepared you most for this job?
I have a bachelor of arts in biology. I went to Humboldt State University, and that was all the education I got. After that, I learned everything on the job.
What specific skill training helped you prepare for this job?
Just the basic knowledge of biology. Basically, all the work that I do right now, I've learned it all on my own once I started the job. So, basically, the college degree gets you in the door or the certain jobs you get hired for. (So you learn with the job?) Yeah and you apply your skills towards it.
What do you study or research here? (pt 1)
I do two things. One is I study the diet of California sea lions at two island rookeries off the coast here, and the way I do that is I go out every three months and I collect what are called scats. Then I get the scats and I bring them back here, then I rinse them through these screens and I get these otoliths. They're little fish bones, and also these beaks and little mandibles, that are made out of chitin, from squids and octopus. From those I found out the prey species, what they're eating. I have all these equations I made through the years that will tell me what size fish or squid they are eating and how much they weigh.
What patterns have you seen with sea lions and their diets?
Oh, it has changed a lot. That's what we are working on right now, trying to figure out how to put all twenty-five years of data into one tight little package for a report that I'm preparing right now. It's a lot of data.
What do you study or research here? (pt 2)
I census populations of seals and sea lions on the coast of California. For those, I use ariel photography. I charter an airplane and I put a camera in it, and I have the pilot fly wherever the animals are and I photograph them from the air. So, I fly 800 feet and I just take thousands of pictures and I put them together and count one by one.
Have you noticed a difference in sea lion population over the years?
Yeah, it's been going up. I don't just do sea lions for the census, I also do elephant seals, stellar sea lions and harbor seals. So I stay pretty busy.The reason for this is that it's driven by the Marine Mammal Protection Act that was passed in 1972, and the agency I worked for has been told by the act, or signed by the act, to monitor population of marine mammals. So, in order to know how the population is doing, you have to do periodic censuses and so that's what my role is in that. I collect this data, then we analyze it, and we make these reports that come out once a year about how the population's doing, how it's growing, how many there are, if it's declining or stable or what.
Are those your two main projects?
Yeah, then other people around here do something else. So when I'm at home sick or on vacation, nobody fills in for my work. It doesn't get done unless I do it because I'm the only one that does it.
So is everyone assigned a different species?
They're assigned different projects.
Is there collaboration?
Yeah, we do at times collaborate with each other. I don't know statistics very well, so I get a statistician and I'll work with him on that. (So if you struggle with something, you have another person help?) Yeah,you start working as a team.
To what extent do you find your work interesting and fulfilling and why?
It's just interesting, I'm just into it. Most of my work is on sea lions because that's what I'm most into. What's nice is that I'm not always here in the office, I do a lot of field work every three months. So every three months, I go off to two islands off the coast for three days each and that's for the diet study. And it also depends on funding. When I do the ariel censusing, I may be gone for a week or two weeks or even three weeks sometimes.
What's the longest you've been gone on a field job?
In what I am doing now, it's usually no more than two weeks. But, in the years past, I've helped out with research cruises and we would go out for a month on a boat. I haven't done those in many years.
What is a typical work day for you?
Well, this is what I started off with today. First thing you do when you come in is check your emails. Then, after that, I've been looking up data, analyzing the data that I have for this report that I'm writing. That's what I was doing mostly this morning, trying to figure out what to do. That's what I usually do in the mornings. In the afternoons, I do lab work. I try to mix it up somewhat so I'm not always doing the same thing all day long. Sometimes, you have to do that all day long, like when I'm counting animals from the ariel pictures. Sometimes, you just have to work on those all day long, day after day. I have two people helping me out doing the counting.
What are the most important rules or practices that you must follow in order to be considered a dedicated and responsible professional?
You have to work hard. Show up for work everyday. Sometimes, a lot us work at home on our own time. I don't do it as much as some people, I do it on occasion. Basically, be productive.
What made you want to become a marine biologist?
Basically, what is was, when I was a sophomore in high school, my parents asked me what I wanted to do. I first gave them the wrong answer, I told them I wanted to be an engineer like my older brother because I did everything that he did. And they said no. So, I was taking biology at that time and I liked it and I decided that there was a big ocean on this planet and I figured out what marine biology was. So that's why I started. My parents thought I was nuts, but they left me alone.
How long have you been working here?
At this building, thirty-five years. (And you never get bored?) No, everyday is interesting. Well, not quite everyday but for the most part it's different. What's nice is that I work independently on my projects and it's up to you to get them done.
What is the best part of your job?
That I get to leave the office and go out in the field. Every three months, I leave the office for a few days.
What advice would you give someone who is pursuing this career?
Be perseverant and don't give up. It's a very difficult occupation. There's a lot of people who also want to be marine biologists. So, once you get your foot in the door, you have to apply yourself. You also have to be willing to do something that you're not all that interested in because that will lead you to something else. You got to give it your 100 percent, you can't slack off. In a place like this, they don't like lazy people. If you don't produce, you get let go.
I have a bachelor of arts in biology. I went to Humboldt State University, and that was all the education I got. After that, I learned everything on the job.
What specific skill training helped you prepare for this job?
Just the basic knowledge of biology. Basically, all the work that I do right now, I've learned it all on my own once I started the job. So, basically, the college degree gets you in the door or the certain jobs you get hired for. (So you learn with the job?) Yeah and you apply your skills towards it.
What do you study or research here? (pt 1)
I do two things. One is I study the diet of California sea lions at two island rookeries off the coast here, and the way I do that is I go out every three months and I collect what are called scats. Then I get the scats and I bring them back here, then I rinse them through these screens and I get these otoliths. They're little fish bones, and also these beaks and little mandibles, that are made out of chitin, from squids and octopus. From those I found out the prey species, what they're eating. I have all these equations I made through the years that will tell me what size fish or squid they are eating and how much they weigh.
What patterns have you seen with sea lions and their diets?
Oh, it has changed a lot. That's what we are working on right now, trying to figure out how to put all twenty-five years of data into one tight little package for a report that I'm preparing right now. It's a lot of data.
What do you study or research here? (pt 2)
I census populations of seals and sea lions on the coast of California. For those, I use ariel photography. I charter an airplane and I put a camera in it, and I have the pilot fly wherever the animals are and I photograph them from the air. So, I fly 800 feet and I just take thousands of pictures and I put them together and count one by one.
Have you noticed a difference in sea lion population over the years?
Yeah, it's been going up. I don't just do sea lions for the census, I also do elephant seals, stellar sea lions and harbor seals. So I stay pretty busy.The reason for this is that it's driven by the Marine Mammal Protection Act that was passed in 1972, and the agency I worked for has been told by the act, or signed by the act, to monitor population of marine mammals. So, in order to know how the population is doing, you have to do periodic censuses and so that's what my role is in that. I collect this data, then we analyze it, and we make these reports that come out once a year about how the population's doing, how it's growing, how many there are, if it's declining or stable or what.
Are those your two main projects?
Yeah, then other people around here do something else. So when I'm at home sick or on vacation, nobody fills in for my work. It doesn't get done unless I do it because I'm the only one that does it.
So is everyone assigned a different species?
They're assigned different projects.
Is there collaboration?
Yeah, we do at times collaborate with each other. I don't know statistics very well, so I get a statistician and I'll work with him on that. (So if you struggle with something, you have another person help?) Yeah,you start working as a team.
To what extent do you find your work interesting and fulfilling and why?
It's just interesting, I'm just into it. Most of my work is on sea lions because that's what I'm most into. What's nice is that I'm not always here in the office, I do a lot of field work every three months. So every three months, I go off to two islands off the coast for three days each and that's for the diet study. And it also depends on funding. When I do the ariel censusing, I may be gone for a week or two weeks or even three weeks sometimes.
What's the longest you've been gone on a field job?
In what I am doing now, it's usually no more than two weeks. But, in the years past, I've helped out with research cruises and we would go out for a month on a boat. I haven't done those in many years.
What is a typical work day for you?
Well, this is what I started off with today. First thing you do when you come in is check your emails. Then, after that, I've been looking up data, analyzing the data that I have for this report that I'm writing. That's what I was doing mostly this morning, trying to figure out what to do. That's what I usually do in the mornings. In the afternoons, I do lab work. I try to mix it up somewhat so I'm not always doing the same thing all day long. Sometimes, you have to do that all day long, like when I'm counting animals from the ariel pictures. Sometimes, you just have to work on those all day long, day after day. I have two people helping me out doing the counting.
What are the most important rules or practices that you must follow in order to be considered a dedicated and responsible professional?
You have to work hard. Show up for work everyday. Sometimes, a lot us work at home on our own time. I don't do it as much as some people, I do it on occasion. Basically, be productive.
What made you want to become a marine biologist?
Basically, what is was, when I was a sophomore in high school, my parents asked me what I wanted to do. I first gave them the wrong answer, I told them I wanted to be an engineer like my older brother because I did everything that he did. And they said no. So, I was taking biology at that time and I liked it and I decided that there was a big ocean on this planet and I figured out what marine biology was. So that's why I started. My parents thought I was nuts, but they left me alone.
How long have you been working here?
At this building, thirty-five years. (And you never get bored?) No, everyday is interesting. Well, not quite everyday but for the most part it's different. What's nice is that I work independently on my projects and it's up to you to get them done.
What is the best part of your job?
That I get to leave the office and go out in the field. Every three months, I leave the office for a few days.
What advice would you give someone who is pursuing this career?
Be perseverant and don't give up. It's a very difficult occupation. There's a lot of people who also want to be marine biologists. So, once you get your foot in the door, you have to apply yourself. You also have to be willing to do something that you're not all that interested in because that will lead you to something else. You got to give it your 100 percent, you can't slack off. In a place like this, they don't like lazy people. If you don't produce, you get let go.