When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Doctor, lawyer……………marine biologist?

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?

THEN, IN WISCONSIN.

A lot of people will say president, teacher, astronaut, football player, or actor.  Some might even say lawyer or doctor.  But how many say marine biologist?  Well, I’m not sure of the percentage, but I would venture to guess not a whole lot.  And out of those that say marine biologist as a kid, how many actually choose that as a career?  As one of those kids that said marine biologist, and actually chose that as a career, I can’t tell you how excited I was to become a part of the Guam long-term coral reef monitoring program!  

As a kid growing up in Wisconsin, I never really understood exactly what a marine biologist did because, well, I didn’t live near an ocean.  When I finally experienced coral reefs up close and personal, I was enamored and my career path was set in stone!  Choosing marine biology as an undergraduate, I was immersed in classes ranging in topic from marine mammals to chemical oceanography.  But when I started learning about coral-algal symbiosis I decided that corals were my bread and butter.  As my senior year was winding down, I decided to participate in an internship at Mote Marine Laboratory.  This took me to Sarasota, FL to study coral disease. Little did I know this would lead me to move across the world to Guam!