(Sorry this post was supposed to go out last week, but I got sidetracked with Thanksgiving planning and job applications. I am going to try to get out at least one post/week in the future. Thanks for reading!)
Hey interwebers. Today we revisit the continuing adventures of Duncan, Marine Biologist extraordinaire. We left our somewhat lazy hero after I had graduated from Monroe Community College with my Associates degree in Liberal Arts and Sciences with a focus in biology. I had decided to pursue a career in marine biology because who doesn't love animals and water? Coastal Carolina University caught my eye, even though it is virtually unknown to anybody who isn't interested in marine science on the east coast, because it was at the time the third best marine science school in the United States. I moved down to SC in August, 2011 to start school. While I enjoyed my time at Coastal for the most part there were some annoyances; in particular was the fact that my major was in marine SCIENCE not BIOLOGY. This meant that while I was really only interested in ecology and zoology of marine creatures I was forced to learn about marine chemistry, geology and physics. These weren't that bad in and of themselves, but I would definitely have preferred to focus more on certain aspects of marine biology. However I did still get the opportunity to take some fun and interesting courses. My favorite class, and one of the best experiences of my life was when I got to visit Costa Rica to work with sea turtles. In order to complete my Bachelor's degree I needed to earn credits interning somewhere. In May 2012 I spent two weeks at the Pacuare Nature Reserve just north of Limon in Costa Rica. While interning there my classmates and I assisted the research team in nightly beach patrols in order to find and document nesting sea turtles. The patrols consisted of a group of us walking up and down the 7 km stretch of beach on the Caribbean coast, looking for signs of nesting turtles. When we found a turtle we would hunker down and approach from behind so as not to startle the animal. Once the turtle began to lay her eggs we would collect physiological data and record/tag the animal for future reference. When the turtle was finished and was heading back to the water, or if we found a nest that had already been laid we would determine whether it was necessary to relocate the nest. This was done if the nest was laid to close to either the surf or the vegetation, both of which are very dangerous for the eggs and hatchling turtles. If the nest location was fine then we camouflaged the nest and haul out track in order to hide the eggs from poachers. While not on patrol I worked as part of a small research team of fellow students. We performed a small project to examine nest site selection in terms of beach profiles, sand gradient, beach width, etc. I also assisted another research group that was investigating hatchling orientation by observing how they reacted to different light wavelengths.
I graduated from Coastal Carolina in May, 2013 with a GPA of 3.85/4.00 which qualified me as Magna Cum Laude. The summer after graduation I flew to New Quay in Wales to intern with the Sea Watch Foundation. The Sea Watch Foundation is a NGO in the UK focused on the conservation of cetaceans and other marine mammals around the UK and Ireland. As part of my internship there I participated in numerous land and vessel based marine mammal surveys throughout Cardigan Bay, Wales. These surveys were amazing as it was the first time I got to actually see dolphins and seals and porpoises up close. It was also great to gain experience in practical conservation work over a longer time period. I had a taste of it in Costa Rica, but the summer I spent in Wales really helped to stoke my passion for marine conservation work.On top of the experience gained I also met a ton of fantastic people who're also interested in and passionate about marine biology and conservation. Finally, my time in Wales helped to confirm in my mind my decision to pursue my masters degree in the UK. Following my internship and subsequent travels around Great Britain (I had thus-far managed to visit three of the four nations that make up the UK, all but Northern Ireland) I returned home to upstate NY for a year to save money and apply to masters programs. I applied to five universities in the UK (after considering several in the US and Australia/NZ), St. Andrews, Durham, Portsmouth, Exeter, and Plymouth. I was lucky enough to be accepted to all of them and so my final decision was based mainly upon funding. In the end I accepted a position in the Marine Science MSc program at the University of Plymouth to start in September of 2014.
Join us next time for the exciting final entry in Duncan's adventures in marine biology! Also at some point in the future I may be appearing in a podcast created by my friend Amir Fogel. Not sure what the name of this podcast is yet, or when it will start airing, but I will let you know when I get them. Thanks to anyone reading this :p
