My daughter made me do it (in San Diego)

[Bartrinsic]

I'm a crusty surfer, from Baja to San Francisco, and an avid Maui snorkeler, but I never had plans to dive. My 13 year old is determined to pursue marine biology--not an uncommon story, as we already met another young aspiring biologist on our first post-cert group dive at Mala Pier in Maui. Photos from 5 Caves Maui:


Our first cold water dives are coming up soon and we're kitting out for those now. Generally, I'd be curious how many others came to diving as facilitators and sponsors of younger family members. Specifically, I'd welcome any suggestions on how to support a young person's educational aspirations locally in SoCal. More specifically, if you're in a similar situation here in SoCal, maybe ping me.
Cheers,
Bartrinsic

PS: we play bass and drums/keys. If you need an après dive rhythm section, we are available.

 

[johndiver999]

Marine biology is a very tough field to make a living at and she will most likely need a phd. Very competitive and low pay, but it is a wonderful thing to pursue.

Take her diving, explain how important biology and chemistry will be to study. Encourage her to keep a dive log that includes the scientific name of as many species that she has observed as possible for every dive. If she thinks that is boring and tedious, you might explain that a good bit of science, is exactly that. You are very fortunate that you and your daughter have found an activity that you can share.

 

[Rick Brant]

I'm not a marine scientist but I work with a few of them. What johndiver999 says is what I have observed as well. UCSD and UH both have great programs and sound kind of local to you. I would probably go for UH just because it is easier to get in the water there and they have a lot more wildlife. BTW many marine scientists do not dive -- that was a big surprise to me.

 

[drrich2]

I think a lot of us have run across a number of kids who are interested in marine biology, but not so many marine biologists, which can lead to a bit of (justified) cynicism. On the other hand, the truth is a bit more nuanced.

Marine biology isn't just a 'job' a tiny minority of people get.

It's also a hobby interest (e.g.: keeping a reef tank, scuba diving, free diving, fishing). It can be a sub discipline in a broader vocation (e.g.: a PhD level biologist teaching at a university, who enjoys marine biology), or someone working in a field with environmental science. The interest in the life sciences can also branch off into the medical or veterinary fields.

It stands to reason most avid computer users aren't I.T. professionals and don't have a computer science degree.

My point is, it would be a false dichotomy to view the issue as one where a tiny few 'succeed' in achieving marine biology as a full-time vacation, and the big majority 'fail' because they make a living doing something else.

There's a lot your kid can learn about marine wildlife, plant life, microbes, chemistry and biochemistry, ecology (e.g.: effects of climate change and ocean acidification), politics and industrial concerns (e.g.: conflict between fishing interests and establishing, maintaining and expanding marine parks), and a broad dive into the biological sciences.

 

[azstinger11]

I would look into reef check. They are citizen scientists that do reef surveys and will teach you a lot about the local environment and what’s in it. The courses are free, and if you participate in a reef check dive the boats are usually pretty cheap (you are expected to do a reef survey during the dive of course). Power scuba (meetup.com) facilitates some of the training (getting to know your local…..), usually a weekday evening at OE. I know Birch aquarium at UCSD has some more young adult focused programs as well.

 

[Pressurehead]

Marine biology is a very tough field to make a living at and she will most likely need a phd.

I taught a brother and sister OW and AOW 20 years ago, now both have a PHD in marine biology.
Both smart, he was a house painter and she was in the last year of high school, found a love of the marine life though diving, and the rest is history.
Both now teach at university, one in Australia, the other in South America.
Me, I never made it past grade 10, But I feel proud of them both as a scuba instructor [still in contact with them, he speaks Spanish now]
Such fun.

My 13 year old is determined to pursue marine biology

I say " go for it girl ", live your dream.

 

[rdwarrior1]

I have returned to this great hobby as a result of my children wanting to get involved. Our youngest has shared with me that he would like to be a Marine Biologist, we have not looked into it seriously yet, not sure there is much of that in Michigan. Diving with my boys is something that I really enjoy.

 

[Prox]

Welcome. I’ve always wondered, how cold is the water REEEALLLY in SD for surfing/diving?

 

[SKS22]

My wife is an Oceanographer. Teaches at UCSD. Not a Marine Biologist, but pretty close and has many colleagues in that field. Can confirm that Rick and John, above, are correct. Hard to make a living. She makes a good one, but for the first 15 years of our marriage she didn't make much. She had to work very hard for very little for a long time before finally getting decent pay. Though she is doing well now, she is way behind on accumulating a nest egg. We'll probably never have a fully furnished modern home, though given housing prices I suppose that could be said about many people. She did the NOAA Scientific diving program when she got her phd, which was a very cool course, but never dove for work afterwards and the cert lapsed (it requires 12 dives a year which she did not have time to do).

 

[kuribo]

Marine biologist here. And I graduated from SDSU. Just want to share some things I learned that might help you guys out.

First, marine biology is a pretty large field so there are many different directions one can go: education, research, environmental consulting, aquaculture, and many others. When I attended SDSU, there was no actual degree in marine biology. Instead I got a degree in biology while taking as many marine related classes as I could. I'd say that actual most marine biologists don't have a bachelors in marine biology but have a degree in biology or other closely related science field. As far as education, most jobs expect one to have a good grasp on biology, chemistry, and statistics. Recently programming skills (R, Python) are showing up on a lot of job listings, and programming skills could be applied to many other jobs as well.

I think the best advice I got was to volunteer as much as possible while attending college. I found that graduate students actively seek undergraduates to help with their work. I helped a few different people which lead to a part-time job at the university, and joining an international experimental network that lead to scholarships and the networking that landed me my current job. Volunteering is good for networking and getting hands on experience. You can see what you are good at, and what you like and dislike (quitting to find something else is not that big of deal). Even before going to college, if there are volunteering opportunities, it is a good way to be a step ahead of everyone else.

Since this is a diving site, AAUS is the organization where you can get scientific diver certified. I got it as an undergrade at SDSU, which was required to dive for anyone at the university. I'm not sure if that is available to anyone, but you can look into that if she wants to include diving with her work.

There are some podcasts about marine biology also, unfortunately most of them don't seem to run for a long time. A good one to check out that has interviews with marine biologists and gives advice is "So you want to be a marine biologist"