Marine Biology Jobs Dead?

[tursiops]

Dude's going to be a PhD coral biologist, and live in a trailer. What could possibly go wrong with that?

You've got a good point. I didn't think about it that way....

 

[dberry]

Mason22, your goals sound fantastic, and your enthusiasm is great. IMO the world needs more people with a solid background in science, regardless of whether they end up in jobs in science or engineering. The fact that you seem to be passionate about marine biology and conservation is even better. That passion will help motivate you through the very very long haul ahead.

And while you may not want to major in chemistry or physics, take those classes in HS and at university, and get everything you can from them. All fields of science are increasingly interdisciplinary, and Marine Biology is probably more so than most. Having extra "tools in the tool box" won't only make you a better applicant for a primo PhD program with full fellowship funding, it will also make you a better Marine Biologist. One who can analyze and solve problems in new and different ways.

And guess what? Even if you change your mind about a PhD and the whole marine biology thing, you'll have a broad enough skill set and discipline to follow a huge variety of career paths.

A good education should be about both critical thinking skills and mastering "content". It's fine to feel sorry for college grads burdened with huge loans, but I know far too many who wasted the four-years they spent generating that debt. For example, by taking a minimal load of "gut" classes so studying wouldn't cut into their partying or social lives.

Oh, while there's nothing wrong with living in a trailer, you may or may not change your mind if you ever start having kids of your own someday.

I travel all over the Caribbean providing a work platform to perform other peoples research. Next week may be 250 foot rebreather dive to support benthic characterization of one of the most productive fisheries in the Gulf of Mexico, the following week it may be studying shark populations in the Bahamas. This fall we are bidding a month long fish and benthic survey of Curacou and Montserrat.

Wookie, I want your job. Any need for a fat and greying crew member in his 50's?

 

[Mason22]

I don't feel good about this thread. The young man appears to be a victim of confirmation bias: he responds positively to the input that confirms his nascent view of the world, and ignores the other input. This is not usually a winning strategy, but good luck to him.

I don't understand what you mean? I know that marine biology isn't about swimming with dolphins and living in mansions. Please explain.

---------- Post added March 9th, 2015 at 01:54 PM ----------

Mason22, your goals sound fantastic, and your enthusiasm is great. IMO the world needs more people with a solid background in science, regardless of whether they end up in jobs in science or engineering. The fact that you seem to be passionate about marine biology and conservation is even better. That passion will help motivate you through the very very long haul ahead.

And while you may not want to major in chemistry or physics, take those classes in HS and at university, and get everything you can from them. All fields of science are increasingly interdisciplinary, and Marine Biology is probably more so than most. Having extra "tools in the tool box" won't only make you a better applicant for a primo PhD program with full fellowship funding, it will also make you a better Marine Biologist. One who can analyze and solve problems in new and different ways.

And guess what? Even if you change your mind about a PhD and the whole marine biology thing, you'll have a broad enough skill set and discipline to follow a huge variety of career paths.

A good education should be about both critical thinking skills and mastering "content". It's fine to feel sorry for college grads burdened with huge loans, but I know far too many who wasted the four-years they spent generating that debt. For example, by taking a minimal load of "gut" classes so studying wouldn't cut into their partying or social lives.

Oh, while there's nothing wrong with living in a trailer, you may or may not change your mind if you ever start having kids of your own someday.


Wookie, I want your job. Any need for a fat and greying crew member in his 50's?

From what I have heard, marine biologist don't usually have any s*x life, so a 1 bed 1.5 bath will do, haha. I will DEFINATELY be taking all the mathematics and science classes in high school, but I would rather have a different degree under my resume then physics.

 

[Wookie]

Wookie, I want your job. Any need for a fat and greying crew member in his 50's?

I think I have that position filled.

 

[Steve_C]

I don't feel good about this thread. The young man appears to be a victim of confirmation bias: he responds positively to the input that confirms his nascent view of the world, and ignores the other input. This is not usually a winning strategy, but good luck to him.

You could be right. Or it could be, hard as it is to believe in today's tweet every twitch world, they hear but do not need to respond to all comments.

If you got a dream go for it. I have heard many an older person say "I wish I would have tried, I wonder if ....". I hear very few say "I tried, it did not work, wish I had never tried." Getting rid of a "what if" is always a good thing. Kind of sad to give up your dreams at 14. Good to know that they are a challenge and will require hard work.

As a marine scientist, you know that research is an unpredictable path. One thing leads to another. Suddenly chemistry is interesting because it is needed to explain what is happening to one type of coral, but not another.

In my own case there were some types of math I did not like in school but later when solving a problem I cared about it was suddenly relevant and I found it interesting and even made some contributions to the area.

 

[Akimbo]

I don't feel good about this thread. The young man appears to be a victim of confirmation bias...

Yeah, that’s pretty much what teenagers do… for good and bad. The reality is that view will likely change once he falls in love and she says I’m not living on a beach in a trailer to raise our family.

 

[Wookie]

Yeah, that’s pretty much what teenagers do… for good and bad. The reality is that view will likely change once he falls in love and she says I’m not living on a beach in a trailer to raise our family.

He's 13. Girls are icky, and irrelevant.

 

[Akimbo]

He's 13. Girls are icky, and irrelevant.

This year maybe. People might not change but teenagers do.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

He's 13. Girls are icky, and irrelevant.

Well I don't know about you, but they sure weren't icky and irrelevant when I was 13!

 

[Mason22]

I'm not asexual. And its not gonna be a junky trailer, maybe a small house. But the whole point is that I don't care about owning a mansion, I might own a small home but that doesn't mean it can't have nice things inside of it like a 500 gallon saltwater fish tank, or a 60" flatscreen, or nice quartz countertops. Yes, I am interested in having a wife but I am not interested in any kids, maybe one but probably zero. I don't know what "fantasy" you think I have in mind. I know what the job is, and spending unpaid overtime dissecting the stomach of an octopus doesn't bother me. Don't get me wrong, a few people on here are giving me great information and are encouraging me. But, to all the doubters on this thread, your words is doing nothing but encouraging me as well. Either way, you are on my side.