mr.clownfish
Active Member
im curios what kind of work do they do?
cause i might be one. is it hard? fun? i love the subject..
cause i might be one. is it hard? fun? i love the subject..
are there any marine biologists on saltwaterfish.com?
- Thread starter mr.clownfish
- Start date
95harley
Active Member
I dreamed of being one as well, but afraid you have to love the work cause you don't get paid much for it.
Decided to become an engineer instead so I could afford to have a few tanks to make Marine Biology my hobby rather than career.
But lucky dogs who get to go out and snorkle, collect, and learn every day and get paid for it.
Decided to become an engineer instead so I could afford to have a few tanks to make Marine Biology my hobby rather than career.
But lucky dogs who get to go out and snorkle, collect, and learn every day and get paid for it.
happitylogan
Member
I'm a marine biologist major. I cant wait till I can get a job doing what I love. I think it will be worth it in the long run. I had no saltwater expierience when I declared my major, but now I'm hooked, and already have two tanks, I cant see myself doing anything else regardless of the pay
stanlalee
Active Member
one of my best friends is a marine biologist. was a marine biology major undergraduate and went on to graduate school at VIMS (virginia istitutute of marine science, a division of william and mary) and recently completed his doctorate.
I kind of wanted to do it but that thing about NOT liking to be in or around the ocean kind of limits ones aspirations. these guys are waste deep in the york river and boating around in ruffian water all the time. Hell no! in under grad he managed to actually sink a school boat (not his fault so he says).
As for jobs after undergraduate he was some kind of inspector that went out to sea on fishing boats for weeks/months at a time stuck in all kinds of thunderstorms and ruffian sea's to monitor the catches/sizes and that sort of thing. hell no! he did come back with all sorts of free expensive fish and crustascean meat but hell no all the same. at grad school at first he got a grant to do sea turtle research off the virgin islands and after all the time and money I asked what he found out and he said "when they migrate thru there they feed off the coral polyps"
. appearently nobody knew and this is important to somebody
.Ever since then I have NO idea what he does. all I know is for the last several years before graduating he was ALWAYS at "the lab" at VIMS. appearently what ever he was doing/does pays since he's gotten a F150, boat and motorcycle since.
and for all that what does he want to do. go back to the virgin islands where he's from and run for political office
go figure.
If theres one thing I do know is being a marine biologist doesn't mean you know JACK about home/hobby aquaria. He and many of them dont know JACK about good filtration systems, lighting or the ability to build a nice tank in general to save their life. I cant go to him for ANY advice on hobby fish, corals or equipment. If I want to know anything about local fish: whats there, when they're there, where to find them, what they do and when they do it he's the man. anything about ornamental fish he is definately NOT the man.
I kind of wanted to do it but that thing about NOT liking to be in or around the ocean kind of limits ones aspirations. these guys are waste deep in the york river and boating around in ruffian water all the time. Hell no! in under grad he managed to actually sink a school boat (not his fault so he says).
As for jobs after undergraduate he was some kind of inspector that went out to sea on fishing boats for weeks/months at a time stuck in all kinds of thunderstorms and ruffian sea's to monitor the catches/sizes and that sort of thing. hell no! he did come back with all sorts of free expensive fish and crustascean meat but hell no all the same. at grad school at first he got a grant to do sea turtle research off the virgin islands and after all the time and money I asked what he found out and he said "when they migrate thru there they feed off the coral polyps"
and for all that what does he want to do. go back to the virgin islands where he's from and run for political office
If theres one thing I do know is being a marine biologist doesn't mean you know JACK about home/hobby aquaria. He and many of them dont know JACK about good filtration systems, lighting or the ability to build a nice tank in general to save their life. I cant go to him for ANY advice on hobby fish, corals or equipment. If I want to know anything about local fish: whats there, when they're there, where to find them, what they do and when they do it he's the man. anything about ornamental fish he is definately NOT the man.
oceansidefish
Active Member
I can gaurantee you that the people catching fish are definately not marine biologists. More like poor fishers in villages in the south pacific. One of the big faults of what we do actually. It's really more like slave labor on a dingy, than a glamorous diving experience.
florida joe
Well-Known Member
Temper your glamour life style with a lot of good old fashion bookwork in the very boring confines of the library and lab Fiji will have to wait
not that I would know now mind you
not that I would know now mind you
oceansidefish
Active Member
Yes yes. My marine bio classes were hellatiously boring minus the labs. Memorizing genus and species of various local fishes. Studying ocean currents and such. Not as much fun as it sounds. It's really what made me switch to environmental science.... Or as my aunt calls it, the how to grow pot major.
harlequin
Member
Hmm This was a career path i looked into and got my minor in it college. I still might go back and take some further classes just out of sheer interest but as for a career, umm I already was a poor starving student, dont need to be a poor starving biologist. Not saying some jobs might not pay decent but those are few and far between. Your better off IMHO getting a regular biology degree and specializing yourself towards marine biology that way you have a few more options. Alot of people think if they get it they can go work at sea world. I am here in orlando and I know two people who work at Petcos in the fish section who thought that too and each have marine bio degrees. If you want to go that route, go for a Psych or dual psych/mbio degree.
One of my best friends is a contract boat/ship(I dont know where the line is drawn) captain who does alot of work for NOAH and university research facilities. He gets to know alot of the researchers and has told me quite a bit. Basically in his opinion the fun in the field is having just a marine biology degree. He believes the higher level of degree may mean more money but it also means more lab and less field work. You also have to be in good shape in that area of the field anyway with all the swimming and diving you have to do(They spent months 20 miles offshore doing an archeological dig in 60 feet of water on an indian camp at an unspecified reef).
One of my best friends is a contract boat/ship(I dont know where the line is drawn) captain who does alot of work for NOAH and university research facilities. He gets to know alot of the researchers and has told me quite a bit. Basically in his opinion the fun in the field is having just a marine biology degree. He believes the higher level of degree may mean more money but it also means more lab and less field work. You also have to be in good shape in that area of the field anyway with all the swimming and diving you have to do(They spent months 20 miles offshore doing an archeological dig in 60 feet of water on an indian camp at an unspecified reef).
saka bra
Member
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/2892596
It's really what made me switch to environmental science.... Or as my aunt calls it, the how to grow pot major.
U
usirchchris
Guest
Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/2892596
Or as my aunt calls it, the how to grow pot major.
That's FUNNY
.
http:///forum/post/2892596
Or as my aunt calls it, the how to grow pot major.
oceansidefish
Active Member
My aunt is the managing attourney for a law firm that defends the Sheriffs dept. when they get sued for tackling a-hole crooks running away from them.
That is whats funny.
ophiura
Active Member
You have to realize that it is not all swimming around on coral reefs.
That is simply not what marine biologists do 99% of the time.
Most of the time they are competing for grants. Grants they need in order to do their work and live. And there are loads of other marine biologists, nearly all with PhDs doing the same thing, for a very limited amount of money. They are not necessarily researching what they love, they are researching what will give them the next grant, at least until they are very well established. As that grant starts to run low, panic sets in for many. The grant may also fund their students or postdocs as well.
And then there is the writing of papers...paper after paper, because that will impact your grants. It is not just writing the papers, it is getting them reviewed, and jumping through every hurdle to do that, while the people who are reviewing you may well be in competition for some of the same funds.
You go to conferences, give talks...maybe if you are lucky you have a teaching job somewhere. Then you get to worry about tenure, and that also ties back to grants and papers. Maybe if you are lucky you have a field season for a few months of the year, and travel, on your grant money.
It is worth it if you love it, like anything else. You will never be rich, you may very well take a long long time to even get out of debt from graduate school - and you pretty much will need graduate school, at least a Master's. There are marine biologists with PhD's who are unemployed and competing with you.
This helps explain the remarkable number of times on these boards where people, talking about their LFS guy, can say "my LFS guy is a marine biologist and he says..."
But it may still be worth it if you are honest with the reality.
In your doctoral work, which means several more years living on ramen noodles, you get to jump through every hoop that your advisors see fit...along with the grant writing and papers. You get to meet the other students who you will be in competition with, or marvel at the other scientists, long established, who feel you must be kept in your place from the start. I've seen some ugly conference presentations.
You had better love it and you had better be realistic and not expect to have a lot of money or illusions of months spent on a reef. This is the same as the "dolphin" scenario that drives people into marine biology too.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it...but I was a realist as well. I loved it while I had the opportunity to study. Then I had to pay bills.
Marine biology, IMO, has relatively little to do with keeping tanks (many public aquaria people cringe at hiring marine biologists as many have a big attitude - I know, I had to convince them I wasn't like that). Yes, you do need to be able to understand taxonomy, chemistry, even physics to be well rounded as a marine biologist. The more well rounded you are, the better your odds of success.
Note the past tense I've used. I had to pay the bills, and I wanted a decent family life with some nice things....nothing flashy, but nice things. I still owe loads of money for the opportunity to go to grad school. It was fun, I enjoyed parts of it. But it is far more than a nice day at the beach.
I do not generally recommend, BTW, an undergrad major in marine biology. I would do a general biology - with exposure to a lot of different branches of biology. This will both give you a better foundation and also make you potentially more usable as faculty (you may be able to teach more than just marine bio). Don't skimp on math, chem, etc.
So now I work managing people who work in data management. Quite a few taxonomists, actually, end up in data management. I still have my ties to that world...the former fellow grad students desperate for their next hope at a postdoc or interview or grant, month after month. It is not for the faint of heart.
Now some closely related fields, like fisheries biology or aquaculture may be better choices....
As an aside, marine biologists, in my experience, don't always have the best opinion of this hobby in many cases. It might be off base, but it is not necessarily the best opinion. They may collect fish for themselves to study (often dead)...but not for the hobby. Many collectors in this hobby are local people.
That is simply not what marine biologists do 99% of the time.
Most of the time they are competing for grants. Grants they need in order to do their work and live. And there are loads of other marine biologists, nearly all with PhDs doing the same thing, for a very limited amount of money. They are not necessarily researching what they love, they are researching what will give them the next grant, at least until they are very well established. As that grant starts to run low, panic sets in for many. The grant may also fund their students or postdocs as well.
And then there is the writing of papers...paper after paper, because that will impact your grants. It is not just writing the papers, it is getting them reviewed, and jumping through every hurdle to do that, while the people who are reviewing you may well be in competition for some of the same funds.
You go to conferences, give talks...maybe if you are lucky you have a teaching job somewhere. Then you get to worry about tenure, and that also ties back to grants and papers. Maybe if you are lucky you have a field season for a few months of the year, and travel, on your grant money.
It is worth it if you love it, like anything else. You will never be rich, you may very well take a long long time to even get out of debt from graduate school - and you pretty much will need graduate school, at least a Master's. There are marine biologists with PhD's who are unemployed and competing with you.
This helps explain the remarkable number of times on these boards where people, talking about their LFS guy, can say "my LFS guy is a marine biologist and he says..."
But it may still be worth it if you are honest with the reality.
In your doctoral work, which means several more years living on ramen noodles, you get to jump through every hoop that your advisors see fit...along with the grant writing and papers. You get to meet the other students who you will be in competition with, or marvel at the other scientists, long established, who feel you must be kept in your place from the start. I've seen some ugly conference presentations.
You had better love it and you had better be realistic and not expect to have a lot of money or illusions of months spent on a reef. This is the same as the "dolphin" scenario that drives people into marine biology too.
Don't get me wrong, I loved it...but I was a realist as well. I loved it while I had the opportunity to study. Then I had to pay bills.
Marine biology, IMO, has relatively little to do with keeping tanks (many public aquaria people cringe at hiring marine biologists as many have a big attitude - I know, I had to convince them I wasn't like that). Yes, you do need to be able to understand taxonomy, chemistry, even physics to be well rounded as a marine biologist. The more well rounded you are, the better your odds of success.
Note the past tense I've used. I had to pay the bills, and I wanted a decent family life with some nice things....nothing flashy, but nice things. I still owe loads of money for the opportunity to go to grad school. It was fun, I enjoyed parts of it. But it is far more than a nice day at the beach.
I do not generally recommend, BTW, an undergrad major in marine biology. I would do a general biology - with exposure to a lot of different branches of biology. This will both give you a better foundation and also make you potentially more usable as faculty (you may be able to teach more than just marine bio). Don't skimp on math, chem, etc.
So now I work managing people who work in data management. Quite a few taxonomists, actually, end up in data management. I still have my ties to that world...the former fellow grad students desperate for their next hope at a postdoc or interview or grant, month after month. It is not for the faint of heart.
Now some closely related fields, like fisheries biology or aquaculture may be better choices....
As an aside, marine biologists, in my experience, don't always have the best opinion of this hobby in many cases. It might be off base, but it is not necessarily the best opinion. They may collect fish for themselves to study (often dead)...but not for the hobby. Many collectors in this hobby are local people.