My interest in wildlife ecology and conservation began when I was child, but my journey to this point has been somewhat different from that of many other biologists.
The short story: I was a figure skater and an engineer before becoming a wildlife ecologist. The longer story is below.
The short story: I was a figure skater and an engineer before becoming a wildlife ecologist. The longer story is below.
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My interests
My History |
As an ecologist, I am interested in animal movement ecology, population dynamics, predator-prey dynamics, and landscape ecology. While I enjoy research on the above topics with just about any study species, I find carnivore research particularly fascinating.
Outside of my scientific pursuits, I enjoy wildlife photography, birding, hiking, camping, scuba diving, kayaking/canoeing, and pretty much anything outside. My two dogs keep me busy too. I grew up in Florida, but as a competitive figure skater, I spent most of my time inside cold ice rinks. School was also very important to me as a child. When I was not training, I was doing homework or studying. I dreamed of camping and hiking, of seeing wild bears and bison and every other kind of animal that I knew about. I had books, and calendars, and t-shirts about saving endangered animals and conservation. But, growing up in the ever-growing suburbs and with my already busy schedule, my wildlife encounters were mostly limited to my backyard where I observed the behavior of smaller, common animals such as brown anoles, cardinals, and the occasional black racer. On lucky days, my dad would take me out on an adventure to what was at that time an unfinished neighborhood that bordered the woods near the ice rink, at the edge of one of the remaining fronts of the urban sprawl. We would drive through the unfinished neighborhood slowly, looking for animals. Sometimes, we would stop and walk through the woods or even fish at one of the ponds. On a few occasions, I got to a see a deer, and one time I caught a glimpse of a bobcat running into the woods. (Today, a small preserve of forest remains in that area, but it is completely surrounded by single family upper middle class homes, shopping centers, businesses, and roads.) I cherished those adventures and the time watching the animals in my backyard, but I never knew that I could have a career studying and conserving wildlife. I was too busy skating and studying the typical school subjects.
In school, enjoyed math and physics and so when I entered college, I majored in mechanical engineering with the hopes of working in aerospace or aeronautics. However, in my junior year of college, I realized that engineering was not for me. I finished my degree knowing that I'd be returning to school one day when I found my true passion. I graduated from college and began working at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) as an engineer for the Space Shuttle program. Although the launches and the equipment and buildings were wonderful, the thing that I enjoyed most about working at KSC was that it was on a wildlife refuge. I spent my lunch breaks out photographing animals, and had the opportunity to watch a pair of eagles return to the same nest each year and raise new babies. I witnessed the rescue of a melon-headed whale that had washed up on a KSC beach and learned how to call to alligators. As fate would have it, the wife of one of my co-workers was a biologist at KSC. Before this, I had never thought that work in wildlife research and management could be a career option for me. She became my mentor and I volunteered on her green sea turtle research. I also took the opportunity to volunteer at Canaveral National Seashore and a small, non-profit eco-education organization. As fate would have it, the retirement of the Space Shuttle caused mass lay offs at KSC and I was one of those casualties. But, it provided me with the perfect opportunity to return to school; this time knowing that I truly would love my field of study. |