For me, passion is not just a powerful drive to do something; it is the excitement of doing an activity even on the worst day in the most trying of conditions both physically and mentally. This is why I find myself standing at a local creek, huge gusts of wind blowing freezing rain into my face, hands shaking under multiple pairs of gloves as I excitedly document a harbor seal that just caught a chum salmon and is tearing it apart at the surface while dodging hungry seagulls. I have always had a great interest in biology, and marine biology in particular. In a high school biology class, we learned about evolution and the transition of animals out of the seas. I thought it was striking that marine mammals were the only ones who returned to the oceans. From there I desired to learn more about marine mammals and their role in the ecosystem. That year I also had the chance to go SCUBA diving for the first time. It was an incredible and life-changing experience; I felt like I was on another planet. That is when I decided to …show more content…
in marine biology. I am interested in working with marine mammals, with an emphasis on pinnipeds. I hope to go to work either for a government agency or private company as a researcher and eventually transition into marine policy. My interests include the ecology and conservation of marine mammals. I believe it is important to look at the ecosystem as a whole when doing ecological studies. I am specifically interested in studying the interactions between pinnipeds and man, in particular when it comes to competition and bycatch with fisheries. I am also interested in taking an integrated approach to my research, by working with faculty in different departments as well as using a variety of both field and analysis methods to develop the best understanding of these interactions. I hope to combine acoustics, data modeling, fisheries biology, and community ecology to investigate my research