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Shark Communication: Graduate Studies, Sharks Science, and TikTok with Kenzie Horton · How To Protect The Ocean

• 1:00:00
  Marine Biology is
• 1:00:01
  one of those
• 1:00:02
  careers where you
• 1:00:03
  are driven by
• 1:00:04
  passion. And on
• 1:00:05
  today's episode
• 1:00:05
  of the How to
• 1:00:06
  Protect the Ocean
• 1:00:06
  podcast, I'm
• 1:00:07
  going to be
• 1:00:08
  talking to marine
• 1:00:09
  biologist Kenzie
• 1:00:10
  Horton, who is
• 1:00:11
  here to talk
• 1:00:12
  about her drive
• 1:00:13
  and her passion
• 1:00:14
  and how it's
• 1:00:15
  become a huge
• 1:00:16
  part of her life
• 1:00:17
  and
• 1:00:17
  demonstrates it
• 1:00:18
  in her career as
• 1:00:19
  a marine
• 1:00:20
  biologist. She
• 1:00:21
  works for the
• 1:00:22
  state government
• 1:00:22
  in Florida. She
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  is doing a
• 1:00:24
  master's
• 1:00:25
  at the same
• 1:00:25
  time on white
• 1:00:26
  sharks. She is
• 1:00:28
  doing science
• 1:00:28
  communication on
• 1:00:29
  TikTok to talk
• 1:00:30
  about everything
• 1:00:31
  surrounding marine
• 1:00:32
  biology and
• 1:00:33
  busting up those
• 1:00:33
  myths and giving
• 1:00:34
  you advice
• 1:00:35
  of what to
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  wear and what not
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  to wear while
• 1:00:37
  you're swimming
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  in the ocean.
• 1:00:38
  I do not wear a
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  sequined bikini
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  because
• 1:00:41
  apparently
• 1:00:41
  that may or
• 1:00:42
  may not have been
• 1:00:43
  a thing. But she
• 1:00:44
  talks about a lot
• 1:00:44
  of stuff
• 1:00:44
  on today's
• 1:00:45
  episode and we're
• 1:00:46
  gonna find out by
• 1:00:47
  starting the
• 1:00:47
  show. Hey,
• 1:00:50
  everybody,
• 1:00:51
  welcome back to
• 1:00:51
  another
• 1:00:51
  exciting episode
• 1:00:52
  of the How to
• 1:00:52
  Protect the Ocean
• 1:00:53
  podcast. I am
• 1:00:54
  your host Andrew
• 1:00:54
  Lewin. And this
• 1:00:55
  is the podcast
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  where you find
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  out what's
• 1:00:56
  happening with
• 1:00:57
  the ocean, how
• 1:00:57
  you can speak up
• 1:00:58
  for the ocean,
• 1:00:58
  what you can do
• 1:00:59
  to live for a
• 1:01:00
  better ocean by
• 1:01:01
  taking action.
• 1:01:03
  I've got a very
• 1:01:03
  special guest
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  today, Kenzie
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  Horton, who is a
• 1:01:06
  marine biologist.
• 1:01:07
  I feel like
• 1:01:07
  she's, you know,
• 1:01:08
  she's been in the
• 1:01:09
  career for a
• 1:01:09
  while. She's been
• 1:01:10
  in the field for
• 1:01:11
  a while. And
• 1:01:12
  she's here to
• 1:01:12
  talk about her
• 1:01:13
  experience of how
• 1:01:14
  she got a job
• 1:01:15
  coming out of
• 1:01:16
  universities, the
• 1:01:16
  struggles that
• 1:01:17
  she had. But
• 1:01:18
  she's also here
• 1:01:18
  to talk about the
• 1:01:19
  passion that she
• 1:01:20
  has for marine
• 1:01:21
  biology, how she
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  likes to educate
• 1:01:22
  people through
• 1:01:23
  science
• 1:01:23
  communication,
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  how she's doing a
• 1:01:25
  master's and she
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  wants to pursue
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  academia, which
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  she don't see a lot of people.
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  A lot of people
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  doing these days,
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  but doing a PhD,
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  becoming
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  professor
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  teaching,
• 1:01:33
  becoming an
• 1:01:34
  educator, it's
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  all here. You
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  have everything
• 1:01:36
  you need in, you
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  know, what to
• 1:01:38
  know about a
• 1:01:39
  marine biologist.
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  Kenzie is that
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  formula and it is
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  fun to learn her
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  story, even
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  stretching from
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  her inspiration
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  of her
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  grandfather and
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  his legacy and
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  how that's come
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  out in her
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  passion for
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  marine biology.
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  It is a great
• 1:01:53
  episode. I can't
• 1:01:54
  wait for you to
• 1:01:55
  see the
• 1:01:55
  interview. So
• 1:01:55
  here's the
• 1:01:56
  interview with
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  Kenzie Horton
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  talking about her
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  career in marine
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  biology.
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  She's a great person to talk about science
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  communication and
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  doing a master's.
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  She is amazing.
• 1:02:02
  You're going to
• 1:02:03
  love the
• 1:02:03
  interview. Enjoy
• 1:02:04
  and I will talk
• 1:02:05
  to you after.
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  Hey, Kenzie.
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  Welcome to the
• 1:02:07
  how to protect
• 1:02:07
  the ocean
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  podcast. Are you
• 1:02:09
  ready to talk
• 1:02:09
  about the ocean?
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  Yes, I'm really
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  excited. Thank
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  you for having
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  me. No problem. I
• 1:02:14
  am very excited
• 1:02:15
  as well. I've
• 1:02:16
  been you've been
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  on the bucket
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  list for the
• 1:02:18
  podcast for quite
• 1:02:18
  some time since I
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  discovered you on
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  TikTok in your
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  videos. It's been a real treat to get to know you through through TikTok. But now we're really going to get to know each other through this through this podcast. And I'm very, very excited. Thank you for having me.
• 1:02:28
  I'm very excited
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  because I get I
• 1:02:29
  want the audience
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  to know who you
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  are as well.
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  Hopefully they'll
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  follow you on on
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  TikTok as well.
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  And we get to see
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  what you're doing
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  on those videos
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  talking about
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  sharks talking
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  about the ocean,
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  making sure
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  people are doing
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  the right things
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  when they swim
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  and wearing the
• 1:02:43
  right things when
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  they swim. We'll
• 1:02:44
  talk about that
• 1:02:44
  in a second as
• 1:02:45
  well. But it's
• 1:02:47
  going to be a lot
• 1:02:47
  of fun. I'm
• 1:02:47
  looking forward
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  to it and really
• 1:02:49
  talking about,
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  you know, the
• 1:02:51
  science
• 1:02:51
  communication
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  that you're
• 1:02:52
  doing. But also
• 1:02:53
  you're doing
• 1:02:54
  something really
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  special and it
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  doesn't happen
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  often. You're
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  working
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  full time in.
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  You know, the
• 1:02:59
  field of marine
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  biology, but
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  you're also doing
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  graduate work in
• 1:03:04
  the field of
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  marine biology at
• 1:03:06
  the same time. I
• 1:03:07
  don't know how
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  you do it. We're
• 1:03:08
  going to find out
• 1:03:09
  today. I can't
• 1:03:10
  wait before we
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  do. I want you to
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  let the audience
• 1:03:12
  know who you are
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  and what you do.
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  Awesome. Yeah. So
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  my name is Kenzie
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  Horton. I'm a
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  fisheries
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  biologist with
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  the Florida Fish
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  and Wildlife
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  Conservation
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  Commission in
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  Florida. But I
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  also am a full
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  time grad student
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  at Jacksonville
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  University where
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  I studied the
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  movements of
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  white sharks in
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  their
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  overwintering
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  residency phase
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  in the
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  Carolinas region.
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  So full time work
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  with fisheries
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  biologists with
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  the state agency
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  as well as full
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  time work with
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  Jackson
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  University. But
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  it's really
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  unique because
• 1:03:39
  the FWC office
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  that I work in is
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  actually in the
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  marine science
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  research
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  Institute on
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  Jay's campus. So
• 1:03:45
  everything is in
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  one building.
• 1:03:46
  You have hit the
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  perfect note
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  there because
• 1:03:50
  that is like
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  you're able to do
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  the work and do
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  your masters at
• 1:03:54
  the same time,
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  which I love. I
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  think that that's
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  that's how you
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  have to marry it.
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  Right. And we'll
• 1:03:58
  get into that a
• 1:03:58
  little bit more.
• 1:03:59
  But that's really
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  the key so that
• 1:04:01
  you don't go
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  crazy. You know
• 1:04:03
  what I mean? Like
• 1:04:04
  doing two
• 1:04:04
  separate projects
• 1:04:05
  is is going to be
• 1:04:06
  very difficult.
• 1:04:07
  Having this. I
• 1:04:08
  think that's
• 1:04:08
  that's wonderful.
• 1:04:09
  We're going to
• 1:04:09
  dive into that. I
• 1:04:10
  want to get to
• 1:04:10
  know you a little
• 1:04:11
  bit more. You
• 1:04:12
  know, we all all
• 1:04:13
  marine biologists
• 1:04:13
  have a story of
• 1:04:14
  how we got into
• 1:04:15
  to marine biology.
• 1:04:15
  I want to hear
• 1:04:17
  your story. I
• 1:04:18
  want the audience
• 1:04:18
  to hear your
• 1:04:18
  story because
• 1:04:19
  I've read a
• 1:04:20
  little bit about
• 1:04:20
  it. It's quite
• 1:04:21
  quite special.
• 1:04:23
  Can you just talk
• 1:04:23
  about how you got
• 1:04:24
  interested? Like
• 1:04:25
  what was that
• 1:04:26
  factor that made
• 1:04:27
  you interested in
• 1:04:28
  the ocean?
• 1:04:29
  Yeah. So I
• 1:04:30
  mentioned I'm in
• 1:04:31
  Florida right
• 1:04:31
  now, but I was
• 1:04:32
  born and raised
• 1:04:32
  in Florida. I
• 1:04:33
  grew up in
• 1:04:33
  Orlando, so
• 1:04:34
  central Florida.
• 1:04:35
  But every year my
• 1:04:36
  parents and I
• 1:04:36
  would take a
• 1:04:37
  family vacation
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  down to Key West
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  and we'd always
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  go snorkeling.
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  And I fell in
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  love with every
• 1:04:42
  all the fish and
• 1:04:43
  everything in the
• 1:04:44
  reefs. And it was right when I was in Florida.
• 1:04:44
  And it was right
• 1:04:45
  when underwater
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  disposable
• 1:04:47
  cameras were
• 1:04:48
  becoming popular.
• 1:04:50
  And so I saved my
• 1:04:52
  allowance when I
• 1:04:52
  had this little
• 1:04:53
  piggy bank all
• 1:04:53
  year. I find
• 1:04:54
  change in the
• 1:04:55
  couch for my my
• 1:04:56
  dad's you know
• 1:04:57
  that you'd sit
• 1:04:57
  down and his
• 1:04:58
  change would fall
• 1:04:59
  to the couch and
• 1:04:59
  I get all those
• 1:05:00
  change. And then
• 1:05:01
  I would go and I
• 1:05:02
  would get my
• 1:05:02
  money for it. And
• 1:05:03
  that'd be my
• 1:05:03
  allowance money
• 1:05:04
  for this trip.
• 1:05:05
  And I bought a
• 1:05:07
  fish
• 1:05:07
  identification
• 1:05:08
  book to take down
• 1:05:09
  with me and I was
• 1:05:09
  so excited. And
• 1:05:10
  so I spent the
• 1:05:12
  entire eight hour
• 1:05:13
  drive reading
• 1:05:14
  through this
• 1:05:14
  book, you know,
• 1:05:15
  not understanding
• 1:05:15
  some of it, but
• 1:05:16
  then I was very
• 1:05:16
  young. So half
• 1:05:17
  the words I was
• 1:05:18
  were jargon to
• 1:05:19
  me, but I was
• 1:05:20
  looking at the
• 1:05:21
  pretty pictures
• 1:05:21
  and trying to
• 1:05:22
  learn as much as
• 1:05:22
  I could.
• 1:05:23
  And when we were
• 1:05:24
  down there, I
• 1:05:25
  started taking
• 1:05:26
  pictures of all
• 1:05:27
  these fish and
• 1:05:28
  playing the
• 1:05:28
  matching game in
• 1:05:29
  this fish ID
• 1:05:30
  book. And I just
• 1:05:32
  became so in love
• 1:05:33
  with just trying
• 1:05:33
  to figure out
• 1:05:34
  what they were.
• 1:05:34
  And I would read
• 1:05:35
  every bit of
• 1:05:36
  information I
• 1:05:37
  could understand
• 1:05:37
  about these fish.
• 1:05:38
  And then I would
• 1:05:38
  go and tell my
• 1:05:39
  parents about it.
• 1:05:39
  And then we would
• 1:05:40
  go out snorkeling
• 1:05:41
  and I would come
• 1:05:42
  up to the surface
• 1:05:42
  and I'd be like,
• 1:05:43
  Hey, did you see
• 1:05:44
  that blue
• 1:05:44
  parrotfish? You
• 1:05:45
  know, blue
• 1:05:45
  parrotfish, you
• 1:05:46
  know, eats, you
• 1:05:47
  know, you know,
• 1:05:48
  you can hear it.
• 1:05:48
  It has a beak and
• 1:05:49
  it's eating, you
• 1:05:50
  know, organisms
• 1:05:50
  off the coral.
• 1:05:51
  I would I would
• 1:05:52
  just go into
• 1:05:53
  these spules as a
• 1:05:54
  kid talking
• 1:05:55
  about, you know,
• 1:05:56
  all the different
• 1:05:57
  fish I was
• 1:05:57
  seeing. And I
• 1:05:58
  subconsciously at
• 1:05:59
  that age kind of
• 1:06:00
  knew that was
• 1:06:01
  going to be my
• 1:06:01
  progression. I
• 1:06:03
  think my parents
• 1:06:03
  really knew that
• 1:06:04
  that was what the
• 1:06:05
  rest of my life
• 1:06:06
  was going
• 1:06:06
  to look like.
• 1:06:06
  And I kind of
• 1:06:09
  like point it
• 1:06:11
  probably started
• 1:06:11
  at like four or
• 1:06:12
  five and went up
• 1:06:14
  to like, I mean,
• 1:06:14
  I mean, yeah, it
• 1:06:17
  was we went every
• 1:06:19
  year and every
• 1:06:19
  year I would
• 1:06:20
  learn something
• 1:06:20
  new and I would
• 1:06:21
  find new fish.
• 1:06:22
  And, you know,
• 1:06:23
  there we went to
• 1:06:23
  the dry tour to
• 1:06:24
  guess and I'll
• 1:06:24
  never forget. I
• 1:06:25
  actually have a
• 1:06:25
  couple of
• 1:06:26
  hogfish. So
• 1:06:26
  hogfish have
• 1:06:27
  become one of my
• 1:06:27
  favorite fish
• 1:06:28
  because of this
• 1:06:28
  one moment.
• 1:06:28
  I dove down and
• 1:06:31
  it was sitting
• 1:06:32
  there and it
• 1:06:32
  opened and they
• 1:06:33
  had a very large
• 1:06:34
  mouth and it
• 1:06:34
  freaked me out
• 1:06:35
  for a second when
• 1:06:36
  I was a kid.
• 1:06:36
  So I swam to the
• 1:06:37
  surface and I was
• 1:06:38
  panicking. My mom
• 1:06:38
  was panicking.
• 1:06:39
  She couldn't
• 1:06:39
  figure out what
• 1:06:40
  was going on. And
• 1:06:40
  I tried to tell
• 1:06:41
  her this fish
• 1:06:41
  yawned at me and
• 1:06:42
  had these giant
• 1:06:43
  teeth and they
• 1:06:44
  had two, you
• 1:06:45
  know, giant
• 1:06:45
  canines by the
• 1:06:46
  time I didn't know.
• 1:06:47
  And so we get
• 1:06:49
  back, you know,
• 1:06:50
  back to the hotel
• 1:06:51
  and I'm flipping
• 1:06:52
  through the book
• 1:06:52
  trying to find
• 1:06:52
  this fish and
• 1:06:53
  she's like, no,
• 1:06:54
  no, it doesn't
• 1:06:54
  have any teeth.
• 1:06:55
  It's you know,
• 1:06:56
  but don't worry
• 1:06:56
  about it.
• 1:06:57
  And she was just
• 1:06:57
  trying to calm me
• 1:06:58
  down. She knew
• 1:06:59
  what it was, but
• 1:06:59
  she was trying to
• 1:07:00
  calm me down. She
• 1:07:01
  was like, don't
• 1:07:02
  worry. And then I
• 1:07:03
  find it and I
• 1:07:04
  said, you know,
• 1:07:04
  too large
• 1:07:05
  canines.
• 1:07:05
  I'm pointing to
• 1:07:06
  the book and I'm
• 1:07:06
  like, see, they
• 1:07:09
  have teeth. I'm
• 1:07:10
  not crazy. Yeah.
• 1:07:12
  Yeah. So I mean,
• 1:07:14
  I did that for so many years.
• 1:07:16
  And, you know,
• 1:07:18
  not realizing
• 1:07:18
  that my life
• 1:07:19
  would end up
• 1:07:20
  being just that.
• 1:07:22
  And and another
• 1:07:24
  part was like I
• 1:07:25
  was really I
• 1:07:26
  always love, you
• 1:07:27
  know, the movies
• 1:07:28
  like the
• 1:07:29
  Living Seas.
• 1:07:30
  That was I was
• 1:07:31
  mesmerized by
• 1:07:32
  that. I was it
• 1:07:33
  talked about all
• 1:07:33
  these different
• 1:07:34
  aspects of the
• 1:07:35
  marine science
• 1:07:36
  world and it, you
• 1:07:36
  know, explore,
• 1:07:37
  you know, more
• 1:07:39
  uncharted areas.
• 1:07:39
  And I just
• 1:07:40
  remember I would
• 1:07:41
  watch that and I,
• 1:07:42
  you know, the
• 1:07:42
  sting soundtrack,
• 1:07:43
  you know, even to
• 1:07:44
  this day, I'll
• 1:07:45
  listen to that
• 1:07:45
  song fragile by
• 1:07:46
  sting. And I'm
• 1:07:47
  like transported
• 1:07:48
  back to being a
• 1:07:49
  kid sitting in
• 1:07:49
  front of the TV
• 1:07:50
  watching this.
• 1:07:51
  So I was
• 1:07:52
  influenced by so
• 1:07:53
  many different
• 1:07:53
  things. And one
• 1:07:54
  of that's really
• 1:07:55
  deeply connected
• 1:07:56
  to me is my
• 1:07:57
  grandfather. I
• 1:07:59
  think I mentioned
• 1:07:59
  this briefly in
• 1:08:00
  our in my email
• 1:08:01
  to you. Yes.
• 1:08:01
  But my
• 1:08:03
  grandfather was a
• 1:08:04
  submariner with
• 1:08:04
  the US Navy. They
• 1:08:06
  were coming back
• 1:08:07
  from the
• 1:08:07
  Mediterranean and
• 1:08:08
  the Navy lost
• 1:08:09
  communication
• 1:08:10
  with them.
• 1:08:10
  They're about a
• 1:08:11
  day out of
• 1:08:12
  Norfolk. They're
• 1:08:12
  about 100 miles, I think,
• 1:08:14
  southwest of
• 1:08:15
  the Azores.
• 1:08:16
  And it was on May
• 1:08:17
  22nd and they
• 1:08:19
  lost all
• 1:08:19
  communication.
• 1:08:20
  And it wasn't
• 1:08:20
  until about a
• 1:08:21
  week later that
• 1:08:22
  they were
• 1:08:22
  officially
• 1:08:23
  announced lost at
• 1:08:24
  sea. My mother
• 1:08:26
  was two years
• 1:08:27
  old. My uncle was
• 1:08:28
  five. So my
• 1:08:29
  grandmother had
• 1:08:30
  two very young children.
• 1:08:30
  Yeah. And so it
• 1:08:33
  was very hard for
• 1:08:34
  her. And she
• 1:08:34
  never remarried.
• 1:08:35
  She always wore
• 1:08:36
  her wedding ring.
• 1:08:38
  But she always
• 1:08:38
  talked so fondly
• 1:08:39
  about him. And I
• 1:08:40
  know, like, we've
• 1:08:40
  always stayed
• 1:08:41
  connected through
• 1:08:42
  memorial groups
• 1:08:43
  through with the
• 1:08:44
  scorpion. That
• 1:08:45
  was the sub that he was on.
• 1:08:45
  And she'd always
• 1:08:49
  tell me stories
• 1:08:50
  growing up of how
• 1:08:51
  much he loved the
• 1:08:52
  sea and he loved
• 1:08:53
  history. And he
• 1:08:54
  was planning this
• 1:08:55
  sailing trip
• 1:08:56
  around the world.
• 1:08:57
  And he had these
• 1:08:58
  maps and he was
• 1:08:58
  chartering it. He
• 1:08:59
  had a sex that he
• 1:09:00
  was learning how
• 1:09:01
  to navigate using
• 1:09:02
  the stars. I
• 1:09:04
  actually still
• 1:09:04
  have. I actually
• 1:09:05
  have his the sex
• 1:09:06
  that he used. He
• 1:09:07
  was trying to
• 1:09:08
  learn on.
• 1:09:09
  And she always
• 1:09:12
  told me that I
• 1:09:13
  had his spirit.
• 1:09:14
  She's always said
• 1:09:15
  that I feel like
• 1:09:15
  I'm talking to
• 1:09:16
  George again.
• 1:09:17
  She's like, when
• 1:09:18
  I talk to you and
• 1:09:18
  I see how you
• 1:09:20
  light up when you
• 1:09:21
  talk about the
• 1:09:21
  ocean and you're
• 1:09:22
  talking about
• 1:09:22
  these fish, she's
• 1:09:23
  like, I see him
• 1:09:23
  through you. And
• 1:09:24
  so that growing
• 1:09:26
  up and not
• 1:09:27
  knowing this
• 1:09:27
  person and
• 1:09:28
  knowing that I
• 1:09:29
  would have loved
• 1:09:29
  this person, we
• 1:09:30
  would have been
• 1:09:30
  two peas in a
• 1:09:31
  pod, but just
• 1:09:32
  still feeling
• 1:09:32
  connected to
• 1:09:33
  someone I've
• 1:09:33
  never met.
• 1:09:35
  But because we
• 1:09:36
  shared so many
• 1:09:37
  similar interests
• 1:09:38
  and loves for the
• 1:09:39
  ocean and
• 1:09:39
  learning and
• 1:09:40
  history and just
• 1:09:41
  being surrounded
• 1:09:42
  by the ocean. So
• 1:09:43
  I think with all
• 1:09:45
  those factors of
• 1:09:46
  just growing up
• 1:09:47
  and being
• 1:09:47
  surrounded by the
• 1:09:48
  ocean and the sea
• 1:09:49
  and learning, my
• 1:09:51
  natural
• 1:09:51
  progression into
• 1:09:52
  marine science
• 1:09:52
  was just always
• 1:09:54
  going to be
• 1:09:54
  there. And I knew
• 1:09:55
  that that was my
• 1:09:56
  passion. You
• 1:09:57
  know, I always
• 1:09:58
  say, you know,
• 1:09:59
  you never work a
• 1:10:00
  day in your life
• 1:10:00
  if you truly love
• 1:10:01
  what you do. And
• 1:10:02
  I truly
• 1:10:03
  love what I do.
• 1:10:03
  I do every day.
• 1:10:05
  You know, there
• 1:10:05
  are days when
• 1:10:06
  I've been in the
• 1:10:06
  mud and I'm
• 1:10:08
  looking at myself
• 1:10:08
  going, what am I
• 1:10:09
  doing? Why am I
• 1:10:12
  here? But then
• 1:10:13
  there are days
• 1:10:14
  I'm not at sea
• 1:10:14
  and I've been out
• 1:10:16
  for days on end
• 1:10:17
  and it's a
• 1:10:17
  beautiful sunset.
• 1:10:19
  And I'm just
• 1:10:20
  sitting there
• 1:10:21
  looking out and
• 1:10:21
  I'm 100 miles
• 1:10:22
  offshore and the
• 1:10:24
  stars come out at
• 1:10:25
  night. And I'm
• 1:10:25
  like, wow, this
• 1:10:26
  is my job. I am
• 1:10:28
  getting paid to
• 1:10:29
  do what people
• 1:10:30
  pay to do.
• 1:10:30
  And I get to see
• 1:10:32
  things that
• 1:10:33
  people don't
• 1:10:33
  normally get to
• 1:10:34
  see or interact
• 1:10:35
  with animals that
• 1:10:36
  you don't
• 1:10:36
  normally get to
• 1:10:37
  interact with. So
• 1:10:38
  that's just kind
• 1:10:40
  of how my life
• 1:10:41
  has led me up
• 1:10:42
  into this point.
• 1:10:43
  So I think I'm
• 1:10:44
  very fortunate in
• 1:10:45
  that. But that's
• 1:10:46
  kind of my story.
• 1:10:47
  And I feel like
• 1:10:48
  that's why
• 1:10:49
  I'm here.
• 1:10:49
  Well, I love and
• 1:10:51
  I love it. I love
• 1:10:51
  you can obviously
• 1:10:52
  see the passion,
• 1:10:53
  you know, through
• 1:10:54
  just the story
• 1:10:55
  that you told it.
• 1:10:57
  It's it's
• 1:10:57
  amazing. It's
• 1:10:58
  shared by a lot
• 1:10:59
  of marine
• 1:10:59
  biologists like
• 1:11:00
  who get to the
• 1:11:01
  point where
• 1:11:01
  you're at, which
• 1:11:02
  is not easy.
• 1:11:03
  Let's be honest.
• 1:11:04
  It's not an easy
• 1:11:05
  road. You know,
• 1:11:06
  we talk about
• 1:11:07
  passion. We talk
• 1:11:07
  about how that
• 1:11:08
  takes you. And it
• 1:11:09
  does take you
• 1:11:09
  far. It does take
• 1:11:10
  you through the
• 1:11:11
  hard times. It
• 1:11:12
  does take you
• 1:11:12
  through the
• 1:11:12
  nicest studying
• 1:11:13
  the staying up
• 1:11:14
  late. The long
• 1:11:15
  days at sea.
• 1:11:16
  Those are never
• 1:11:16
  easy. You know,
• 1:11:17
  sometimes the sea works with you.
• 1:11:18
  And sometimes it
• 1:11:20
  works against you
• 1:11:21
  and it can be
• 1:11:22
  dangerous and you
• 1:11:23
  know, you have to
• 1:11:24
  be careful. And
• 1:11:24
  so there's a lot
• 1:11:25
  of things that go
• 1:11:27
  with the job,
• 1:11:27
  like any job
• 1:11:28
  where there's
• 1:11:28
  some good days
• 1:11:29
  and some bad days
• 1:11:30
  and so forth. But
• 1:11:31
  to get to where
• 1:11:32
  you are, like I
• 1:11:34
  mentioned before,
• 1:11:34
  is not easy. You
• 1:11:35
  know, the
• 1:11:36
  schooling is can
• 1:11:37
  be difficult.
• 1:11:37
  Just getting in
• 1:11:38
  to university in college can be difficult.
• 1:11:40
  Going through
• 1:11:43
  college, you
• 1:11:44
  know, in a marine
• 1:11:45
  biology program
• 1:11:46
  is difficult,
• 1:11:47
  right? Getting
• 1:11:47
  that job
• 1:11:48
  afterwards is not
• 1:11:49
  easy. You know,
• 1:11:50
  you have to be
• 1:11:51
  vigilant. You
• 1:11:52
  have to be
• 1:11:53
  connected. You
• 1:11:54
  know, you have to
• 1:11:54
  have a network. I
• 1:11:55
  talk about this
• 1:11:56
  all the time. Was
• 1:11:58
  there any knowing
• 1:11:59
  since you were
• 1:12:00
  like four or five that you had this passion in you?
• 1:12:01
  I had it when I
• 1:12:04
  was 14. You know,
• 1:12:05
  that's when I
• 1:12:06
  realized like I
• 1:12:06
  want to be marine
• 1:12:07
  biologist. Were
• 1:12:08
  there any points
• 1:12:10
  in that time
• 1:12:11
  where you
• 1:12:12
  wavered, you
• 1:12:13
  know, once you
• 1:12:14
  discovered that,
• 1:12:14
  hey, well, I
• 1:12:15
  guess the first
• 1:12:15
  thing when did
• 1:12:16
  you discover that
• 1:12:16
  you could do this
• 1:12:17
  for a living and
• 1:12:18
  get paid to do
• 1:12:18
  this? And then
• 1:12:20
  were there any
• 1:12:20
  those at any
• 1:12:21
  point in time
• 1:12:22
  during schooling,
• 1:12:23
  whether it be
• 1:12:23
  high school,
• 1:12:24
  whether it be
• 1:12:24
  university that
• 1:12:25
  you struggled at
• 1:12:26
  and you were
• 1:12:27
  like, maybe this isn't for me.
• 1:12:28
  I would say there
• 1:12:32
  was never a time
• 1:12:33
  that I was like,
• 1:12:33
  this is not for
• 1:12:34
  me, but there
• 1:12:35
  were times where
• 1:12:36
  I thought, can I
• 1:12:37
  really do this?
• 1:12:38
  You know, and I
• 1:12:38
  found out early
• 1:12:39
  on is my parents,
• 1:12:40
  you know, they
• 1:12:41
  were my, you
• 1:12:41
  know, my dad was
• 1:12:42
  in the Navy. So
• 1:12:42
  my parents grew
• 1:12:44
  up around the
• 1:12:45
  ocean. So they I
• 1:12:46
  knew that jobs in
• 1:12:47
  the marine world
• 1:12:48
  were there. I
• 1:12:50
  didn't know how
• 1:12:50
  many I didn't
• 1:12:51
  learn about how
• 1:12:53
  vast the industry
• 1:12:54
  really is. You
• 1:12:55
  know, you always
• 1:12:55
  think about a
• 1:12:56
  dolphin trainer
• 1:12:56
  or, you know, being a dolphin trainer.
• 1:12:57
  Or, you know,
• 1:12:57
  being working in
• 1:12:58
  aquarium, which
• 1:12:59
  are amazing
• 1:12:59
  positions, but
• 1:13:01
  those the only
• 1:13:02
  two that when you
• 1:13:03
  grow up that you
• 1:13:03
  think of and they
• 1:13:04
  don't they don't
• 1:13:05
  tell you all the
• 1:13:06
  small, you know,
• 1:13:07
  that you could be
• 1:13:07
  working with just
• 1:13:08
  plankton, you'd
• 1:13:09
  be working with
• 1:13:09
  mollus. You could
• 1:13:10
  go into the
• 1:13:11
  private sector,
• 1:13:12
  you could be an
• 1:13:12
  academia. There's
• 1:13:13
  so many things
• 1:13:14
  that you just
• 1:13:14
  aren't aware of
• 1:13:15
  unless you are
• 1:13:16
  exposed to that.
• 1:13:17
  And that usually
• 1:13:17
  happens in
• 1:13:18
  university. So I
• 1:13:20
  didn't know about
• 1:13:21
  options in the
• 1:13:22
  marine science
• 1:13:22
  world until high
• 1:13:23
  school and into
• 1:13:24
  university.
• 1:13:24
  But I will say
• 1:13:26
  that I have had
• 1:13:28
  many people, not
• 1:13:29
  necessarily
• 1:13:30
  family, just
• 1:13:30
  people that were
• 1:13:31
  outside or I
• 1:13:32
  would talk to
• 1:13:33
  them about like
• 1:13:34
  my jobs or even
• 1:13:34
  people in college
• 1:13:35
  and in some in
• 1:13:37
  high school and I
• 1:13:37
  would be like,
• 1:13:38
  Yeah, I really
• 1:13:38
  want to be a
• 1:13:39
  marine biologist
• 1:13:39
  and they go, so
• 1:13:40
  does everyone
• 1:13:41
  else find
• 1:13:42
  something else.
• 1:13:42
  You know, it's
• 1:13:44
  every nineties
• 1:13:45
  child, you know,
• 1:13:47
  dream with your
• 1:13:47
  Lisa Frank
• 1:13:48
  dolphin folders,
• 1:13:50
  you know,
• 1:13:51
  everyone wants to
• 1:13:53
  be a marine
• 1:13:53
  biologist. And
• 1:13:54
  and so I think a
• 1:13:55
  lot of people
• 1:13:56
  didn't realize
• 1:13:57
  that, you know,
• 1:13:57
  didn't really
• 1:13:58
  know my backstory
• 1:13:59
  and just how I
• 1:14:00
  grew up.
• 1:14:00
  You know, that
• 1:14:02
  was what everyone
• 1:14:02
  wanted to do as a
• 1:14:03
  kid, and
• 1:14:04
  especially in
• 1:14:05
  Florida. So, so I
• 1:14:08
  think hearing
• 1:14:08
  that early on
• 1:14:11
  wasn't too bad,
• 1:14:12
  but it was really
• 1:14:12
  when I got into
• 1:14:13
  university when I
• 1:14:14
  had some people
• 1:14:14
  that I, you know,
• 1:14:17
  were, were in
• 1:14:17
  the, you know,
• 1:14:18
  professors and
• 1:14:18
  they would be
• 1:14:18
  like, kind of
• 1:14:19
  warning you
• 1:14:20
  against it
• 1:14:20
  because it
• 1:14:21
  doesn't pay all that well.
• 1:14:22
  I mean, the main
• 1:14:24
  thing is marine,
• 1:14:25
  marine science is
• 1:14:26
  usually
• 1:14:26
  underfunded.
• 1:14:27
  You're always
• 1:14:28
  applying for
• 1:14:29
  grants. You're
• 1:14:29
  always trying to
• 1:14:30
  find funding. And
• 1:14:31
  so finding stable
• 1:14:32
  funds and stable
• 1:14:33
  grants,
• 1:14:34
  especially in
• 1:14:34
  academia is very difficult.
• 1:14:35
  So they always
• 1:14:39
  worry about that,
• 1:14:40
  like, Hey, you
• 1:14:40
  might not have
• 1:14:41
  an, you know, if
• 1:14:42
  you go into
• 1:14:42
  finance, if you
• 1:14:43
  go into business,
• 1:14:44
  you go into, you
• 1:14:45
  know, marketing
• 1:14:45
  accounting,
• 1:14:46
  you're going to
• 1:14:46
  have a salary,
• 1:14:48
  you're going to
• 1:14:48
  have a set
• 1:14:48
  paycheck, you
• 1:14:49
  know, you know,
• 1:14:50
  no matter what,
• 1:14:51
  nothing is
• 1:14:52
  necessarily
• 1:14:52
  changing per se.
• 1:14:53
  But in marine
• 1:14:54
  science,
• 1:14:55
  depending on what
• 1:14:56
  sector you're in,
• 1:14:58
  you know, you're
• 1:14:58
  kind of reliant
• 1:15:00
  on your grants,
• 1:15:01
  you're reliant on
• 1:15:01
  the funding
• 1:15:02
  coming in. And so
• 1:15:03
  there is that
• 1:15:04
  level of
• 1:15:05
  uncertainty is,
• 1:15:06
  you know, am I
• 1:15:08
  going to have
• 1:15:08
  money in a year?
• 1:15:09
  You know, is this
• 1:15:09
  project going to
• 1:15:10
  be funded in the
• 1:15:11
  next few years?
• 1:15:11
  Like, yeah, right
• 1:15:12
  now, it's great.
• 1:15:13
  But when I have,
• 1:15:13
  when it's up and
• 1:15:14
  I need to
• 1:15:14
  reapply, is it
• 1:15:15
  going to be as
• 1:15:16
  readily
• 1:15:17
  available? So
• 1:15:17
  those are the
• 1:15:18
  things I think
• 1:15:19
  people will
• 1:15:19
  warning me about
• 1:15:20
  that you don't,
• 1:15:21
  again, truly know
• 1:15:21
  until you're
• 1:15:22
  really in it.
• 1:15:22
  But there was a
• 1:15:24
  few times where I
• 1:15:25
  was, I would say,
• 1:15:26
  like, discourage
• 1:15:26
  where I was like,
• 1:15:27
  I'm a little
• 1:15:28
  nervous. But
• 1:15:31
  there's a few
• 1:15:32
  times that people
• 1:15:32
  will be like,
• 1:15:33
  especially with
• 1:15:33
  shark biology,
• 1:15:34
  everyone wants to
• 1:15:34
  work for sharks.
• 1:15:35
  They are the
• 1:15:36
  charismatic
• 1:15:37
  megafauna, you
• 1:15:38
  know, especially
• 1:15:38
  with all the TV
• 1:15:39
  shows, they, they
• 1:15:41
  get all you know,
• 1:15:42
  they're the
• 1:15:44
  shiny, the, you
• 1:15:45
  know, the
• 1:15:45
  impressive
• 1:15:45
  things, which
• 1:15:46
  they are, but
• 1:15:47
  everyone wants to
• 1:15:48
  do it. And so as
• 1:15:49
  you move through
• 1:15:50
  the field, you
• 1:15:50
  get people that
• 1:15:51
  are like, find backup plans.
• 1:15:51
  You know, and,
• 1:15:53
  and, you know,
• 1:15:54
  everyone that I,
• 1:15:55
  you know, on your
• 1:15:55
  other podcast,
• 1:15:56
  like the Beyond
• 1:15:56
  Jaws one, you
• 1:15:57
  know, everyone's
• 1:15:58
  always like, my
• 1:15:59
  path to sharks
• 1:16:00
  was never a
• 1:16:01
  direct line. And
• 1:16:02
  there may be a
• 1:16:02
  handful. There's
• 1:16:03
  always the few
• 1:16:04
  that just were
• 1:16:05
  able to, to do
• 1:16:06
  it. But it's
• 1:16:07
  usually some
• 1:16:07
  windy road. And
• 1:16:10
  so I think a lot
• 1:16:10
  of people were
• 1:16:11
  trying to tell me
• 1:16:12
  that and, you
• 1:16:12
  know, when you're
• 1:16:13
  early on in your
• 1:16:13
  career, you
• 1:16:14
  think, well, if I
• 1:16:15
  want to work for
• 1:16:15
  sharks,
• 1:16:16
  everything has to
• 1:16:17
  be sharks. Or I
• 1:16:18
  want to work
• 1:16:18
  with, you know,
• 1:16:19
  this certain type
• 1:16:19
  of fish,
• 1:16:20
  everything has to be this. Otherwise,
• 1:16:20
  I'm not going to
• 1:16:23
  be an expert in
• 1:16:24
  this. But the
• 1:16:24
  reality of it is,
• 1:16:25
  is you're more
• 1:16:26
  well rounded when
• 1:16:27
  you can kind of
• 1:16:28
  move in between
• 1:16:29
  animals or, you
• 1:16:31
  know, just
• 1:16:32
  different
• 1:16:32
  projects that
• 1:16:33
  might not be
• 1:16:33
  like, I said, I'm
• 1:16:35
  my most of my
• 1:16:35
  work is in
• 1:16:36
  fisheries. It's
• 1:16:37
  not necessarily
• 1:16:37
  like, quote
• 1:16:37
  unquote, shark
• 1:16:38
  biology. But I've
• 1:16:41
  kind of been able
• 1:16:42
  to maneuver my
• 1:16:43
  way and I've gone
• 1:16:44
  back to sharks.
• 1:16:46
  So I think the
• 1:16:47
  moment there was
• 1:16:48
  a few times early
• 1:16:49
  on where I was discouraged, where I was thinking, well, I'm going to do this.
• 1:16:49
  I was
• 1:16:50
  discouraged,
• 1:16:50
  where I was
• 1:16:50
  thinking that,
• 1:16:51
  oh, you know,
• 1:16:52
  maybe I'll never
• 1:16:52
  get a chance to
• 1:16:53
  work with sharks.
• 1:16:54
  I'll never get a
• 1:16:55
  chance to be in
• 1:16:55
  this field
• 1:16:56
  because, you
• 1:16:57
  know, everything
• 1:16:58
  seems so
• 1:16:58
  uncertain. But I
• 1:16:59
  just kind of use
• 1:17:00
  those things as
• 1:17:01
  tournament of
• 1:17:01
  motivators when
• 1:17:02
  people were like,
• 1:17:03
  I don't think you
• 1:17:03
  can do it. And I
• 1:17:04
  was like, you
• 1:17:04
  know what? I can
• 1:17:05
  do it. And I'm
• 1:17:06
  going to do it.
• 1:17:07
  I like that. And
• 1:17:09
  in some way, you
• 1:17:10
  kind of have to
• 1:17:10
  prove people
• 1:17:11
  wrong because
• 1:17:12
  like, look,
• 1:17:13
  anytime you
• 1:17:13
  mention anything
• 1:17:14
  about marine
• 1:17:15
  biology or really
• 1:17:16
  any kind of job
• 1:17:17
  as a young
• 1:17:18
  person, right?
• 1:17:19
  People, there's
• 1:17:20
  always going to
• 1:17:20
  be doubters.
• 1:17:20
  So like, is this
• 1:17:21
  what you really
• 1:17:22
  want to do? Like,
• 1:17:23
  yeah, it seems
• 1:17:23
  fun to be out on
• 1:17:24
  the ocean and
• 1:17:25
  diving and, you
• 1:17:26
  know, sampling
• 1:17:27
  and all that kind
• 1:17:28
  of stuff being
• 1:17:28
  out in the sun.
• 1:17:30
  But is it really
• 1:17:30
  like, is it
• 1:17:31
  stable enough?
• 1:17:32
  Can you have a
• 1:17:32
  good career like
• 1:17:34
  you would as a
• 1:17:34
  lawyer, as a
• 1:17:35
  doctor, as a
• 1:17:36
  marketer, a
• 1:17:37
  business person
• 1:17:37
  and all that
• 1:17:38
  stuff? And you
• 1:17:39
  always get that
• 1:17:40
  negative talk,
• 1:17:42
  right? And I
• 1:17:43
  always tell
• 1:17:43
  people, I had a
• 1:17:45
  friend of mine, I
• 1:17:47
  presented in
• 1:17:47
  front of
• 1:17:48
  his class.
• 1:17:48
  And one of the
• 1:17:50
  classmates was
• 1:17:51
  just like, yeah,
• 1:17:51
  like, how do you
• 1:17:52
  like, how do you
• 1:17:52
  deal with that?
• 1:17:53
  And I'm just
• 1:17:53
  like, if you want
• 1:17:54
  it, go for it.
• 1:17:55
  Like, try it.
• 1:17:57
  You're young. Try
• 1:17:58
  it. Like, if it
• 1:17:59
  doesn't work out,
• 1:18:00
  pivot. You can
• 1:18:00
  always go back to
• 1:18:01
  school or you can
• 1:18:02
  always do
• 1:18:02
  something and and
• 1:18:04
  work with
• 1:18:05
  something like
• 1:18:05
  you have.
• 1:18:05
  You'll have a
• 1:18:06
  degree. You'll
• 1:18:07
  have a university
• 1:18:07
  degree and you'll
• 1:18:08
  be able to pivot.
• 1:18:09
  I've done it a
• 1:18:09
  couple of times.
• 1:18:10
  I'm doing it
• 1:18:11
  right now and
• 1:18:11
  you'll be able to
• 1:18:12
  figure it out.
• 1:18:13
  But you got to
• 1:18:14
  try it or else
• 1:18:15
  you're just going
• 1:18:15
  to regret it for
• 1:18:16
  the rest of your
• 1:18:16
  life. Right.
• 1:18:16
  And it's just you
• 1:18:19
  have to almost
• 1:18:19
  tell them it like
• 1:18:20
  throw it back in
• 1:18:21
  their face like,
• 1:18:21
  you know what,
• 1:18:21
  I'm doing it. And
• 1:18:22
  this is and I'm
• 1:18:23
  having a blast.
• 1:18:24
  You know, you're
• 1:18:25
  clearly having a
• 1:18:25
  blast doing this
• 1:18:27
  type of work. And
• 1:18:27
  you can just be
• 1:18:28
  like, look, I'm
• 1:18:28
  out. I'm out in
• 1:18:29
  the sun getting
• 1:18:30
  paid to do this.
• 1:18:31
  You know, this is
• 1:18:31
  a lot of fun. I'm
• 1:18:32
  learning a lot.
• 1:18:33
  And I feel as
• 1:18:34
  though there is.
• 1:18:34
  And you can answer this too. For me, there's a lot more to marine biology than just having a stable income. Obviously that matters. But if you look at any job, nothing stable these days, you can get laid off. Whether you're in these days, whether you're in the private sector or government, which used to be stable and it doesn't matter where you're from in whatever country, this can happen. So you never know what's going to be secure. You might as well do something you love or else you're not going to love. Life is going to be boring. And so I feel like you're going to be
• 1:19:04
  like, do you feel
• 1:19:05
  in a way like you
• 1:19:07
  got to
• 1:19:08
  just try it?
• 1:19:10
  Oh, 100%. I mean,
• 1:19:11
  that was kind of
• 1:19:12
  what my my
• 1:19:12
  thought process
• 1:19:13
  was, was why not?
• 1:19:15
  If I don't try
• 1:19:16
  it, I'll never
• 1:19:17
  know if I get it.
• 1:19:18
  But if I try and
• 1:19:19
  I get it, then it
• 1:19:20
  was all worth it.
• 1:19:21
  And if not, I'd
• 1:19:21
  learn something
• 1:19:22
  along the way. It
• 1:19:23
  was a fun
• 1:19:23
  journey. And I
• 1:19:24
  can say I tried.
• 1:19:25
  And there's no
• 1:19:26
  regret later on
• 1:19:27
  and being like,
• 1:19:27
  well, you know, I
• 1:19:29
  probably should
• 1:19:30
  have tried it,
• 1:19:30
  you know, who
• 1:19:31
  knows? I would
• 1:19:32
  rather just give
• 1:19:32
  it a shot, give
• 1:19:33
  it the best I can
• 1:19:34
  and just see
• 1:19:35
  where it goes.
• 1:19:35
  Yeah, I love
• 1:19:38
  that. I love that
• 1:19:38
  aspect. You know,
• 1:19:40
  working in
• 1:19:41
  fisheries and
• 1:19:42
  working in marine
• 1:19:43
  biology is always
• 1:19:44
  fun. And in
• 1:19:47
  science, just in
• 1:19:47
  general, it's fun
• 1:19:48
  because like I've
• 1:19:49
  talked to a lot
• 1:19:49
  of people,
• 1:19:50
  whether it be on
• 1:19:50
  this podcast or
• 1:19:51
  the Beyond Jaws
• 1:19:52
  podcast, where
• 1:19:54
  I'm not like,
• 1:19:54
  there's some
• 1:19:55
  people who have
• 1:19:56
  gone through
• 1:19:57
  their career.
• 1:19:59
  They've gone
• 1:19:59
  through like, you
• 1:20:00
  know, some of the
• 1:20:00
  people we've had,
• 1:20:01
  like they've been
• 1:20:02
  in 35 years plus
• 1:20:03
  of fisheries or
• 1:20:04
  marine biology or sharks.
• 1:20:04
  Or whatever that
• 1:20:06
  might be. But
• 1:20:08
  some of the
• 1:20:08
  pivots that
• 1:20:09
  they've taken
• 1:20:09
  within the field
• 1:20:10
  have really come
• 1:20:12
  from like a
• 1:20:12
  question, like a
• 1:20:13
  scientific
• 1:20:14
  question, like
• 1:20:15
  they want to know
• 1:20:16
  more about
• 1:20:16
  predator prey
• 1:20:17
  dynamics. They
• 1:20:18
  want to know more
• 1:20:19
  about like
• 1:20:19
  conservation or
• 1:20:20
  exploring how
• 1:20:21
  many how many
• 1:20:22
  species can they
• 1:20:23
  identify and
• 1:20:24
  discover, right?
• 1:20:25
  As my co host
• 1:20:26
  does Dr. David
• 1:20:27
  Ebert. Do you
• 1:20:30
  have one of
• 1:20:31
  those? Like, is
• 1:20:31
  there something
• 1:20:32
  that I know
• 1:20:33
  you're doing a master. So that's probably the most important thing.
• 1:20:33
  I'm a master. So
• 1:20:34
  that's probably
• 1:20:34
  your focus right
• 1:20:35
  now. But overall,
• 1:20:36
  is there are
• 1:20:37
  there specific
• 1:20:38
  questions that
• 1:20:38
  you're curious
• 1:20:39
  about that will
• 1:20:41
  that will drive
• 1:20:41
  you whether
• 1:20:42
  you're working on
• 1:20:42
  sharks or fish or
• 1:20:44
  mammals or
• 1:20:45
  whatever?
• 1:20:47
  I wouldn't say
• 1:20:47
  like a specific
• 1:20:48
  question to a
• 1:20:49
  project. I mean,
• 1:20:49
  I have tons of
• 1:20:50
  those. But in a
• 1:20:52
  general sense, I
• 1:20:53
  think it's and I
• 1:20:54
  think it comes
• 1:20:55
  with everyone
• 1:20:55
  else. And if
• 1:20:56
  people you've
• 1:20:56
  interviewed, it
• 1:20:57
  starts with like
• 1:20:58
  a passion. Like,
• 1:20:59
  we obviously love
• 1:21:00
  this. And there's
• 1:21:01
  something that
• 1:21:01
  draws us to it. So we have a connection with it.
• 1:21:02
  And then it's the
• 1:21:05
  curiosity part,
• 1:21:07
  you know, we,
• 1:21:07
  when we see how
• 1:21:09
  many questions
• 1:21:10
  you can ask. And
• 1:21:10
  it's that thing
• 1:21:11
  where it's like,
• 1:21:11
  the more you
• 1:21:12
  know, the more
• 1:21:13
  you realize you
• 1:21:13
  don't know. And I
• 1:21:14
  think that's the
• 1:21:15
  exciting part
• 1:21:16
  about science and
• 1:21:16
  a part of us that
• 1:21:17
  gets excited when
• 1:21:18
  we're like, you
• 1:21:19
  know, we learn
• 1:21:20
  more and then
• 1:21:20
  we're like, Oh,
• 1:21:21
  well, what about
• 1:21:21
  this? Well, what
• 1:21:22
  about that? How
• 1:21:23
  can this happen?
• 1:21:24
  So the questions
• 1:21:25
  start pouring in.
• 1:21:26
  And I think that
• 1:21:27
  is the excitement
• 1:21:28
  part. And it
• 1:21:28
  draws us into
• 1:21:29
  more and more
• 1:21:30
  projects. And it makes us want to do more and more projects.
• 1:21:30
  And it makes us
• 1:21:31
  want to do more
• 1:21:32
  and more work.
• 1:21:33
  Because we want
• 1:21:33
  to just
• 1:21:34
  understand our
• 1:21:34
  world, you know,
• 1:21:36
  as, as things are
• 1:21:37
  kind of
• 1:21:37
  constantly
• 1:21:38
  changing with the
• 1:21:39
  environment. And,
• 1:21:40
  you know, we want
• 1:21:41
  to understand
• 1:21:41
  these changes.
• 1:21:42
  And if we start
• 1:21:42
  now, we've done a
• 1:21:43
  really good job,
• 1:21:44
  you know, the
• 1:21:45
  past few decades,
• 1:21:46
  you know, in the
• 1:21:47
  future, you know,
• 1:21:48
  hopefully, we'll
• 1:21:48
  have these
• 1:21:49
  long-term
• 1:21:49
  datasets that,
• 1:21:51
  you know, we can
• 1:21:51
  watch these
• 1:21:52
  changes through
• 1:21:53
  time and
• 1:21:53
  understand these
• 1:21:54
  environmental
• 1:21:54
  changes. You
• 1:21:55
  know, we talk
• 1:21:55
  about climate
• 1:21:56
  change all the
• 1:21:56
  time. You know,
• 1:21:57
  it's so hard to
• 1:21:58
  look at climate
• 1:21:59
  change on such a
• 1:21:59
  small
• 1:22:00
  scale, you know.
• 1:22:00
  needs such
• 1:22:01
  a long term.
• 1:22:02
  So we get, I
• 1:22:03
  think as a
• 1:22:03
  scientist,
• 1:22:04
  we get excited
• 1:22:04
  because if we
• 1:22:04
  start things now
• 1:22:06
  for the future
• 1:22:07
  generations,
• 1:22:08
  we can have these
• 1:22:09
  data sets, we can
• 1:22:10
  watch
• 1:22:10
  them change.
• 1:22:11
  So those big
• 1:22:12
  picture questions
• 1:22:13
  that we are
• 1:22:13
  currently trying
• 1:22:14
  to ask
• 1:22:14
  and answer,
• 1:22:16
  we might not be
• 1:22:16
  able to answer in
• 1:22:17
  our lifetime,
• 1:22:17
  but we're setting
• 1:22:18
  it up for
• 1:22:19
  the future
• 1:22:19
  to be able to
• 1:22:20
  answer those
• 1:22:20
  questions.
• 1:22:21
  So I think that's
• 1:22:21
  also, it's like,
• 1:22:22
  we're trying to
• 1:22:23
  make our world a
• 1:22:24
  better place.
• 1:22:25
  It starts at a
• 1:22:25
  curiosity of just
• 1:22:26
  learning more,
• 1:22:27
  but then it's
• 1:22:27
  also that drive
• 1:22:28
  to wanting to
• 1:22:29
  conserve
• 1:22:30
  and protect what
• 1:22:31
  we have now and
• 1:22:32
  then make the
• 1:22:33
  world better for
• 1:22:34
  the future
• 1:22:34
  generations.
• 1:22:34
  I love that.
• 1:22:36
  That's awesome. I
• 1:22:36
  love that motto.
• 1:22:37
  Like just figure
• 1:22:38
  out how to make
• 1:22:39
  the world better.
• 1:22:39
  Like no matter
• 1:22:40
  what, like just
• 1:22:41
  figure it out.
• 1:22:41
  And you have
• 1:22:42
  these certain
• 1:22:42
  questions.
• 1:22:43
  I mean, I know as
• 1:22:43
  a marine
• 1:22:44
  biologist, we
• 1:22:44
  always have
• 1:22:45
  questions.
• 1:23:00
  She wants to go
• 1:23:00
  into wildlife
• 1:23:01
  biology. I'm
• 1:23:01
  like, she's not
• 1:23:02
  marine biology.
• 1:23:03
  I'm like,
• 1:23:03
  nobody's perfect.
• 1:23:04
  That's
• 1:23:04
  fine. I get it.
• 1:23:05
  You can go on
• 1:23:06
  land animals, but
• 1:23:07
  now I'm starting
• 1:23:07
  to like think
• 1:23:08
  about it.
• 1:23:08
  I'm starting to,
• 1:23:09
  we're starting to
• 1:23:10
  ask each other
• 1:23:10
  questions.
• 1:23:11
  Like, I wonder
• 1:23:11
  what would happen
• 1:23:12
  to this.
• 1:23:12
  How would we
• 1:23:12
  design the study
• 1:23:13
  to figure it out?
• 1:23:14
  So introducing
• 1:23:15
  like statistics
• 1:23:16
  and all that kind
• 1:23:16
  of stuff.
• 1:23:16
  So it's a lot of
• 1:23:17
  fun to even just
• 1:23:17
  think about those
• 1:23:19
  questions and
• 1:23:19
  talking
• 1:23:20
  about school,
• 1:23:21
  like you're
• 1:23:21
  working
• 1:23:22
  full time.
• 1:23:23
  You had your
• 1:23:23
  undergraduate
• 1:23:23
  degree, you get
• 1:23:24
  this job.
• 1:23:25
  It's wonderful.
• 1:23:27
  What made you
• 1:23:27
  decide to have
• 1:23:29
  this crazy idea
• 1:23:30
  of going
• 1:23:30
  back to school?
• 1:23:32
  What was the
• 1:23:33
  trigger for that?
• 1:23:35
  Like what made
• 1:23:35
  you ignite that?
• 1:23:36
  Oh, I want to go
• 1:23:37
  back. And did you
• 1:23:38
  always want to go
• 1:23:38
  back for
• 1:23:39
  graduate school?
• 1:23:40
  I'd always wanted
• 1:23:41
  to go back. I
• 1:23:43
  definitely took
• 1:23:44
  an
• 1:23:44
  untraditional route.
• 1:23:45
  So I graduated in
• 1:23:47
  2016 with my
• 1:23:48
  undergraduate and
• 1:23:49
  then I got my job
• 1:23:50
  and I was
• 1:23:50
  working there.
• 1:23:51
  And I know I
• 1:23:51
  wanted to go
• 1:23:52
  back, but I
• 1:23:52
  really wanted to
• 1:23:53
  get some real
• 1:23:54
  world like
• 1:23:55
  experience
• 1:23:56
  in the field. And
• 1:23:58
  I was trying to
• 1:23:59
  also set myself
• 1:24:00
  apart from some
• 1:24:01
  of the other
• 1:24:01
  applicants.
• 1:24:02
  I was like, no
• 1:24:03
  going into marine
• 1:24:03
  science,
• 1:24:04
  especially when
• 1:24:04
  you're going into
• 1:24:05
  grad school,
• 1:24:05
  you have to be
• 1:24:06
  competitive. You
• 1:24:07
  know, there's a
• 1:24:07
  lot of people and
• 1:24:08
  there's a lot of
• 1:24:08
  amazing,
• 1:24:09
  smart people. So
• 1:24:10
  I was trying to
• 1:24:11
  find a way to set
• 1:24:12
  myself apart. So
• 1:24:14
  my thought
• 1:24:14
  process was,
• 1:24:15
  I'm going to take
• 1:24:16
  some time off.
• 1:24:17
  I'm going to kind
• 1:24:17
  of reframe
• 1:24:18
  myself, kind of
• 1:24:19
  get back into the
• 1:24:20
  mindset. I'm
• 1:24:20
  going to work as
• 1:24:21
  hard as I can,
• 1:24:22
  learn as much as
• 1:24:22
  I can through
• 1:24:22
  this job. And
• 1:24:24
  then I can
• 1:24:24
  go back to grad
• 1:24:24
  school and I can
• 1:24:25
  apply what I
• 1:24:26
  learned in my job
• 1:24:27
  to the grad
• 1:24:28
  school. And you
• 1:24:28
  know, maybe it'll
• 1:24:29
  help me because
• 1:24:29
  I'm these
• 1:24:30
  concepts are not
• 1:24:31
  just in the
• 1:24:32
  textbook.
• 1:24:32
  I've, I've
• 1:24:33
  seen the concepts
• 1:24:34
  in real life.
• 1:24:34
  I've seen them
• 1:24:35
  applied. So I
• 1:24:36
  thought that that
• 1:24:37
  maybe would also
• 1:24:38
  just just help me
• 1:24:39
  in general. So I
• 1:24:41
  went back to grad
• 1:24:42
  school in 2021.
• 1:24:43
  And it was kind
• 1:24:44
  of during
• 1:24:44
  COVID when I kind
• 1:24:45
  of made this
• 1:24:45
  decision, like
• 1:24:46
  this is the time
• 1:24:47
  because what else
• 1:24:48
  was I
• 1:24:48
  going to do?
• 1:24:49
  I needed to study
• 1:24:49
  for the GRE and
• 1:24:51
  everything was
• 1:24:51
  closed. So I
• 1:24:52
  might as well buy
• 1:24:53
  the textbook and
• 1:24:54
  start studying.
• 1:24:56
  And so that was
• 1:24:57
  kind of that
• 1:24:57
  moment where I
• 1:24:58
  was like, all
• 1:24:58
  right, this is
• 1:24:59
  the time,
• 1:25:00
  like the world,
• 1:25:00
  even though this
• 1:25:01
  is terrible, it's
• 1:25:02
  kind of setting
• 1:25:02
  me up to kind of
• 1:25:03
  give me the right
• 1:25:04
  time to, to give
• 1:25:06
  myself to study,
• 1:25:07
  get into a
• 1:25:07
  university and
• 1:25:08
  kind of figure
• 1:25:08
  out, you know,
• 1:25:09
  the next steps
• 1:25:10
  from there. I
• 1:25:11
  think that's
• 1:25:11
  great. I mean,
• 1:25:12
  it's a great, it
• 1:25:12
  was a great time
• 1:25:13
  to do it
• 1:25:13
  because we did,
• 1:25:14
  everybody had
• 1:25:15
  extra time,
• 1:25:15
  right? We're
• 1:25:16
  either stuck at
• 1:25:17
  home or, you
• 1:25:17
  know, things
• 1:25:18
  are a little bit
• 1:25:19
  more limited to
• 1:25:19
  where you can go
• 1:25:20
  and whether you
• 1:25:21
  want to be
• 1:25:21
  limited or not,
• 1:25:22
  you know,
• 1:25:22
  everybody had
• 1:25:23
  that decision to
• 1:25:23
  make. And I think
• 1:25:25
  that's, I think
• 1:25:25
  it's a great
• 1:25:26
  opportunity
• 1:25:26
  when I always
• 1:25:27
  said like, when
• 1:25:28
  recessions hit
• 1:25:29
  and stuff like
• 1:25:29
  that, and you
• 1:25:30
  have the chance,
• 1:25:31
  like try and do
• 1:25:31
  something extra,
• 1:25:32
  go back to
• 1:25:33
  school, get it
• 1:25:33
  like a diploma or
• 1:25:35
  get like a
• 1:25:36
  degree or even
• 1:25:37
  get, you know,
• 1:25:37
  just go back and
• 1:25:38
  get like a
• 1:25:39
  project
• 1:25:39
  management, you
• 1:25:40
  know, diploma or
• 1:25:40
  whatever that is,
• 1:25:41
  certificate, and
• 1:25:42
  then try and just
• 1:25:42
  get a little
• 1:25:43
  higher in that
• 1:25:44
  education to set
• 1:25:45
  yourself apart.
• 1:25:46
  I really like
• 1:25:46
  that, that, that
• 1:25:48
  knowledge before
• 1:25:49
  we just go into
• 1:25:49
  the, the
• 1:25:50
  graduates
• 1:25:50
  and how you
• 1:25:51
  balance that. Can
• 1:25:52
  you talk a little
• 1:25:53
  bit about like
• 1:25:54
  the methods you
• 1:25:55
  use to get your
• 1:25:56
  first job,
• 1:25:57
  like out of
• 1:25:57
  university?
• 1:25:58
  Because a lot of
• 1:25:58
  people struggle
• 1:25:59
  with getting
• 1:26:00
  that, that
• 1:26:01
  job, right?
• 1:26:02
  People all the
• 1:26:02
  times, like I've
• 1:26:03
  just graduated,
• 1:26:04
  I've undergrad, I
• 1:26:05
  don't necessarily
• 1:26:06
  want to go back
• 1:26:07
  to grad, to do a
• 1:26:08
  graduate degree,
• 1:26:09
  but God, I can't
• 1:26:10
  get, like, I
• 1:26:11
  can't get
• 1:26:11
  somebody to
• 1:26:12
  answer my, my,
• 1:26:12
  to my
• 1:26:13
  application. Like
• 1:26:14
  I can't get an
• 1:26:14
  interview. Did
• 1:26:15
  you do anything
• 1:26:16
  that, that you
• 1:26:17
  particularly
• 1:26:17
  like realized
• 1:26:18
  like, Oh, this
• 1:26:18
  actually really
• 1:26:19
  helped? Or did
• 1:26:20
  you have a
• 1:26:20
  network that
• 1:26:21
  helped
• 1:26:22
  you get that
• 1:26:22
  job? Like what
• 1:26:23
  did you feel you
• 1:26:24
  did to get that,
• 1:26:26
  that interview to
• 1:26:27
  get that job? So
• 1:26:28
  a few things.
• 1:26:29
  First off, I will
• 1:26:30
  say, I also
• 1:26:31
  struggled. I, I
• 1:26:33
  had two years
• 1:26:34
  where I, I
• 1:26:35
  graduated, I got
• 1:26:36
  my degree,
• 1:26:36
  and I was
• 1:26:37
  actively
• 1:26:37
  searching for
• 1:26:38
  jobs. I was
• 1:26:39
  bartending at the
• 1:26:39
  time, I was
• 1:26:40
  working odd jobs
• 1:26:41
  and, you know,
• 1:26:42
  save up some
• 1:26:43
  money. And, you
• 1:26:44
  know, there was a
• 1:26:44
  point where I
• 1:26:45
  got, I got
• 1:26:45
  discouraged,
• 1:26:46
  but I had reached
• 1:26:47
  out, I had some
• 1:26:48
  networks I
• 1:26:48
  created during my
• 1:26:49
  undergrad, I was,
• 1:26:50
  I was very
• 1:26:53
  involved in the
• 1:26:54
  university and
• 1:26:55
  biology club. And
• 1:26:56
  I, you know, I
• 1:26:57
  was an officer in
• 1:26:58
  there and I had,
• 1:26:58
  you know, I did
• 1:26:59
  undergrad
• 1:26:59
  research. So I
• 1:27:00
  had a lot of
• 1:27:00
  connections, and
• 1:27:01
  obviously people
• 1:27:01
  had moved on,
• 1:27:02
  but I started
• 1:27:02
  reaching out to
• 1:27:03
  people. And a
• 1:27:04
  friend of mine,
• 1:27:05
  Jordy, who
• 1:27:05
  actually worked
• 1:27:06
  for the agency,
• 1:27:06
  I reached out to
• 1:27:07
  her and we were
• 1:27:08
  talking. And she
• 1:27:09
  said that there,
• 1:27:11
  this group was
• 1:27:12
  looking for
• 1:27:12
  volunteers. And I
• 1:27:14
  was, I was
• 1:27:15
  fortunate enough
• 1:27:15
  to have, you
• 1:27:17
  know, the, I
• 1:27:18
  guess the
• 1:27:18
  network within
• 1:27:19
  the area, but
• 1:27:20
  also have being
• 1:27:23
  able to
• 1:27:23
  volunteer. And I
• 1:27:24
  know, I always
• 1:27:25
  say the best way
• 1:27:26
  to really
• 1:27:26
  get a job,
• 1:27:27
  especially in
• 1:27:27
  this field is
• 1:27:27
  volunteer. But
• 1:27:29
  even that I know,
• 1:27:30
  you know, it's
• 1:27:31
  privileged in
• 1:27:31
  itself because
• 1:27:32
  not everyone can
• 1:27:33
  work for free. I
• 1:27:34
  mean, it's so
• 1:27:35
  hard because, you
• 1:27:36
  know, I always
• 1:27:37
  say even just a
• 1:27:38
  few hours a day,
• 1:27:38
  if you can, if
• 1:27:39
  you can find it,
• 1:27:40
  is better than
• 1:27:41
  nothing. I was
• 1:27:42
  able, I kind of
• 1:27:43
  just gave up my
• 1:27:44
  weekends. So I
• 1:27:45
  was bartending
• 1:27:46
  the weekends, but
• 1:27:46
  my quote unquote
• 1:27:47
  weekends during
• 1:27:48
  the day, I just
• 1:27:48
  volunteered. So I
• 1:27:50
  volunteered for
• 1:27:52
  about six to
• 1:27:52
  eight hours a day
• 1:27:53
  for two times a
• 1:27:54
  week for a few
• 1:27:55
  months. And it
• 1:27:56
  was basically
• 1:27:56
  just training for
• 1:27:58
  the job. So I
• 1:28:00
  always tell
• 1:28:00
  people, I'm like,
• 1:28:01
  if you can
• 1:28:02
  volunteer at
• 1:28:02
  several different
• 1:28:03
  places, if you
• 1:28:03
  don't really know
• 1:28:04
  what you want to
• 1:28:04
  do, and you have
• 1:28:06
  the ability, try
• 1:28:07
  to find some
• 1:28:07
  places and you
• 1:28:08
  know, give it a
• 1:28:09
  month or a few
• 1:28:09
  months, or just
• 1:28:10
  let them know
• 1:28:11
  that you're just
• 1:28:11
  trying to figure
• 1:28:12
  out some things,
• 1:28:12
  but you want to,
• 1:28:13
  you know, give
• 1:28:13
  them your time
• 1:28:14
  and learn
• 1:28:14
  and learn from
• 1:28:15
  them. But just
• 1:28:17
  explore, like the
• 1:28:19
  time to volunteer
• 1:28:20
  is a time to
• 1:28:20
  explore and you
• 1:28:21
  can figure out if
• 1:28:23
  you, you
• 1:28:23
  know, if you
• 1:28:24
  want to be a, you
• 1:28:25
  know, a
• 1:28:25
  zookeeper, if you
• 1:28:26
  want to work in
• 1:28:26
  the aquariums,
• 1:28:27
  you want to do
• 1:28:27
  husbandry. For
• 1:28:29
  me, I, you know,
• 1:28:30
  I did an
• 1:28:30
  internship and I
• 1:28:31
  realized that
• 1:28:31
  husbandry full
• 1:28:32
  time wasn't for
• 1:28:33
  me. I loved
• 1:28:33
  husbandry, but
• 1:28:34
  just full time, I
• 1:28:35
  wanted, I wanted
• 1:28:37
  more research. So
• 1:28:38
  I knew that I
• 1:28:38
  needed to add
• 1:28:39
  that in there.
• 1:28:40
  But I wouldn't
• 1:28:40
  have known unless
• 1:28:41
  I tried. So I
• 1:28:42
  think doing the
• 1:28:42
  internships and
• 1:28:44
  volunteering was
• 1:28:45
  just, it set me
• 1:28:46
  up to figure out
• 1:28:47
  what I wanted to
• 1:28:48
  do. And it was
• 1:28:48
  also giving me
• 1:28:49
  skill sets that I
• 1:28:50
  could have then
• 1:28:51
  apply for the job
• 1:28:52
  applications and
• 1:28:53
  or give me an in
• 1:28:54
  with someone was
• 1:28:55
  once the job
• 1:28:55
  opened up. And if
• 1:28:56
  I was in an
• 1:28:56
  internship or
• 1:28:57
  volunteer
• 1:28:57
  position, I was
• 1:28:59
  basically trained
• 1:29:00
  for the job. So
• 1:29:01
  when I would
• 1:29:02
  instead of having
• 1:29:02
  to hire someone
• 1:29:03
  that had
• 1:29:03
  never been
• 1:29:04
  familiar with
• 1:29:05
  the, you know,
• 1:29:05
  their protocols
• 1:29:06
  and their
• 1:29:06
  procedures, I had
• 1:29:07
  been for months.
• 1:29:08
  So it was a
• 1:29:10
  natural
• 1:29:10
  progression
• 1:29:10
  into a position.
• 1:29:12
  But I know, I
• 1:29:13
  know with like
• 1:29:14
  internships, I
• 1:29:14
  did one paid one
• 1:29:16
  through Mote
• 1:29:17
  Marine, it was a
• 1:29:18
  USF Mote Marine,
• 1:29:20
  collab, but it
• 1:29:21
  was very similar
• 1:29:22
  to the REU
• 1:29:23
  program. I always
• 1:29:23
  tell like
• 1:29:24
  students that are
• 1:29:25
  undergrad. So I
• 1:29:26
  said, look
• 1:29:26
  at the REU
• 1:29:27
  program, it is a
• 1:29:28
  paid internship
• 1:29:28
  program funded
• 1:29:30
  through the NSF
• 1:29:30
  grants. And I was
• 1:29:31
  like, it's a
• 1:29:32
  great time
• 1:29:33
  because you
• 1:29:33
  get to do a
• 1:29:34
  full research
• 1:29:35
  project, you do a
• 1:29:35
  proposal, you do
• 1:29:36
  the research, you
• 1:29:37
  are basically a
• 1:29:38
  lab check that
• 1:29:39
  entire time, you
• 1:29:40
  go in the
• 1:29:40
  field, and you do
• 1:29:42
  a full poster
• 1:29:43
  presentation and
• 1:29:44
  basically like a
• 1:29:45
  manuscript at the
• 1:29:46
  end. Publishing
• 1:29:48
  is
• 1:29:48
  dependent on, you
• 1:29:49
  know, the, the
• 1:29:50
  advisor, but it
• 1:29:51
  gives you a
• 1:29:52
  chance to really
• 1:29:52
  see what research
• 1:29:53
  is from start to
• 1:29:54
  finish and, you
• 1:29:55
  know, determine
• 1:29:56
  if do you like
• 1:29:57
  research? I've
• 1:29:57
  had friends that
• 1:29:58
  have done it and
• 1:29:58
  been like,
• 1:29:59
  research isn't
• 1:29:59
  for me, I rather,
• 1:30:00
  you know, go into
• 1:30:01
  teaching or do
• 1:30:02
  consulting. So I
• 1:30:04
  always say like,
• 1:30:05
  those are the
• 1:30:05
  opportunities
• 1:30:05
  when you can get
• 1:30:06
  paid to do
• 1:30:07
  it, you can
• 1:30:08
  experience what
• 1:30:09
  research is like
• 1:30:10
  from a start to
• 1:30:11
  finish
• 1:30:11
  standpoint, and,
• 1:30:12
  and then be able
• 1:30:14
  to come out of
• 1:30:14
  that with a
• 1:30:15
  really good
• 1:30:15
  skill set and
• 1:30:17
  kind of set
• 1:30:17
  yourself up for
• 1:30:18
  these jobs
• 1:30:18
  because you've
• 1:30:19
  also broadened
• 1:30:20
  your network by
• 1:30:21
  just
• 1:30:21
  working with all
• 1:30:22
  these people.
• 1:30:24
  Yeah, it's
• 1:30:24
  amazing. And also
• 1:30:25
  like when you
• 1:30:25
  work for like
• 1:30:26
  when you
• 1:30:26
  volunteer in a
• 1:30:27
  lab, like REU
• 1:30:28
  program or any
• 1:30:29
  other lab, you
• 1:30:30
  work on multiple
• 1:30:31
  projects, you
• 1:30:32
  learn how to use
• 1:30:32
  different
• 1:30:33
  instrumentation,
• 1:30:33
  you learn
• 1:30:34
  different
• 1:30:34
  methods of
• 1:30:35
  analysis and
• 1:30:36
  statistics and
• 1:30:37
  all that. And you
• 1:30:38
  really get that
• 1:30:39
  experience. So I
• 1:30:39
  love that. I love
• 1:30:40
  how you you
• 1:30:41
  volunteer. And I
• 1:30:42
  think, you know,
• 1:30:43
  volunteering has
• 1:30:43
  got a bad rap
• 1:30:44
  over the last
• 1:30:45
  decade, because
• 1:30:46
  there's been a
• 1:30:46
  lot of and I call
• 1:30:47
  them like
• 1:30:48
  predatory
• 1:30:48
  organizations
• 1:30:49
  where you have to
• 1:30:50
  pay to do the
• 1:30:51
  work for them,
• 1:30:52
  which I don't
• 1:30:52
  like, I really
• 1:30:53
  feel like that is
• 1:30:54
  detrimental to to
• 1:30:56
  not only being a
• 1:30:57
  marine biologist,
• 1:30:58
  but just the work
• 1:30:58
  in general. But I
• 1:31:00
  liked what you
• 1:31:00
  did is
• 1:31:01
  like, look,
• 1:31:01
  you and look, I'm
• 1:31:02
  not saying this
• 1:31:03
  is not easy. You
• 1:31:04
  worked all day in
• 1:31:05
  the field, and
• 1:31:06
  then you go
• 1:31:06
  bartend at
• 1:31:07
  night, like on
• 1:31:08
  the weekends.
• 1:31:09
  That's not easy.
• 1:31:10
  I don't care what
• 1:31:11
  anybody says,
• 1:31:11
  that's tiring
• 1:31:12
  stuff. And that
• 1:31:13
  but you did it
• 1:31:14
  because you
• 1:31:14
  loved it, you did
• 1:31:15
  it because you
• 1:31:15
  wanted to do it.
• 1:31:16
  And that was the
• 1:31:16
  one way that you
• 1:31:17
  could do it.
• 1:31:18
  Obviously,
• 1:31:18
  if you could
• 1:31:18
  apply, get an
• 1:31:19
  interview and get
• 1:31:20
  the job right
• 1:31:21
  away, that would
• 1:31:22
  have been great
• 1:31:22
  too. But
• 1:31:23
  sometimes it just
• 1:31:24
  doesn't
• 1:31:24
  happen. For a
• 1:31:25
  lot of us, it
• 1:31:25
  just doesn't
• 1:31:26
  happen.
• 1:31:27
  Volunteering
• 1:31:27
  gives them the
• 1:31:28
  team a chance to
• 1:31:29
  get to know you.
• 1:31:30
  Are you good with
• 1:31:31
  the team? Do
• 1:31:32
  you fit in with
• 1:31:32
  the team? Are you
• 1:31:33
  hardworking? That
• 1:31:34
  shows you, you
• 1:31:35
  have a second, a
• 1:31:36
  long term
• 1:31:37
  interview that
• 1:31:38
  just that
• 1:31:38
  shows them
• 1:31:39
  what you can do.
• 1:31:40
  And I think and
• 1:31:41
  shows the passion
• 1:31:42
  going at that
• 1:31:43
  extra little mile
• 1:31:44
  and to put in,
• 1:31:45
  you know, a
• 1:31:46
  number of
• 1:31:46
  hours on
• 1:31:47
  the weekend for a
• 1:31:48
  couple of months
• 1:31:49
  or three or four
• 1:31:49
  months or
• 1:31:50
  whatever they
• 1:31:50
  that might be.
• 1:31:51
  And then you get
• 1:31:52
  a job, it's
• 1:31:52
  worth it. And
• 1:31:53
  even if it's not,
• 1:31:54
  at least you got
• 1:31:55
  the experience
• 1:31:55
  and maybe get a
• 1:31:56
  reference from
• 1:31:57
  someone else,
• 1:31:57
  right? That's the
• 1:31:58
  power of
• 1:31:59
  networking and
• 1:32:00
  the power of
• 1:32:00
  putting yourself
• 1:32:01
  out there. And
• 1:32:01
  what was nice is
• 1:32:02
  you didn't have
• 1:32:02
  to pay to do it.
• 1:32:04
  You didn't have
• 1:32:04
  to go away to
• 1:32:05
  do it. It was
• 1:32:05
  right in your
• 1:32:06
  backyard. So that
• 1:32:06
  helped too. I
• 1:32:07
  think that that
• 1:32:08
  was really good.
• 1:32:09
  And then of
• 1:32:09
  course,
• 1:32:09
  showing how how
• 1:32:10
  good you are and
• 1:32:11
  how excited you
• 1:32:12
  are to do the
• 1:32:12
  work. And like I
• 1:32:14
  said, working in
• 1:32:15
  the field is
• 1:32:15
  never easy at
• 1:32:16
  all. And so to
• 1:32:17
  show that
• 1:32:18
  you can do it and
• 1:32:18
  you enjoy it, I
• 1:32:19
  think that's
• 1:32:19
  that's really
• 1:32:20
  that's really
• 1:32:21
  helpful. So
• 1:32:22
  that's great. So
• 1:32:22
  let's go back to
• 1:32:23
  masters and
• 1:32:25
  job. Those are
• 1:32:26
  not easy to do
• 1:32:27
  it. We talked
• 1:32:28
  earlier, you
• 1:32:29
  married them
• 1:32:29
  together by, you
• 1:32:30
  know, doing a
• 1:32:31
  project that I
• 1:32:32
  assume
• 1:32:33
  was part of
• 1:32:34
  some of the work
• 1:32:35
  that you were
• 1:32:35
  that you were
• 1:32:36
  doing, or maybe a
• 1:32:37
  project that was
• 1:32:37
  going to happen.
• 1:32:38
  Can you just talk
• 1:32:38
  a little bit
• 1:32:39
  about how the
• 1:32:40
  project got
• 1:32:41
  married together
• 1:32:42
  with the masters?
• 1:32:44
  So it was kind of
• 1:32:45
  unintentional. I
• 1:32:47
  applied to the
• 1:32:48
  university,
• 1:32:49
  knowing that
• 1:32:50
  there was a field
• 1:32:51
  lab up in the
• 1:32:52
  region, but
• 1:32:53
  didn't
• 1:32:53
  know how it
• 1:32:53
  was gonna work. I
• 1:32:54
  was just going to
• 1:32:55
  make it work.
• 1:32:56
  However, I can,
• 1:32:57
  you know, if I
• 1:32:57
  was like, if I
• 1:32:58
  need to bump down
• 1:32:58
  to part time, or
• 1:32:59
  I was just
• 1:33:00
  gonna figure it
• 1:33:01
  out. Gotcha. But
• 1:33:02
  I really want I
• 1:33:03
  really liked the
• 1:33:03
  program at
• 1:33:04
  Jackson
• 1:33:05
  University. And
• 1:33:06
  I, again, it, I
• 1:33:08
  will say what
• 1:33:09
  drew me in
• 1:33:10
  was white sharks,
• 1:33:11
  you know, that
• 1:33:11
  not not very
• 1:33:13
  often you you get
• 1:33:15
  a chance to work
• 1:33:16
  with them. And I
• 1:33:16
  saw it and I was
• 1:33:17
  like, wow. And
• 1:33:19
  you know, I had
• 1:33:20
  been following it
• 1:33:20
  was her son as a
• 1:33:21
  kid, you know,
• 1:33:21
  watching them on
• 1:33:22
  TV and show and I
• 1:33:23
  was like, wow, a
• 1:33:24
  chance to work
• 1:33:25
  with these large
• 1:33:26
  individuals that
• 1:33:27
  I would never get
• 1:33:28
  a chance to even
• 1:33:28
  be near. And
• 1:33:30
  then, you know,
• 1:33:31
  working with this
• 1:33:31
  organization,
• 1:33:32
  where I could
• 1:33:32
  learn so
• 1:33:32
  much from so many
• 1:33:33
  different people
• 1:33:33
  and go to school,
• 1:33:35
  I was like, this
• 1:33:35
  this seems too
• 1:33:37
  good to be true.
• 1:33:37
  But I was like,
• 1:33:38
  let me go for it.
• 1:33:39
  So I applied
• 1:33:40
  and I got in. And
• 1:33:43
  I will say with
• 1:33:43
  JU's, they you
• 1:33:45
  don't, you don't
• 1:33:46
  go in with a
• 1:33:47
  project, you
• 1:33:48
  spend your first semester
• 1:33:48
  meeting with
• 1:33:50
  professors and
• 1:33:51
  kind of figuring
• 1:33:51
  out projects, and
• 1:33:53
  what's a good fit
• 1:33:53
  for you and who
• 1:33:54
  is taking
• 1:33:54
  students. So that
• 1:33:56
  was also nerve
• 1:33:57
  racking, because
• 1:33:57
  I didn't know if
• 1:33:58
  I was gonna get
• 1:33:58
  the project that
• 1:33:59
  I necessarily,
• 1:34:00
  you know, wanted.
• 1:34:01
  So, but it worked
• 1:34:03
  out because
• 1:34:04
  I, and the main
• 1:34:06
  reason when I was
• 1:34:06
  thinking about
• 1:34:07
  this particular
• 1:34:07
  project and this
• 1:34:08
  university for
• 1:34:09
  grad school is I
• 1:34:10
  really wanted a
• 1:34:10
  data heavy
• 1:34:11
  thesis. So I had
• 1:34:13
  a lot of field
• 1:34:13
  work through my
• 1:34:14
  normal work, but
• 1:34:16
  I was more of a
• 1:34:17
  field biologist.
• 1:34:18
  I was doing you
• 1:34:19
  know, some
• 1:34:19
  analysis. But it
• 1:34:20
  was more I'm more
• 1:34:21
  in the field, I'm
• 1:34:21
  in, in shore and
• 1:34:23
  offshore. But the
• 1:34:24
  analysis side, I
• 1:34:25
  could tell was
• 1:34:26
  where I was, I
• 1:34:27
  was lacking and I
• 1:34:28
  needed something
• 1:34:28
  for grad school.
• 1:34:29
  I was like, this
• 1:34:29
  is the time to
• 1:34:30
  kind of bring
• 1:34:30
  that up to make
• 1:34:31
  me more of a well
• 1:34:32
  rounded
• 1:34:32
  scientist. And so with that project, I didn't want to do that.
• 1:34:33
  And so with that
• 1:34:34
  project through
• 1:34:35
  what I was using
• 1:34:36
  the O search
• 1:34:36
  data, it is all
• 1:34:37
  tagged data.
• 1:34:38
  So it is all
• 1:34:39
  analyses.
• 1:34:41
  And so it worked
• 1:34:41
  out because the
• 1:34:42
  field time
• 1:34:43
  was more limited
• 1:34:44
  to certain
• 1:34:44
  expeditions
• 1:34:45
  based on
• 1:34:45
  time of year.
• 1:34:48
  But the nitty
• 1:34:50
  gritty of
• 1:34:50
  the thesis
• 1:34:51
  is sitting in
• 1:34:52
  front of a
• 1:34:52
  computer and
• 1:34:53
  learning R code
• 1:34:54
  and you know,
• 1:34:55
  manipulating the
• 1:34:55
  tag data and
• 1:34:56
  learning GIS.
• 1:34:57
  And that was what
• 1:34:57
  I wanted.
• 1:34:58
  So it happened to
• 1:34:59
  work out that
• 1:35:00
  what I was
• 1:35:01
  looking for
• 1:35:01
  and what I wanted to do was to work out what I was doing.
• 1:35:02
  And so I was looking for a way to get that kind of a master's kind
• 1:35:03
  of presented
• 1:35:03
  itself at this
• 1:35:04
  university and
• 1:35:05
  kind of gave
• 1:35:05
  me a chance.
• 1:35:06
  And I think
• 1:35:06
  because I had the
• 1:35:07
  field experience
• 1:35:08
  prior that this
• 1:35:10
  was a good
• 1:35:11
  project for me
• 1:35:12
  and kind of gave
• 1:35:13
  me that ability
• 1:35:14
  to get this
• 1:35:15
  project because I
• 1:35:15
  most times in a
• 1:35:16
  master's
• 1:35:17
  you're trying to
• 1:35:17
  get that field
• 1:35:18
  experience, but I
• 1:35:19
  already had it.
• 1:35:20
  So this kind of
• 1:35:21
  set me up in a
• 1:35:21
  unique way.
• 1:35:22
  So my work has
• 1:35:25
  nothing to do
• 1:35:26
  with my master's
• 1:35:28
  thesis in
• 1:35:28
  any way.
• 1:35:29
  There's almost no
• 1:35:30
  overlap except
• 1:35:30
  for the
• 1:35:31
  university and my
• 1:35:33
  office is in the
• 1:35:34
  same building.
• 1:35:34
  That is the only
• 1:35:35
  overlap.
• 1:35:36
  And I didn't know
• 1:35:36
  they were in the
• 1:35:36
  same building
• 1:35:37
  until I showed up
• 1:35:37
  for orientation.
• 1:35:39
  And I was walking
• 1:35:40
  down the hallway
• 1:35:40
  and I went, oh, I
• 1:35:43
  guess this is my
• 1:35:43
  new office.
• 1:35:46
  That's awesome.
• 1:35:48
  Well, and I think
• 1:35:48
  there's something
• 1:35:49
  to be said too,
• 1:35:50
  when you have all
• 1:35:50
  that field work
• 1:35:51
  experience,
• 1:35:52
  you know, you've
• 1:35:52
  worked at, so I
• 1:35:53
  assume, and you
• 1:35:54
  can correct me if
• 1:35:55
  I'm wrong,
• 1:35:55
  you were probably
• 1:35:56
  working at your
• 1:35:57
  job for about
• 1:35:57
  seven or
• 1:35:58
  eight years.
• 1:35:58
  And then when you
• 1:35:58
  started your
• 1:35:59
  master's, is that
• 1:35:59
  what we're
• 1:36:00
  looking at 2016
• 1:36:01
  in and around
• 1:36:01
  that time?
• 1:36:02
  2016, I was
• 1:36:04
  about, I started
• 1:36:06
  technically
• 1:36:06
  in 2018.
• 1:36:08
  So I graduated
• 1:36:08
  the two
• 1:36:09
  years off 2018.
• 1:36:09
  I think it was
• 1:36:10
  like three and a
• 1:36:10
  half,
• 1:36:11
  three years.
• 1:36:12
  Yeah, which is
• 1:36:13
  good, a good
• 1:36:14
  amount of field
• 1:36:14
  experience,
• 1:36:15
  especially if
• 1:36:15
  you're in the
• 1:36:15
  field most of the
• 1:36:16
  time in Florida,
• 1:36:17
  you can be in the
• 1:36:17
  field all year
• 1:36:18
  long, not like
• 1:36:19
  here in Ontario,
• 1:36:19
  where if you're
• 1:36:20
  in the field all
• 1:36:20
  year long, you
• 1:36:21
  are miserable for
• 1:36:22
  about four to six
• 1:36:23
  months out of
• 1:36:24
  that year.
• 1:36:25
  But regardless,
• 1:36:26
  you're in the
• 1:36:26
  field, you got
• 1:36:26
  lots of field
• 1:36:27
  experience,
• 1:36:27
  and then you get
• 1:36:28
  to do everything
• 1:36:29
  in front of a
• 1:36:31
  computer, right?
• 1:36:32
  You know,
• 1:36:32
  multiple
• 1:36:33
  monitors, looking
• 1:36:33
  at GIS, looking
• 1:36:34
  at spatial
• 1:36:35
  analysis.
• 1:36:36
  Now, again, I say
• 1:36:38
  field work is
• 1:36:39
  hard until you
• 1:36:40
  have to
• 1:36:41
  learn R code.
• 1:36:43
  It's probably,
• 1:36:44
  it's like for
• 1:36:45
  graduate students
• 1:36:46
  to like torture
• 1:36:46
  and watching
• 1:36:47
  graduate students
• 1:36:47
  go through it,
• 1:36:48
  because as I have
• 1:36:49
  in the past and
• 1:36:50
  gone through it
• 1:36:51
  myself, it is
• 1:36:52
  like crying
• 1:36:53
  frustrating
• 1:36:54
  at times.
• 1:36:54
  Like there's
• 1:36:55
  tears. It doesn't
• 1:36:56
  matter
• 1:36:56
  who you are.
• 1:36:57
  It doesn't matter
• 1:36:58
  your gender.
• 1:36:58
  You're going to
• 1:36:59
  cry at some point
• 1:37:00
  for that computer
• 1:37:01
  because this code
• 1:37:02
  is not working,
• 1:37:03
  especially I
• 1:37:04
  bought the
• 1:37:04
  spatial analysis
• 1:37:05
  R code book
• 1:37:08
  before I learned
• 1:37:09
  R and I
• 1:37:10
  looked at it.
• 1:37:10
  I'm like this, I
• 1:37:11
  can't, this is
• 1:37:11
  this is a
• 1:37:12
  different
• 1:37:12
  language.
• 1:37:12
  I don't know what
• 1:37:13
  this is.
• 1:37:14
  Like it's it is
• 1:37:14
  hard, right?
• 1:37:15
  I'm a GIS analyst
• 1:37:16
  as well.
• 1:37:16
  And so I learned
• 1:37:17
  a lot on that.
• 1:37:18
  And once you
• 1:37:19
  said, oh, yeah, I
• 1:37:20
  got tagged data
• 1:37:21
  like for decades
• 1:37:22
  of work for
• 1:37:23
  white sharks.
• 1:37:24
  That that got my
• 1:37:25
  GIS going like I
• 1:37:26
  was like, okay,
• 1:37:27
  this you're set.
• 1:37:28
  Like you've got a
• 1:37:29
  cool species
• 1:37:30
  obviously iconic
• 1:37:31
  and then being
• 1:37:32
  able to discover
• 1:37:33
  and identify
• 1:37:34
  like, you know,
• 1:37:35
  spatial patterns
• 1:37:36
  that we've
• 1:37:37
  discovered the
• 1:37:38
  last decade of
• 1:37:39
  this of this
• 1:37:39
  great white
• 1:37:40
  population that
• 1:37:41
  basically comes
• 1:37:42
  down to
• 1:37:42
  Jacksonville in
• 1:37:43
  the winter.
• 1:37:43
  And then and then
• 1:37:44
  goes is it
• 1:37:45
  Jacksonville as
• 1:37:45
  it come as far
• 1:37:46
  down as
• 1:37:46
  Jacksonville or
• 1:37:46
  is it go to
• 1:37:47
  Carolina's they
• 1:37:48
  go and well, so
• 1:37:49
  they're
• 1:37:49
  overwintering
• 1:37:50
  region ranges
• 1:37:51
  from the
• 1:37:51
  Carolina.
• 1:37:52
  So the North
• 1:37:52
  Carolina,
• 1:37:53
  especially out of
• 1:37:53
  the outer banks
• 1:37:54
  all the way along
• 1:37:55
  Florida into the
• 1:37:56
  Gulf so they can
• 1:37:57
  even go to
• 1:37:58
  the Gulf.
• 1:37:58
  Yeah, the
• 1:37:59
  furthest point
• 1:38:00
  and through the
• 1:38:01
  research tag
• 1:38:02
  telemetry is
• 1:38:02
  almost
• 1:38:03
  near Texas.
• 1:38:04
  It's only a
• 1:38:05
  few points.
• 1:38:05
  A lot of them
• 1:38:05
  will hang out
• 1:38:06
  near Louisiana,
• 1:38:07
  but we do see
• 1:38:07
  them all the way.
• 1:38:09
  And recently they
• 1:38:09
  have found out
• 1:38:10
  about 50% of the
• 1:38:11
  tag individuals
• 1:38:12
  that they have
• 1:38:12
  actually make
• 1:38:13
  their way into
• 1:38:14
  the Gulf, which I
• 1:38:16
  didn't know.
• 1:38:38
  I mean, we didn't know up until not that long ago. And then as more
• 1:38:40
  tag data, you
• 1:38:40
  know, has become
• 1:38:41
  readily available
• 1:38:42
  and the
• 1:38:42
  technologies have
• 1:38:43
  increased, we
• 1:38:44
  have
• 1:38:45
  better chance.
• 1:38:45
  And now we
• 1:38:46
  realize they're
• 1:38:47
  along Florida all
• 1:38:48
  throughout
• 1:38:48
  the winter.
• 1:38:49
  I mean, the
• 1:38:49
  Carolina's I
• 1:38:50
  mean, they use
• 1:38:51
  that coastline
• 1:38:51
  back and forth
• 1:38:52
  all the time.
• 1:38:53
  And and we don't.
• 1:38:54
  And the thing is,
• 1:38:54
  there's a lot of
• 1:38:56
  research being
• 1:38:56
  done in that New
• 1:38:57
  England and Nova
• 1:38:58
  Scotia and
• 1:38:59
  Newfoundland
• 1:38:59
  area.
• 1:39:00
  But this
• 1:39:01
  southeast part of
• 1:39:02
  the United
• 1:39:02
  States, we're
• 1:39:03
  beginning to get
• 1:39:03
  more data on.
• 1:39:04
  And that's kind
• 1:39:05
  of where my my
• 1:39:06
  thesis comes in
• 1:39:06
  is we're
• 1:39:07
  beginning to kind
• 1:39:08
  of get a better
• 1:39:09
  idea of how
• 1:39:09
  they're utilizing
• 1:39:10
  this area and to
• 1:39:11
  kind of
• 1:39:12
  understand their
• 1:39:12
  more fine scale
• 1:39:13
  movements.
• 1:39:14
  And then that we
• 1:39:14
  can begin to
• 1:39:15
  answer these
• 1:39:15
  questions and to
• 1:39:16
  understand how
• 1:39:17
  are they how are
• 1:39:18
  they using
• 1:39:18
  these areas?
• 1:39:19
  What are they
• 1:39:19
  doing while
• 1:39:19
  they're here?
• 1:39:20
  Or what are their
• 1:39:21
  diving profiles
• 1:39:22
  look like?
• 1:39:22
  Because we don't
• 1:39:23
  have the
• 1:39:24
  information that
• 1:39:24
  we have here as
• 1:39:26
  they do up
• 1:39:26
  in the north.
• 1:39:28
  Kenzie, that is
• 1:39:28
  so freaking cool.
• 1:39:30
  Like if you think
• 1:39:31
  about like, I
• 1:39:32
  know we're
• 1:39:32
  geeking out here,
• 1:39:33
  but this is so
• 1:39:34
  cool to be like
• 1:39:36
  the white shark,
• 1:39:37
  like Jaws, you
• 1:39:38
  know, everybody's
• 1:39:39
  afraid of it.
• 1:39:40
  You know, there's
• 1:39:40
  a whole history
• 1:39:41
  behind it.
• 1:39:41
  We're hitting 50
• 1:39:42
  years of Jaws in
• 1:39:43
  June this year.
• 1:39:46
  And you get to
• 1:39:47
  discover like in
• 1:39:48
  the 50th year of
• 1:39:49
  Jaws, that
• 1:39:50
  there's like what
• 1:39:51
  they're doing in
• 1:39:52
  this area that
• 1:39:53
  really we haven't
• 1:39:54
  known ever, you
• 1:39:55
  know, that is so
• 1:39:57
  cool because, you
• 1:39:58
  know, down
• 1:39:59
  the road.
• 1:39:59
  10 years, 20
• 1:40:00
  years down the
• 1:40:00
  road, you're
• 1:40:01
  going to tell
• 1:40:02
  people like,
• 1:40:02
  yeah, I helped
• 1:40:03
  figure this out.
• 1:40:04
  Like I was that
• 1:40:04
  was my master's.
• 1:40:05
  I mean, I my
• 1:40:06
  master's.
• 1:40:07
  I don't I mean,
• 1:40:09
  unfortunately, I
• 1:40:10
  don't have like
• 1:40:10
  amazing data in a
• 1:40:12
  sense that like I
• 1:40:13
  am not answering
• 1:40:13
  all of these like
• 1:40:14
  massively in
• 1:40:15
  question.
• 1:40:15
  But I like to
• 1:40:17
  think that I am a
• 1:40:18
  part of the
• 1:40:19
  stepping stones
• 1:40:19
  and the building
• 1:40:20
  blocks to kind of
• 1:40:21
  understanding
• 1:40:22
  their movements
• 1:40:22
  on down here.
• 1:40:23
  And so that's
• 1:40:24
  kind of cool to
• 1:40:24
  kind of be a part
• 1:40:25
  of that story.
• 1:40:25
  And as we learn
• 1:40:26
  more, I can know
• 1:40:27
  that like I
• 1:40:28
  played my
• 1:40:28
  part in that.
• 1:40:28
  So like what you
• 1:40:29
  were saying,
• 1:40:30
  yeah, but I wish
• 1:40:31
  I could answer
• 1:40:31
  some of these
• 1:40:32
  bigger like, you
• 1:40:33
  know, under like
• 1:40:34
  questions that we
• 1:40:34
  can always
• 1:40:35
  asking, you know,
• 1:40:36
  where are
• 1:40:37
  they mating?
• 1:40:37
  You know, what
• 1:40:38
  are they eating
• 1:40:39
  on down there?
• 1:40:39
  Are they
• 1:40:39
  targeting
• 1:40:40
  certain areas?
• 1:40:41
  Are there
• 1:40:41
  hotspots?
• 1:40:41
  There's like so
• 1:40:42
  much we
• 1:40:43
  want to know.
• 1:40:43
  And that's like
• 1:40:44
  when you're
• 1:40:44
  talking about
• 1:40:44
  questions, like
• 1:40:45
  my mind just
• 1:40:46
  starts reeling.
• 1:40:47
  I'm like, even
• 1:40:48
  the master's, you
• 1:40:48
  know, my advisor,
• 1:40:49
  he always tells
• 1:40:51
  me he's like real
• 1:40:52
  it in real it.
• 1:40:52
  And he's like,
• 1:40:53
  remember,
• 1:40:54
  remember the
• 1:40:54
  scope of your
• 1:40:55
  master's because
• 1:40:56
  I, I would have
• 1:40:57
  turned it into a
• 1:40:58
  PhD too quickly.
• 1:40:59
  I mind you. I
• 1:41:00
  would I'm trying
• 1:41:01
  to go for a PhD,
• 1:41:02
  but I mean, not
• 1:41:03
  at the
• 1:41:03
  university.
• 1:41:03
  They don't have a
• 1:41:04
  PhD, but but he I
• 1:41:06
  was naturally
• 1:41:07
  just turning it
• 1:41:08
  into and I, you
• 1:41:08
  know, the
• 1:41:09
  curiosity there,
• 1:41:09
  which is great.
• 1:41:10
  But again, you
• 1:41:11
  have to like reel
• 1:41:12
  yourself in or
• 1:41:13
  remind yourself,
• 1:41:13
  like focus on
• 1:41:14
  your questions at
• 1:41:15
  hand because when
• 1:41:16
  you have too many
• 1:41:17
  questions, you're
• 1:41:18
  not you're never
• 1:41:18
  going to answer
• 1:41:19
  anything because
• 1:41:20
  you have so many
• 1:41:20
  going on.
• 1:41:21
  You have to like
• 1:41:21
  focus at like the very the
• 1:41:23
  foundation, get
• 1:41:24
  that done.
• 1:41:25
  And then if more
• 1:41:25
  projects come out
• 1:41:26
  of that, great.
• 1:41:27
  But let's get the
• 1:41:28
  masters.
• 1:41:28
  Let's get that
• 1:41:29
  that foundation
• 1:41:30
  project done and
• 1:41:31
  then we can go
• 1:41:31
  from there.
• 1:41:32
  It's the
• 1:41:32
  research ADHD.
• 1:41:34
  I think every
• 1:41:34
  student I went
• 1:41:35
  through it.
• 1:41:35
  Every student
• 1:41:36
  goes because
• 1:41:36
  you're like
• 1:41:37
  you're asking all
• 1:41:37
  these questions
• 1:41:37
  like what
• 1:41:38
  about this?
• 1:41:38
  What about this?
• 1:41:39
  Can we figure out
• 1:41:39
  this and then
• 1:41:40
  every supervisor
• 1:41:41
  is like, hold on
• 1:41:42
  a second.
• 1:41:42
  Like let's focus
• 1:41:43
  on the on
• 1:41:44
  finishing your
• 1:41:45
  master's.
• 1:41:45
  Then we'll you
• 1:41:46
  know, we'll
• 1:41:46
  discuss other
• 1:41:47
  papers and other
• 1:41:48
  questions.
• 1:41:48
  And I think it's
• 1:41:49
  awesome.
• 1:41:50
  Like it's awesome
• 1:41:50
  to see because
• 1:41:51
  that's when the
• 1:41:52
  passion
• 1:41:52
  hits, right?
• 1:41:53
  That's when you
• 1:41:53
  know, like
• 1:41:54
  research is for
• 1:41:55
  me like research
• 1:41:55
  is is here.
• 1:41:56
  Like I've hit the
• 1:41:57
  jackpot in terms
• 1:41:58
  of what I want to
• 1:41:59
  learn and you
• 1:42:00
  know, what I want
• 1:42:01
  to find out and
• 1:42:01
  what I want to
• 1:42:02
  tell the world
• 1:42:02
  like the story to
• 1:42:03
  tell the world.
• 1:42:04
  It is a story is
• 1:42:05
  essentially what
• 1:42:06
  you're saying,
• 1:42:06
  but you're using
• 1:42:07
  math to kind of
• 1:42:08
  figure it out,
• 1:42:08
  you know, and
• 1:42:09
  geolocation to to
• 1:42:11
  figure it out.
• 1:42:11
  So I just
• 1:42:12
  love that.
• 1:42:13
  I think
• 1:42:13
  it's cool.
• 1:42:14
  And and and to be
• 1:42:14
  honest, like
• 1:42:15
  speaking of
• 1:42:15
  storytelling,
• 1:42:16
  you're
• 1:42:16
  doing this.
• 1:42:17
  You're doing a
• 1:42:18
  full time job.
• 1:42:19
  You're doing a
• 1:42:20
  master's and then
• 1:42:21
  you've taken it
• 1:42:22
  upon yourself to
• 1:42:23
  be like, hey,
• 1:42:24
  yeah, let's talk
• 1:42:24
  about it.
• 1:42:24
  Let's talk about
• 1:42:25
  to the public.
• 1:42:26
  Like, let's just
• 1:42:26
  go on social
• 1:42:27
  media and I'll
• 1:42:28
  just I'll, you
• 1:42:29
  know, riff on
• 1:42:29
  some videos and
• 1:42:30
  I'll just publish
• 1:42:30
  them so that
• 1:42:31
  people can get to
• 1:42:32
  know one
• 1:42:32
  what I do.
• 1:42:33
  But also what I
• 1:42:34
  love what you
• 1:42:35
  were doing with
• 1:42:35
  your parents back
• 1:42:36
  when you were
• 1:42:37
  four or five
• 1:42:37
  years old
• 1:42:38
  snorkeling in the
• 1:42:39
  keys and being
• 1:42:39
  like, hey, have
• 1:42:40
  you seen this
• 1:42:41
  like, you know,
• 1:42:41
  blue parrotfish?
• 1:42:42
  Like it does.
• 1:42:43
  It eats algae and
• 1:42:43
  it does this.
• 1:42:44
  You're telling
• 1:42:45
  that to to
• 1:42:46
  the people.
• 1:42:47
  Obviously, you're
• 1:42:47
  busy with a lot
• 1:42:48
  of things.
• 1:42:49
  What made you
• 1:42:49
  decide to be
• 1:42:50
  like, look, I'm
• 1:42:51
  going to start
• 1:42:52
  talking about not
• 1:42:53
  only the work
• 1:42:53
  that I'm doing,
• 1:42:54
  but also just
• 1:42:55
  science in
• 1:42:55
  general and
• 1:42:56
  marine biology
• 1:42:57
  and ocean in
• 1:42:57
  general.
• 1:42:58
  There's a
• 1:42:59
  few things.
• 1:43:00
  One is more of
• 1:43:01
  just a funnier
• 1:43:02
  reason is because
• 1:43:04
  I always said I
• 1:43:05
  love learning.
• 1:43:06
  I think it's just
• 1:43:06
  in all of us
• 1:43:07
  scientists.
• 1:43:08
  But, you know,
• 1:43:10
  we'll be in a
• 1:43:10
  conversation and
• 1:43:11
  someone's talking
• 1:43:12
  about something
• 1:43:12
  and then I know a
• 1:43:13
  fun fact and I'm
• 1:43:13
  like, oh,
• 1:43:14
  fun fact.
• 1:43:15
  And so like I
• 1:43:17
  love just like
• 1:43:18
  talking about
• 1:43:19
  things that I
• 1:43:19
  found out, you
• 1:43:20
  know, if it's
• 1:43:21
  through a paper
• 1:43:22
  or, you know,
• 1:43:23
  news article or,
• 1:43:24
  you know,
• 1:43:24
  journal, like I I
• 1:43:26
  love to just
• 1:43:26
  share the
• 1:43:26
  information.
• 1:43:27
  Some, you know,
• 1:43:28
  my friends share
• 1:43:29
  a similar
• 1:43:30
  interest.
• 1:43:31
  And so we always
• 1:43:32
  kind of do this
• 1:43:32
  back and forth.
• 1:43:33
  And I thought
• 1:43:33
  about why not
• 1:43:35
  just do this to
• 1:43:36
  the
• 1:43:36
  everyday public?
• 1:43:37
  And I and I do it
• 1:43:38
  with like my
• 1:43:38
  friends and
• 1:43:38
  family who are
• 1:43:39
  not even in
• 1:43:40
  this field.
• 1:43:42
  And, you know, I
• 1:43:42
  also and I start
• 1:43:43
  chatting and next
• 1:43:44
  thing I know,
• 1:43:44
  like I've given a
• 1:43:45
  full 45 minute
• 1:43:46
  lecture on some
• 1:43:47
  random topic.
• 1:43:50
  And I was like,
• 1:43:51
  why don't I just
• 1:43:51
  do this for for
• 1:43:53
  everyone?
• 1:43:54
  You know, what
• 1:43:55
  why don't I like
• 1:43:56
  make this
• 1:43:57
  accessible?
• 1:43:58
  And I, you know,
• 1:43:59
  I think, you
• 1:44:00
  know, I always
• 1:44:01
  felt education is
• 1:44:01
  so important
• 1:44:02
  because it was so
• 1:44:03
  inspiring to me.
• 1:44:04
  And I, you know,
• 1:44:04
  I had teachers
• 1:44:05
  growing up that
• 1:44:06
  made science fun
• 1:44:07
  and engaging.
• 1:44:09
  And I always
• 1:44:10
  wanted to kind of
• 1:44:11
  be a part of that
• 1:44:12
  because I feel
• 1:44:12
  like when
• 1:44:13
  science, it can
• 1:44:14
  be boring.
• 1:44:15
  It can be tough.
• 1:44:16
  It can be
• 1:44:16
  frustrating.
• 1:44:17
  But I think when
• 1:44:18
  you make it fun
• 1:44:18
  and engaging and
• 1:44:20
  you get excited
• 1:44:20
  about things,
• 1:44:21
  you're going to
• 1:44:21
  want to
• 1:44:22
  learn more.
• 1:44:22
  And I think
• 1:44:22
  that's so
• 1:44:23
  important is
• 1:44:24
  like, again,
• 1:44:25
  fostering this
• 1:44:26
  curiosity, even
• 1:44:27
  even doesn't have
• 1:44:28
  to be about
• 1:44:28
  marine science,
• 1:44:29
  but just in
• 1:44:29
  general, like
• 1:44:30
  just always
• 1:44:31
  questioning and
• 1:44:32
  asking and
• 1:44:32
  looking at the
• 1:44:33
  world and, you
• 1:44:34
  know, through
• 1:44:34
  different eyes
• 1:44:35
  and, you know,
• 1:44:36
  different
• 1:44:36
  perspectives.
• 1:44:37
  So I kind of
• 1:44:38
  really wanted to
• 1:44:39
  one, just have
• 1:44:40
  fun with it, but
• 1:44:41
  also just bring
• 1:44:42
  out fun facts
• 1:44:43
  because, you
• 1:44:43
  know, sometimes I
• 1:44:44
  have a bunch of
• 1:44:45
  fun facts about
• 1:44:46
  random fish that
• 1:44:47
  people have never
• 1:44:47
  heard of and then
• 1:44:49
  they get excited
• 1:44:49
  and they're like,
• 1:44:49
  oh, I've never
• 1:44:50
  heard about
• 1:44:50
  what's that fish.
• 1:44:51
  And I'm hoping
• 1:44:51
  that by kind of
• 1:44:53
  getting them
• 1:44:53
  excited and, you
• 1:44:54
  know, showing
• 1:44:55
  them something
• 1:44:55
  that they've
• 1:44:55
  never seen
• 1:44:56
  before, that
• 1:44:57
  they're more
• 1:44:57
  likely to go
• 1:44:58
  research it
• 1:44:58
  themselves or
• 1:44:59
  tell someone else
• 1:45:00
  about it.
• 1:45:00
  Or when they see,
• 1:45:01
  you know, an
• 1:45:02
  article or, you
• 1:45:03
  know, here, you
• 1:45:04
  know, around
• 1:45:05
  town, they'll be
• 1:45:06
  like, Oh, I
• 1:45:07
  actually have a
• 1:45:07
  fun fact
• 1:45:07
  about that.
• 1:45:08
  And then they'll
• 1:45:09
  start talking.
• 1:45:10
  So it just helps
• 1:45:10
  spread education
• 1:45:11
  and knowledge,
• 1:45:12
  but I think it's
• 1:45:12
  just, it's so
• 1:45:14
  vital right now.
• 1:45:15
  And I just, and
• 1:45:16
  again, and making
• 1:45:16
  it accessible
• 1:45:17
  because, you
• 1:45:17
  know, marine
• 1:45:18
  science can be so
• 1:45:19
  limiting, just,
• 1:45:20
  you know, certain
• 1:45:20
  groups or, you
• 1:45:21
  know, especially
• 1:45:21
  being around
• 1:45:22
  Florida, like a
• 1:45:23
  lot of people in,
• 1:45:24
  you know, in the
• 1:45:25
  middle of the
• 1:45:26
  United States and
• 1:45:26
  landlocked states
• 1:45:27
  that, you know,
• 1:45:27
  don't have access
• 1:45:28
  to the beach 30
• 1:45:29
  minutes
• 1:45:29
  down the road.
• 1:45:30
  And so some of
• 1:45:31
  these marine
• 1:45:31
  science classes
• 1:45:32
  aren't available
• 1:45:32
  because the water
• 1:45:33
  is not there. And
• 1:45:34
  so it's only when
• 1:45:35
  they come down in
• 1:45:35
  these states. But
• 1:45:36
  when with social
• 1:45:37
  media, we have a
• 1:45:38
  way to access the
• 1:45:39
  entire world.
• 1:45:40
  And so it's, it's
• 1:45:41
  always good to
• 1:45:42
  kind of just put
• 1:45:42
  it out there. And
• 1:45:43
  so that was kind
• 1:45:44
  of my thought
• 1:45:44
  process was, I
• 1:45:46
  love talking
• 1:45:46
  about science. I
• 1:45:47
  love educating
• 1:45:47
  people. Why not
• 1:45:49
  do it through
• 1:45:50
  social media and
• 1:45:51
  use the Internet
• 1:45:52
  as like the best
• 1:45:53
  educational tool
• 1:45:54
  that there is
• 1:45:55
  right now.
• 1:45:55
  You are preaching
• 1:45:56
  to the choir, my
• 1:45:57
  friend, you are
• 1:45:58
  preaching to the
• 1:45:59
  choir. And I love
• 1:45:59
  that, though. But
• 1:46:00
  I think that's
• 1:46:01
  the thing is it's
• 1:46:01
  fun for you.
• 1:46:02
  Again, it's fun
• 1:46:03
  for you. You're
• 1:46:03
  already doing it
• 1:46:04
  with your family
• 1:46:04
  and friends.
• 1:46:05
  Right. And maybe
• 1:46:06
  after a while,
• 1:46:07
  your family and
• 1:46:07
  friends like,
• 1:46:07
  okay, can do
• 1:46:08
  like, hold your
• 1:46:09
  horses. That's
• 1:46:10
  happened all the
• 1:46:10
  time. My wife
• 1:46:11
  will just like
• 1:46:12
  glaze over and be
• 1:46:13
  like, okay,
• 1:46:13
  Andrew, get it
• 1:46:14
  out of your
• 1:46:14
  system and move
• 1:46:15
  on. But that's
• 1:46:16
  the thing. You go
• 1:46:17
  to people like
• 1:46:17
  you don't know
• 1:46:18
  who you're gonna
• 1:46:19
  who you're gonna
• 1:46:19
  do. So is that
• 1:46:20
  what like when
• 1:46:20
  you like, what
• 1:46:21
  was the goal?
• 1:46:22
  Because because
• 1:46:23
  like, let's be
• 1:46:23
  honest, like
• 1:46:24
  social media is
• 1:46:24
  its own thing.
• 1:46:25
  Content is not a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's a thing. It's
• 1:46:25
  content creation
• 1:46:26
  is its own thing.
• 1:46:27
  People make their
• 1:46:28
  living off of
• 1:46:29
  content
• 1:46:29
  creation. Some
• 1:46:30
  even that are
• 1:46:30
  like marine
• 1:46:31
  biology just make
• 1:46:32
  like, you know,
• 1:46:33
  they'll have
• 1:46:33
  like, there's
• 1:46:34
  a creator fund
• 1:46:34
  for each platform
• 1:46:35
  and stuff. And
• 1:46:36
  they could make
• 1:46:36
  money off of
• 1:46:37
  this. What
• 1:46:38
  was your goal
• 1:46:39
  when you start,
• 1:46:40
  like you pick
• 1:46:40
  tick tock, right?
• 1:46:42
  Obviously,
• 1:46:42
  like I assume
• 1:46:43
  pandemic tick
• 1:46:44
  tock started to
• 1:46:44
  blow up. You
• 1:46:45
  started to see it
• 1:46:46
  like, Hey, let's
• 1:46:47
  start using
• 1:46:47
  it. It's a fun
• 1:46:48
  platform. What
• 1:46:50
  was the goal when
• 1:46:51
  you first started
• 1:46:52
  was it to
• 1:46:52
  get as many
• 1:46:53
  followers as
• 1:46:53
  possible? Was it
• 1:46:54
  get like big,
• 1:46:55
  that kind of
• 1:46:56
  stuff? What was
• 1:46:56
  the goal?
• 1:46:58
  So I mean, it's
• 1:46:58
  natural to want
• 1:46:59
  followers and a
• 1:47:01
  big following,
• 1:47:01
  but that wasn't
• 1:47:02
  the push. That
• 1:47:04
  wasn't the
• 1:47:04
  reasoning behind
• 1:47:05
  it. The followers
• 1:47:06
  would just be an
• 1:47:08
  added bonus to
• 1:47:08
  get the
• 1:47:09
  information
• 1:47:09
  out to a broader
• 1:47:10
  audience. I just
• 1:47:12
  wanted to promote
• 1:47:14
  science. I just
• 1:47:15
  wanted to
• 1:47:15
  talk. I wanted
• 1:47:16
  to get it out
• 1:47:16
  there. And I
• 1:47:18
  always worry
• 1:47:21
  about the being
• 1:47:22
  on social. I was
• 1:47:23
  so skeptical
• 1:47:25
  about doing
• 1:47:25
  this for so long.
• 1:47:26
  So I never wanted
• 1:47:27
  someone to think
• 1:47:28
  that I was doing
• 1:47:29
  it strictly for
• 1:47:30
  the money
• 1:47:30
  or to be some
• 1:47:31
  type of
• 1:47:31
  influencer
• 1:47:32
  personality.
• 1:47:34
  That's not the
• 1:47:34
  goal. If they
• 1:47:36
  were something
• 1:47:36
  to come up
• 1:47:37
  because of being
• 1:47:38
  on social media,
• 1:47:39
  great, that's
• 1:47:39
  just a bonus. But
• 1:47:41
  that's not the
• 1:47:42
  root of it.
• 1:47:42
  That's not the
• 1:47:43
  reason why I was
• 1:47:43
  doing it. I
• 1:47:44
  wanted to do it
• 1:47:44
  because I
• 1:47:45
  loved it.
• 1:47:46
  And I think, you
• 1:47:47
  know, we have
• 1:47:49
  misinformation
• 1:47:50
  can be spread so
• 1:47:51
  easily. So I want
• 1:47:52
  to be a part of
• 1:47:53
  the person, you
• 1:47:53
  know, people that
• 1:47:54
  are spreading
• 1:47:54
  correct
• 1:47:55
  information and
• 1:47:56
  showing
• 1:47:56
  people how to
• 1:47:57
  how to research
• 1:47:57
  how to look for,
• 1:47:58
  you know,
• 1:48:01
  information
• 1:48:01
  that's, you know,
• 1:48:02
  incorrect, or
• 1:48:02
  be able to
• 1:48:03
  question things.
• 1:48:04
  You'd be like,
• 1:48:04
  well, you know,
• 1:48:05
  that sounds a
• 1:48:06
  little odd.
• 1:48:06
  Let me look
• 1:48:07
  this up, you
• 1:48:08
  know, or oh, that
• 1:48:08
  was a that's a
• 1:48:09
  neat fact. Let me
• 1:48:10
  look this up. So
• 1:48:11
  I just
• 1:48:11
  wanted to be
• 1:48:13
  part of the push
• 1:48:13
  to just promote
• 1:48:16
  more learning.
• 1:48:17
  And so like the
• 1:48:18
  follower thing,
• 1:48:19
  you know,
• 1:48:19
  I picked
• 1:48:20
  TikTok just
• 1:48:20
  because it was so
• 1:48:23
  easily accessible
• 1:48:23
  to so many people
• 1:48:24
  without
• 1:48:25
  necessarily
• 1:48:25
  having to
• 1:48:25
  have followers,
• 1:48:26
  like if you have
• 1:48:27
  a Facebook or
• 1:48:27
  Instagram, they
• 1:48:28
  usually have to
• 1:48:28
  follow
• 1:48:29
  you for you
• 1:48:30
  to pop up on on
• 1:48:31
  their on their
• 1:48:32
  like page or
• 1:48:32
  their feed. But
• 1:48:34
  with TikTok, they
• 1:48:35
  can follow
• 1:48:35
  you so they
• 1:48:36
  can see more of
• 1:48:36
  your stuff, but
• 1:48:37
  your videos just
• 1:48:39
  get sent out to
• 1:48:39
  the world. And so
• 1:48:41
  I think that will
• 1:48:42
  experiment in
• 1:48:43
  front of
• 1:48:43
  everybody. Right?
• 1:48:44
  Yeah. Yeah. And
• 1:48:45
  it's I mean, it's
• 1:48:45
  nerve
• 1:48:46
  wracking knowing
• 1:48:46
  that you're
• 1:48:47
  putting yourself
• 1:48:47
  out there for
• 1:48:48
  millions of
• 1:48:50
  people to
• 1:48:51
  critique and
• 1:48:52
  criticize and,
• 1:48:53
  you know,
• 1:48:54
  question you. And
• 1:48:56
  so you have to
• 1:48:57
  like, take that into
• 1:48:57
  consideration.
• 1:48:58
  You're like, are
• 1:48:58
  you prepared
• 1:48:59
  for people to
• 1:49:01
  question you, you
• 1:49:02
  know, or they
• 1:49:03
  might make fun of
• 1:49:04
  you, you know,
• 1:49:04
  for whatever
• 1:49:05
  reason. So you
• 1:49:06
  kind of have
• 1:49:06
  it's like a
• 1:49:07
  mental
• 1:49:07
  preparation. But
• 1:49:08
  also, there was
• 1:49:09
  another part of
• 1:49:10
  it that I thought
• 1:49:11
  it'd be a good
• 1:49:11
  practice for me.
• 1:49:12
  You know, as a
• 1:49:13
  scientist and
• 1:49:14
  educator, I
• 1:49:14
  always feel like
• 1:49:15
  it's important to
• 1:49:16
  be able to relay
• 1:49:18
  science to all
• 1:49:20
  audiences. So we
• 1:49:21
  go to
• 1:49:21
  conferences, and
• 1:49:22
  we use all the
• 1:49:23
  scientific
• 1:49:23
  jargon, and we
• 1:49:24
  talk to
• 1:49:24
  people that
• 1:49:24
  are experts in
• 1:49:25
  what we do. And
• 1:49:26
  that's great. But
• 1:49:28
  we need to be
• 1:49:28
  able to take that
• 1:49:29
  to the public,
• 1:49:30
  because if the
• 1:49:30
  public gets
• 1:49:31
  excited, we get
• 1:49:32
  more people
• 1:49:32
  excited. That
• 1:49:33
  means usually
• 1:49:33
  more funding for
• 1:49:34
  us to do
• 1:49:35
  more work.
• 1:49:35
  That's true. So
• 1:49:37
  when more people
• 1:49:38
  know about it,
• 1:49:38
  more people are
• 1:49:39
  like, Well, yeah,
• 1:49:39
  I'll donate to
• 1:49:40
  that. Or yeah,
• 1:49:41
  I'm more
• 1:49:41
  likely to help
• 1:49:42
  pay for that. Or
• 1:49:43
  I'm more, you
• 1:49:43
  know, it creates
• 1:49:44
  just a better
• 1:49:45
  system overall.
• 1:49:47
  Yeah. But I
• 1:49:50
  just, I, I
• 1:49:51
  think being able
• 1:49:52
  to also explain
• 1:49:53
  concepts to
• 1:49:54
  experts, to the
• 1:49:57
  general public,
• 1:49:58
  and to children,
• 1:50:00
  just makes almost
• 1:50:00
  solidifies
• 1:50:01
  concepts in
• 1:50:02
  your head and
• 1:50:02
  makes you
• 1:50:03
  understand like,
• 1:50:03
  do I actually
• 1:50:04
  really know what
• 1:50:05
  I'm talking
• 1:50:05
  about? I know
• 1:50:06
  that sounds weird
• 1:50:06
  to say, but you
• 1:50:07
  know, you get
• 1:50:08
  almost
• 1:50:09
  regurgitating
• 1:50:09
  some of these
• 1:50:10
  textbook or, you
• 1:50:11
  know, scientific
• 1:50:12
  article
• 1:50:13
  sentences,
• 1:50:14
  because
• 1:50:14
  you're like,
• 1:50:14
  All right, this
• 1:50:15
  is what it says.
• 1:50:15
  And you just say
• 1:50:16
  it, and you state
• 1:50:17
  it. And that's
• 1:50:17
  just the fact.
• 1:50:18
  But it's not
• 1:50:19
  until you're
• 1:50:20
  talking to
• 1:50:21
  everyday
• 1:50:22
  people that don't
• 1:50:23
  work in that, I
• 1:50:24
  don't use those
• 1:50:24
  types of terms,
• 1:50:25
  or, you know,
• 1:50:25
  might not know
• 1:50:26
  the anatomy of
• 1:50:27
  sharks and
• 1:50:27
  fish. And so
• 1:50:28
  you're talking
• 1:50:29
  about, you know,
• 1:50:30
  cartilaginous,
• 1:50:31
  you know, fish
• 1:50:31
  and a plasma
• 1:50:32
  branks, you know,
• 1:50:34
  looking at the
• 1:50:34
  highway, highway
• 1:50:35
  arch, they
• 1:50:36
  don't know what
• 1:50:36
  that means. So
• 1:50:38
  being able to
• 1:50:39
  take those higher
• 1:50:40
  level concepts
• 1:50:41
  that you've
• 1:50:41
  become an expert
• 1:50:42
  in, and then
• 1:50:42
  relay them to
• 1:50:43
  the general
• 1:50:43
  public in a way
• 1:50:44
  that they can
• 1:50:45
  understand and
• 1:50:45
  get excited about
• 1:50:46
  was kind of also
• 1:50:47
  that push where it's
• 1:50:47
  like, it also
• 1:50:48
  helps me practice
• 1:50:49
  as a scientist to
• 1:50:50
  really understand
• 1:50:51
  the concepts that
• 1:50:52
  I'm learning, and
• 1:50:54
  also researching.
• 1:50:55
  So there were so
• 1:50:56
  many points to
• 1:50:56
  it, but none of
• 1:50:57
  it really ever
• 1:50:58
  came from, I want
• 1:50:59
  to get famous,
• 1:51:00
  and I want more
• 1:51:00
  followers. That
• 1:51:01
  was never, no, I
• 1:51:03
  mean, I don't
• 1:51:03
  even have that
• 1:51:04
  many followers.
• 1:51:04
  And that's fine.
• 1:51:05
  I just love doing
• 1:51:06
  it. And I think
• 1:51:07
  that if, and I
• 1:51:08
  always
• 1:51:09
  thought, is
• 1:51:09
  my duty as a
• 1:51:10
  scientist to
• 1:51:11
  educate people
• 1:51:12
  and put science
• 1:51:13
  out there for
• 1:51:14
  everyone. And so
• 1:51:16
  I thought, you
• 1:51:16
  know, if I am
• 1:51:18
  able to inspire
• 1:51:19
  or educate a
• 1:51:21
  handful of
• 1:51:22
  people, even one
• 1:51:22
  person, if one
• 1:51:23
  person got
• 1:51:24
  inspired,
• 1:51:24
  inspired by a
• 1:51:26
  video I made,
• 1:51:27
  then I have done
• 1:51:28
  my duty as an
• 1:51:29
  educator, as a
• 1:51:29
  scientist to, you
• 1:51:31
  know, help future
• 1:51:32
  generations or,
• 1:51:33
  you know, inspire
• 1:51:33
  someone else to
• 1:51:34
  kind of learn
• 1:51:34
  more or
• 1:51:35
  pursue a career.
• 1:51:37
  I love that. I
• 1:51:38
  love that. And to
• 1:51:39
  kind of push back
• 1:51:40
  on your like, I
• 1:51:40
  don't have many
• 1:51:41
  followers. I hear
• 1:51:43
  this a lot from a
• 1:51:44
  lot of people,
• 1:51:45
  right? It's
• 1:51:45
  like, I don't
• 1:51:46
  know. And I say
• 1:51:46
  the same thing. I
• 1:51:47
  don't have a lot
• 1:51:47
  of followers.
• 1:51:48
  Somebody told me
• 1:51:49
  this one time,
• 1:51:49
  because like,
• 1:51:50
  when I first
• 1:51:50
  started the
• 1:51:50
  podcast, I
• 1:51:51
  would get
• 1:51:51
  like, maybe 10
• 1:51:53
  downloads, you
• 1:51:54
  know, off the
• 1:51:54
  bat, and you're
• 1:51:54
  like, Oh,
• 1:51:55
  nobody's
• 1:51:55
  listening to my
• 1:51:56
  stuff. Then I get
• 1:51:57
  like 50
• 1:51:57
  downloads,
• 1:51:58
  I'm still
• 1:51:58
  complaining,
• 1:51:59
  because I, you
• 1:51:59
  know, hear other
• 1:52:00
  Joe Rogan gets a
• 1:52:01
  million and all
• 1:52:02
  this, and
• 1:52:02
  everybody thinks
• 1:52:02
  that, Oh, I
• 1:52:03
  should be getting
• 1:52:03
  that.
• 1:52:05
  Somebody told me
• 1:52:05
  this, if you put
• 1:52:06
  like, if you have
• 1:52:07
  100 followers,
• 1:52:08
  100 downloads,
• 1:52:10
  and you put 100
• 1:52:10
  people in a
• 1:52:11
  classroom, that's
• 1:52:12
  the standing room
• 1:52:13
  only in a
• 1:52:13
  classroom, right?
• 1:52:14
  Like, that's,
• 1:52:15
  that's a huge
• 1:52:15
  amount of people
• 1:52:16
  when you're
• 1:52:17
  presenting in
• 1:52:17
  front of a
• 1:52:17
  classroom, like
• 1:52:18
  in person. I'm
• 1:52:19
  looking at your,
• 1:52:20
  your, your
• 1:52:21
  profile here on
• 1:52:21
  TikTok, you have
• 1:52:22
  at this point,
• 1:52:23
  you have 691. And
• 1:52:25
  I'm sure that's
• 1:52:25
  increasing
• 1:52:26
  followers. That's
• 1:52:27
  a lecture hall.
• 1:52:28
  That's almost two
• 1:52:28
  lecture halls.
• 1:52:29
  That's a huge
• 1:52:29
  lecture hall of
• 1:52:30
  people that
• 1:52:31
  you're teaching
• 1:52:32
  each and every
• 1:52:33
  time you post
• 1:52:33
  that could
• 1:52:34
  potentially see
• 1:52:35
  it. And if
• 1:52:35
  you're on
• 1:52:35
  TikTok, as you
• 1:52:36
  mentioned, the
• 1:52:38
  amount is
• 1:52:38
  probably more
• 1:52:39
  than that, that
• 1:52:39
  are actually
• 1:52:39
  seeing your, your
• 1:52:41
  videos, right?
• 1:52:42
  Because it's not
• 1:52:42
  just to your
• 1:52:43
  followers, it's
• 1:52:43
  to everybody, you
• 1:52:45
  know, you just
• 1:52:46
  never know who
• 1:52:46
  you're being
• 1:52:46
  presented to. So
• 1:52:47
  I want you to
• 1:52:47
  think about that
• 1:52:48
  way too. I want
• 1:52:48
  everybody think
• 1:52:49
  about that. Like
• 1:52:50
  the audience here
• 1:52:50
  who are
• 1:52:51
  listening, I was
• 1:52:51
  like, you never
• 1:52:52
  know who's going
• 1:52:53
  to see you. You
• 1:52:54
  never know, like,
• 1:52:55
  what impact you
• 1:52:56
  might have. And I
• 1:52:56
  love that, that
• 1:52:57
  the thought of
• 1:52:58
  like, if I can
• 1:52:58
  just get one
• 1:52:59
  person to really
• 1:53:00
  get excited about
• 1:53:01
  the ocean, who
• 1:53:02
  knows what that
• 1:53:03
  person will do
• 1:53:03
  with that
• 1:53:04
  information,
• 1:53:05
  you just,
• 1:53:05
  never know. You
• 1:53:06
  never know who's
• 1:53:07
  listening. You
• 1:53:08
  never know what
• 1:53:08
  they're going to
• 1:53:08
  do. And I think
• 1:53:09
  that's the power
• 1:53:10
  of being a
• 1:53:11
  creator and, and
• 1:53:12
  talking about
• 1:53:13
  stuff. And we all
• 1:53:14
  get criticism. We
• 1:53:15
  all get bots. We
• 1:53:16
  all get people
• 1:53:17
  who take
• 1:53:17
  messages, you
• 1:53:18
  know, politically
• 1:53:19
  and all this kind
• 1:53:19
  of stuff. And
• 1:53:20
  they, they don't
• 1:53:21
  know really what
• 1:53:22
  they're talking
• 1:53:22
  about. I had a
• 1:53:23
  guy the other day
• 1:53:24
  on my, on, I
• 1:53:26
  forget what
• 1:53:27
  platform it was,
• 1:53:28
  but talking about
• 1:53:29
  the importance
• 1:53:29
  of, I did an
• 1:53:30
  episode a couple
• 1:53:31
  of weeks ago,
• 1:53:31
  talking about the
• 1:53:32
  importance of
• 1:53:33
  talking about the
• 1:53:33
  ocean, how
• 1:53:34
  important it is
• 1:53:34
  to talk to your
• 1:53:35
  friends
• 1:53:35
  and family.
• 1:53:35
  As you know,
• 1:53:36
  right? You do it,
• 1:53:36
  you do the same
• 1:53:37
  thing. And the
• 1:53:38
  guy was like,
• 1:53:38
  well, who cares
• 1:53:39
  about the ocean?
• 1:53:39
  Like, there are
• 1:53:40
  so many homeless
• 1:53:41
  people in
• 1:53:41
  California. And
• 1:53:42
  I'm like, okay,
• 1:53:44
  yeah, totally get
• 1:53:44
  it. Like, that's
• 1:53:46
  not what we're
• 1:53:46
  talking about
• 1:53:46
  here. Like
• 1:53:47
  completely
• 1:53:47
  different issues,
• 1:53:48
  you know, but I
• 1:53:49
  get it. Like,
• 1:53:49
  it's, there's
• 1:53:50
  other people have
• 1:53:51
  other issues. But
• 1:53:51
  the, you know,
• 1:53:53
  and, and you just
• 1:53:53
  never know who
• 1:53:54
  you're getting to
• 1:53:55
  watch it, what
• 1:53:55
  they're going to
• 1:53:56
  comment. And you
• 1:53:56
  just have to like
• 1:53:57
  answer those
• 1:53:58
  properly. And,
• 1:53:59
  and, you know, I,
• 1:54:01
  I like to try and
• 1:54:02
  be nice to
• 1:54:02
  everybody.
• 1:54:03
  There's some, I'm
• 1:54:04
  a little more
• 1:54:04
  aggressive with.
• 1:54:05
  But every
• 1:54:05
  once in a while,
• 1:54:06
  you know, there's
• 1:54:07
  people who are
• 1:54:07
  just genuinely
• 1:54:08
  worried about
• 1:54:08
  other things in
• 1:54:09
  the world. And
• 1:54:09
  you're like, I
• 1:54:10
  get it. I, I
• 1:54:10
  responded. I was
• 1:54:11
  like, yeah, I
• 1:54:12
  hope you do
• 1:54:13
  something about
• 1:54:13
  it. Like, I would
• 1:54:14
  love to hear. I'd
• 1:54:15
  love to see what
• 1:54:16
  you create online
• 1:54:17
  to help with that
• 1:54:17
  homeless. Because
• 1:54:18
  that's obviously
• 1:54:18
  something that's
• 1:54:19
  important, but
• 1:54:20
  not what we're
• 1:54:20
  talking about
• 1:54:21
  here. So I
• 1:54:21
  appreciate the
• 1:54:22
  comment. But, you
• 1:54:23
  know, thank you.
• 1:54:23
  Yeah, but that's,
• 1:54:24
  you know, but,
• 1:54:25
  but I've also had
• 1:54:27
  a lot of people
• 1:54:27
  who have changed
• 1:54:29
  their lives
• 1:54:29
  because of it.
• 1:54:30
  They've either
• 1:54:30
  gone to do a PhD
• 1:54:31
  or they've gone
• 1:54:32
  to change and
• 1:54:33
  start an
• 1:54:34
  organization and
• 1:54:35
  all that kind of stuff.
• 1:54:35
  So you just never
• 1:54:36
  know who's going
• 1:54:37
  to listen. And
• 1:54:39
  it's also cool.
• 1:54:40
  Some of the
• 1:54:41
  stories you
• 1:54:41
  cover, we just
• 1:54:42
  talked about this
• 1:54:43
  before we press
• 1:54:43
  record and I hope
• 1:54:44
  it's okay to talk
• 1:54:45
  about this. But
• 1:54:46
  one of your
• 1:54:46
  recent, I guess
• 1:54:47
  it was a series
• 1:54:47
  of episode, you
• 1:54:48
  did a couple of
• 1:54:49
  parts. They gave
• 1:54:49
  like four or five
• 1:54:50
  parts of this.
• 1:54:51
  Could you talk
• 1:54:51
  about this recent
• 1:54:52
  one? It got a lot
• 1:54:54
  of views, like
• 1:54:55
  almost 40,000
• 1:54:56
  views on that
• 1:54:57
  first video. What
• 1:54:59
  was the scenario
• 1:55:00
  and why did you
• 1:55:01
  feel the need to
• 1:55:01
  comment?
• 1:55:03
  So it's all so
• 1:55:05
  ridiculous. And
• 1:55:05
  it always makes
• 1:55:06
  me laugh. What
• 1:55:07
  gets popular on
• 1:55:09
  the internet. And
• 1:55:10
  it's always this
• 1:55:11
  just strange
• 1:55:12
  thing. And it's
• 1:55:12
  always the one
• 1:55:13
  thing you least
• 1:55:14
  expect. You know,
• 1:55:15
  I was I think I
• 1:55:15
  was telling you
• 1:55:16
  before this, the
• 1:55:16
  videos that I put
• 1:55:17
  the time and
• 1:55:17
  effort to, you
• 1:55:18
  know, do their
• 1:55:19
  background
• 1:55:19
  research to find
• 1:55:20
  the good images,
• 1:55:21
  then to record
• 1:55:23
  and then to edit,
• 1:55:23
  you know, their
• 1:55:24
  hours of time and
• 1:55:25
  effort. You know,
• 1:55:26
  they get views, I
• 1:55:27
  get some
• 1:55:27
  comments. I'm
• 1:55:27
  like, Yeah, it's
• 1:55:28
  awesome. The one
• 1:55:29
  that I really
• 1:55:29
  wake up in the
• 1:55:30
  morning, do a
• 1:55:31
  response
• 1:55:31
  video to.
• 1:55:32
  That took me five
• 1:55:34
  minutes maximum
• 1:55:35
  to do gets the
• 1:55:36
  most views. But
• 1:55:37
  the video was,
• 1:55:39
  and I must date
• 1:55:40
  this, this video,
• 1:55:41
  this statement is
• 1:55:43
  fake. It was a
• 1:55:44
  created
• 1:55:45
  statement. But at
• 1:55:45
  the time, I
• 1:55:46
  wasn't sure.
• 1:55:47
  Right. So this
• 1:55:49
  woman online
• 1:55:49
  stated that she
• 1:55:50
  was diving with
• 1:55:51
  sharks and was
• 1:55:52
  wearing a sequin
• 1:55:53
  bikini and had an
• 1:55:55
  encounter with
• 1:55:55
  the shark. And
• 1:55:57
  the internet lost
• 1:55:58
  its mind. You
• 1:55:58
  know, there's a
• 1:55:59
  lot of people
• 1:55:59
  that I was and I
• 1:56:00
  was I was kind of
• 1:56:01
  happy to
• 1:56:01
  see that.
• 1:56:02
  Everyone was
• 1:56:02
  like, What are
• 1:56:02
  you doing? You
• 1:56:03
  would you should
• 1:56:03
  never do that.
• 1:56:04
  You look like a
• 1:56:05
  giant fish. So I
• 1:56:07
  was happy to see
• 1:56:07
  that people were
• 1:56:08
  recognizing,
• 1:56:09
  Yeah, that's
• 1:56:09
  probably a bad
• 1:56:10
  idea. So I just
• 1:56:12
  commented one
• 1:56:13
  stating, Yes,
• 1:56:14
  everyone saying
• 1:56:15
  this is a bad
• 1:56:16
  idea. Yes, it is.
• 1:56:18
  You know, the
• 1:56:19
  sequins reflect
• 1:56:20
  the light and
• 1:56:21
  they can mimic
• 1:56:22
  fish scales. And
• 1:56:24
  when you're
• 1:56:24
  diving with
• 1:56:25
  things that eat
• 1:56:26
  fish, you don't
• 1:56:28
  want to look like
• 1:56:28
  that. And I'm not
• 1:56:29
  saying just
• 1:56:30
  because she was
• 1:56:30
  wearing that,
• 1:56:31
  that initiative, you know,
• 1:56:32
  she did that fake
• 1:56:34
  interaction.
• 1:56:35
  Right. But you
• 1:56:36
  don't want to put
• 1:56:37
  yourself in any
• 1:56:37
  way, shape or
• 1:56:39
  form in harm or
• 1:56:40
  in a way that
• 1:56:41
  could create or
• 1:56:42
  allow the
• 1:56:43
  interaction to
• 1:56:44
  potentially
• 1:56:44
  happen. I'm gonna
• 1:56:45
  say it that way.
• 1:56:46
  Yeah. So you just
• 1:56:48
  want to be
• 1:56:48
  cognizant of what
• 1:56:49
  you're doing.
• 1:56:50
  Yeah. So I stated
• 1:56:51
  that one. Just
• 1:56:53
  don't wear that.
• 1:56:54
  I would suggest
• 1:56:54
  not wearing that.
• 1:56:55
  If you if you
• 1:56:56
  really want to
• 1:56:56
  wear it, wear a
• 1:56:57
  wetsuit or wear,
• 1:56:58
  you know, a sun
• 1:56:59
  shirt, wear
• 1:56:59
  something that
• 1:57:01
  takes away that
• 1:57:01
  shimes. I
• 1:57:02
  always say the
• 1:57:02
  same thing with
• 1:57:03
  jewelry does the
• 1:57:04
  same thing. You
• 1:57:05
  know, people go
• 1:57:05
  swimming in
• 1:57:06
  jewelry and I've
• 1:57:07
  actually had more
• 1:57:08
  closer
• 1:57:09
  interactions with
• 1:57:10
  barracuda than I
• 1:57:11
  have with sharks
• 1:57:12
  and I've swam
• 1:57:12
  with hundreds of
• 1:57:13
  sharks. But the
• 1:57:15
  few barracuda
• 1:57:15
  they, you know,
• 1:57:16
  again, I
• 1:57:17
  mentioned my
• 1:57:17
  bracelet keeping
• 1:57:18
  it on and you're
• 1:57:18
  sitting there
• 1:57:19
  holding it
• 1:57:19
  because that
• 1:57:20
  little bit of
• 1:57:21
  shine kind of
• 1:57:22
  looks like a fish
• 1:57:22
  scale. And again,
• 1:57:23
  even if it's not
• 1:57:24
  necessarily
• 1:57:25
  looking like a
• 1:57:26
  fish, it's
• 1:57:27
  something
• 1:57:27
  different in the
• 1:57:28
  environment that
• 1:57:28
  something is
• 1:57:29
  gonna be curious
• 1:57:29
  about and then go
• 1:57:30
  investigate it to
• 1:57:31
  figure out
• 1:57:32
  what is this? So
• 1:57:33
  you don't you
• 1:57:34
  don't want to
• 1:57:35
  draw that attention that
• 1:57:36
  that's not the
• 1:57:36
  attention you're
• 1:57:37
  looking for about
• 1:57:37
  being in the
• 1:57:38
  ocean. And you
• 1:57:38
  know, most times
• 1:57:39
  for shark badges,
• 1:57:40
  we're going to
• 1:57:40
  find sharks, but
• 1:57:41
  most people that
• 1:57:41
  are swimming in
• 1:57:42
  the ocean aren't
• 1:57:43
  wanting, they
• 1:57:44
  don't want to
• 1:57:45
  find them. So I
• 1:57:46
  made the video
• 1:57:47
  and I wanted to
• 1:57:48
  make it a few
• 1:57:49
  part series. I
• 1:57:50
  wanted to want to
• 1:57:51
  address the
• 1:57:51
  video, but then I
• 1:57:52
  wanted to bring
• 1:57:53
  up some good
• 1:57:53
  points because it
• 1:57:54
  gave the perfect
• 1:57:55
  timing to talk
• 1:57:56
  about safe swim
• 1:57:57
  practices. You
• 1:57:58
  know, when you're
• 1:58:00
  going on the
• 1:58:00
  water, you have
• 1:58:01
  to, you know,
• 1:58:01
  you're going
• 1:58:02
  into another
• 1:58:03
  environment,
• 1:58:04
  you're going into
• 1:58:04
  basically the
• 1:58:05
  home of all these
• 1:58:06
  animals,
• 1:58:07
  including sharks,
• 1:58:08
  and you have to
• 1:58:09
  be aware of what
• 1:58:09
  you're doing and
• 1:58:10
  you want to make
• 1:58:11
  sure you are
• 1:58:11
  staying safe. You
• 1:58:13
  know, the reason
• 1:58:13
  we have those
• 1:58:14
  flags of the
• 1:58:14
  beach and we have
• 1:58:15
  lifeguards and we
• 1:58:15
  have all these
• 1:58:16
  signage, you
• 1:58:17
  know, just
• 1:58:17
  explaining the
• 1:58:18
  area is for
• 1:58:19
  information to
• 1:58:20
  make sure that
• 1:58:21
  you are safe as a
• 1:58:22
  swimmer when you
• 1:58:22
  when you make the
• 1:58:23
  decision to get
• 1:58:24
  in the water. And
• 1:58:25
  so I talked
• 1:58:26
  about, you know,
• 1:58:26
  not swimming near
• 1:58:27
  a fishing
• 1:58:27
  fishermen, you
• 1:58:29
  know, one, you
• 1:58:30
  don't want to get
• 1:58:30
  caught up in the
• 1:58:31
  line. They also
• 1:58:32
  have active bait.
• 1:58:33
  That bait is in
• 1:58:34
  the water, trying
• 1:58:36
  to attract
• 1:58:36
  everything in
• 1:58:37
  that area. The
• 1:58:38
  last thing you
• 1:58:38
  want to do is be
• 1:58:39
  near something
• 1:58:40
  that's being
• 1:58:41
  attracted to that
• 1:58:41
  area. So, so you
• 1:58:44
  don't so that's
• 1:58:44
  just unsafe and
• 1:58:45
  they kind of fall
• 1:58:46
  on the same
• 1:58:46
  lines, peers,
• 1:58:48
  people are
• 1:58:48
  actively fishing
• 1:58:49
  all along those
• 1:58:50
  peers, you don't
• 1:58:51
  want to get
• 1:58:51
  caught up in the
• 1:58:53
  lines and also
• 1:58:53
  there's so much
• 1:58:54
  fish in the water
• 1:58:55
  that again, it's
• 1:58:55
  attracting
• 1:58:56
  everything and
• 1:58:57
  anything that air
• 1:58:57
  to that region,
• 1:58:58
  you don't want to
• 1:58:59
  be there. And
• 1:59:00
  then marinas,
• 1:59:01
  especially,
• 1:59:01
  you know,
• 1:59:02
  a lot of people
• 1:59:02
  don't think,
• 1:59:03
  well, people are
• 1:59:03
  not fishing at
• 1:59:04
  marinas, but a
• 1:59:05
  lot of fishermen
• 1:59:05
  come off their
• 1:59:06
  boats and fillet
• 1:59:07
  their fish and
• 1:59:07
  throw in the
• 1:59:08
  carcasses. And
• 1:59:09
  because after
• 1:59:09
  days and days of
• 1:59:10
  this fish and
• 1:59:12
  sharks and other
• 1:59:12
  marine animals
• 1:59:13
  realize this is
• 1:59:14
  an area for easy
• 1:59:15
  food. So they're
• 1:59:16
  more likely to
• 1:59:17
  hang out there
• 1:59:17
  and be in that
• 1:59:18
  area trying to
• 1:59:19
  get free food. If
• 1:59:20
  you are to get in
• 1:59:21
  that water, they
• 1:59:22
  when they hear at
• 1:59:24
  splash, they're
• 1:59:24
  not going to be
• 1:59:25
  like, Oh, wait,
• 1:59:25
  that's a person I
• 1:59:26
  don't want. They
• 1:59:26
  see that they're
• 1:59:27
  expecting what
• 1:59:28
  they've expected,
• 1:59:29
  you know, every
• 1:59:30
  day that it's a
• 1:59:31
  fish carcass and
• 1:59:32
  they can get in the water.
• 1:59:32
  And they can eat
• 1:59:32
  it. So you can,
• 1:59:33
  you don't want to
• 1:59:34
  put yourself in a
• 1:59:34
  situation that
• 1:59:35
  could lead to a
• 1:59:36
  bad encounter.
• 1:59:38
  And then again,
• 1:59:39
  just like the
• 1:59:40
  sandbars and one
• 1:59:41
  that a lot of
• 1:59:42
  people don't
• 1:59:42
  realize is that
• 1:59:43
  sandbars are not
• 1:59:44
  a safe place to
• 1:59:45
  be. You know, if
• 1:59:46
  it's really
• 1:59:46
  shallow and your
• 1:59:47
  ankle deep and
• 1:59:47
  you can see
• 1:59:48
  everything around
• 1:59:48
  you, that's fine.
• 1:59:49
  But also getting
• 1:59:50
  to that sandbar,
• 1:59:51
  it usually drops
• 1:59:52
  off and there's a
• 1:59:53
  dip and the same
• 1:59:55
  thing, it falls
• 1:59:55
  off. And usually
• 1:59:56
  in those channels
• 1:59:57
  are a lot of bait
• 1:59:58
  fish runs. And
• 1:59:59
  what usually
• 2:00:00
  follow bait fish,
• 2:00:01
  larger fish,
• 2:00:02
  and sharks.
• 2:00:03
  Again, you don't
• 2:00:03
  want to put
• 2:00:04
  yourself in that
• 2:00:04
  situation while
• 2:00:05
  you are in the
• 2:00:06
  middle of a bait
• 2:00:07
  fish run while
• 2:00:08
  something is
• 2:00:08
  actively feeding.
• 2:00:10
  They're not
• 2:00:10
  targeting you,
• 2:00:11
  they're targeting
• 2:00:11
  that fish, but
• 2:00:12
  you are now
• 2:00:12
  caught up in
• 2:00:13
  that. And that's
• 2:00:14
  usually when
• 2:00:14
  those encounters
• 2:00:14
  happen. So I
• 2:00:16
  really wanted to
• 2:00:17
  highlight these
• 2:00:18
  examples and been
• 2:00:19
  like, Hey, you
• 2:00:20
  know, this is a
• 2:00:21
  bad scenario. I'm
• 2:00:22
  glad it was fake.
• 2:00:22
  I'm glad she's
• 2:00:23
  okay. But let's
• 2:00:24
  put out some
• 2:00:25
  reminders of when
• 2:00:26
  you're in the
• 2:00:26
  ocean, you are in
• 2:00:27
  a new environment
• 2:00:28
  and you have to
• 2:00:29
  be aware of your
• 2:00:30
  surroundings.
• 2:00:31
  And also,
• 2:00:32
  talk to local
• 2:00:32
  people, a lot of
• 2:00:33
  people that go
• 2:00:33
  and travel, you
• 2:00:35
  know, there are
• 2:00:35
  certain areas I
• 2:00:36
  tell you not to
• 2:00:36
  swim because, you
• 2:00:37
  know, again,
• 2:00:37
  people could be
• 2:00:38
  filleting
• 2:00:38
  carcasses and,
• 2:00:39
  you know, putting
• 2:00:40
  these in the
• 2:00:40
  water. There
• 2:00:41
  could just be a
• 2:00:41
  lot of just fish.
• 2:00:42
  You just never
• 2:00:42
  know. And you
• 2:00:43
  want to make sure
• 2:00:43
  when you're
• 2:00:44
  traveling and
• 2:00:44
  you're going
• 2:00:45
  swimming in an
• 2:00:45
  area that's not a
• 2:00:46
  common swimming
• 2:00:47
  area that you
• 2:00:47
  know, that area
• 2:00:48
  is okay. And
• 2:00:49
  there's nothing
• 2:00:50
  in that area that
• 2:00:51
  could create a
• 2:00:52
  scenario that
• 2:00:53
  would be
• 2:00:53
  negative. So I
• 2:00:55
  just thought that
• 2:00:56
  was a good time
• 2:00:56
  to kind of bring
• 2:00:57
  up these points.
• 2:00:58
  And again, and I
• 2:00:59
  was so happy that
• 2:01:00
  those videos
• 2:01:01
  actually,
• 2:01:02
  did well. But it
• 2:01:03
  was funny that
• 2:01:04
  they took five
• 2:01:05
  minutes to make
• 2:01:05
  up just being
• 2:01:06
  like, Hey, don't
• 2:01:07
  do this, do this.
• 2:01:08
  And you know, I'm
• 2:01:08
  glad she's safe.
• 2:01:09
  But just don't
• 2:01:10
  wear a
• 2:01:10
  sequin bikini.
• 2:01:11
  That's just
• 2:01:14
  that's just life
• 2:01:14
  lesson here. Just
• 2:01:15
  don't see in the
• 2:01:17
  ocean. But that's
• 2:01:18
  what I find so
• 2:01:19
  ironic, I think
• 2:01:20
  with a lot of
• 2:01:20
  people who, when
• 2:01:22
  we do stuff like
• 2:01:23
  this, when we do
• 2:01:24
  create content
• 2:01:26
  and we're
• 2:01:27
  scientists and we
• 2:01:27
  want to prepare,
• 2:01:28
  we want to make
• 2:01:28
  sure that one,
• 2:01:29
  we're factually
• 2:01:30
  correct, we
• 2:01:30
  double check, we
• 2:01:31
  confirm. And then
• 2:01:32
  we present
• 2:01:33
  something that's
• 2:01:33
  interesting. So
• 2:01:34
  we spend a lot of
• 2:01:35
  time putting
• 2:01:35
  together videos,
• 2:01:36
  whether they be
• 2:01:37
  three minute
• 2:01:38
  videos, 10 minute
• 2:01:38
  videos, 20 minute
• 2:01:39
  videos, whatever
• 2:01:40
  that might be.
• 2:01:41
  And then they
• 2:01:41
  never really take
• 2:01:42
  off the way we
• 2:01:42
  hope that they
• 2:01:43
  would. You know,
• 2:01:43
  you might get
• 2:01:44
  some views here.
• 2:01:45
  You get
• 2:01:45
  consistently good
• 2:01:46
  amount of views.
• 2:01:47
  But then every
• 2:01:48
  once in a while,
• 2:01:48
  you'll get one
• 2:01:49
  that's just like,
• 2:01:49
  Hey, like, I just
• 2:01:50
  want to comment
• 2:01:50
  on this. And then
• 2:01:51
  I just want to
• 2:01:52
  like, see what
• 2:01:52
  happens. And all
• 2:01:53
  of a sudden, 40K.
• 2:01:54
  You know, views
• 2:01:55
  all of it. You're
• 2:01:56
  like, what are
• 2:01:57
  you kidding me? I
• 2:01:58
  spent five
• 2:01:58
  minutes talking
• 2:01:59
  about that. But I
• 2:01:59
  think the thing
• 2:02:00
  is, is like, what
• 2:02:02
  we don't
• 2:02:02
  understand
• 2:02:02
  sometimes a
• 2:02:03
  scientist is that
• 2:02:04
  and even
• 2:02:04
  communicators
• 2:02:05
  that people just
• 2:02:05
  want, like
• 2:02:06
  relevant content
• 2:02:07
  that's like you.
• 2:02:09
  That's that's
• 2:02:10
  different. But
• 2:02:10
  it's also just
• 2:02:11
  simple, simple
• 2:02:12
  things that we
• 2:02:12
  need to say,
• 2:02:13
  like, you know,
• 2:02:14
  you and I, if we
• 2:02:14
  had talked about
• 2:02:15
  this, just the
• 2:02:16
  two of us just
• 2:02:16
  being like, or
• 2:02:17
  other scientists
• 2:02:17
  around just been
• 2:02:18
  like, yeah, that
• 2:02:18
  was not what I
• 2:02:20
  would have done.
• 2:02:21
  You know, I would
• 2:02:21
  not have worn
• 2:02:22
  like a swim
• 2:02:23
  trunks that were
• 2:02:23
  sequence, like
• 2:02:24
  probably not the
• 2:02:25
  best idea. But to
• 2:02:26
  some people, like
• 2:02:27
  they want to know
• 2:02:28
  more about like
• 2:02:28
  why it's not a
• 2:02:29
  good like what,
• 2:02:30
  like what's the
• 2:02:30
  problem with
• 2:02:31
  that, you know,
• 2:02:32
  other than can't
• 2:02:33
  be very
• 2:02:33
  comfortable, to
• 2:02:34
  be honest, like a
• 2:02:34
  sequence bikini
• 2:02:35
  or any kind of
• 2:02:36
  being sweet that sequence.
• 2:02:36
  And so like, you
• 2:02:39
  just, you get
• 2:02:40
  that like you
• 2:02:40
  start and then
• 2:02:41
  all of a sudden
• 2:02:41
  people are like,
• 2:02:42
  Oh, that's simple
• 2:02:42
  information.
• 2:02:43
  Okay, I can
• 2:02:44
  digest that, you
• 2:02:45
  know, no jargon,
• 2:02:46
  no facts, it's
• 2:02:47
  just, hey, just
• 2:02:48
  probably not a
• 2:02:49
  better good idea,
• 2:02:50
  set it in a nice
• 2:02:51
  way. You know,
• 2:02:51
  you're very calm,
• 2:02:52
  you had your
• 2:02:53
  coffee with you.
• 2:02:54
  I think that was
• 2:02:54
  coffee, coffee
• 2:02:55
  mug with you.
• 2:02:56
  You're just like,
• 2:02:57
  Okay, I'm just gonna, I got a comment on this.
• 2:02:57
  Like it was, it
• 2:03:00
  was a really like
• 2:03:01
  simplistic,
• 2:03:02
  informative,
• 2:03:03
  entertaining kind
• 2:03:04
  of video that I
• 2:03:06
  think people just
• 2:03:06
  get, get behind,
• 2:03:08
  right? Sometimes
• 2:03:08
  I think we go for
• 2:03:09
  so complicated
• 2:03:10
  that this, the
• 2:03:11
  simple videos are
• 2:03:12
  necessary to
• 2:03:13
  really, I guess
• 2:03:15
  like, because he
• 2:03:15
  had a good story
• 2:03:16
  to tell too, but
• 2:03:17
  it's like, it
• 2:03:18
  just hits people,
• 2:03:19
  you know, that
• 2:03:19
  emotion. I just
• 2:03:20
  love, love that
• 2:03:21
  aspect of it.
• 2:03:22
  Right. You just,
• 2:03:23
  you just never
• 2:03:23
  know what's going
• 2:03:24
  to go, you know,
• 2:03:25
  especially in
• 2:03:25
  TikTok, you just,
• 2:03:26
  it can take off. He's a great person. He's a great person. He's a great person. He's a great person. You know, and I think that's what I want to say that I think like, you know, you're going to be very, very nice, very nice. I love it. It's a really, very, very nice. I think it's a great place to see people. You know, I think it's a very nice place to be, you know, you're going to
• 2:03:27
  within like
• 2:03:27
  minutes and
• 2:03:28
  you're just like,
• 2:03:28
  "What the heck
• 2:03:29
  happened?" It's
• 2:03:31
  awesome. But I
• 2:03:32
  love how
• 2:03:32
  you did that
• 2:03:33
  story and it was
• 2:03:34
  a number part and
• 2:03:36
  it was just, it
• 2:03:36
  got good views
• 2:03:37
  all the way
• 2:03:38
  through.
• 2:03:38
  And I just love
• 2:03:39
  that aspect. So
• 2:03:41
  as we kind of
• 2:03:42
  wrap up here, the
• 2:03:43
  science
• 2:03:43
  communication, I
• 2:03:44
  feel like
• 2:03:44
  it's never going
• 2:03:45
  to go away from
• 2:03:45
  you. Something
• 2:03:46
  that you've
• 2:03:47
  really done. What
• 2:03:48
  do you
• 2:03:48
  want to do?
• 2:03:50
  Like this is kind
• 2:03:51
  of the, you're
• 2:03:51
  just scratching
• 2:03:52
  the surface right
• 2:03:52
  now, I feel. Do
• 2:03:54
  you have any
• 2:03:54
  plans for science
• 2:03:55
  communication?
• 2:03:56
  Something that
• 2:03:56
  you want to be
• 2:03:57
  able to
• 2:03:57
  accomplish, try
• 2:03:59
  to manifest
• 2:03:59
  and put it out
• 2:04:00
  there for us. So
• 2:04:02
  a few things.
• 2:04:03
  One, looking at a
• 2:04:04
  PhD to kind of
• 2:04:05
  continue
• 2:04:05
  to, you know,
• 2:04:06
  to go more into
• 2:04:08
  science and I
• 2:04:08
  would love to go
• 2:04:09
  into academia to,
• 2:04:11
  again, to kind of
• 2:04:12
  continue that
• 2:04:13
  science
• 2:04:13
  communication,
• 2:04:14
  you know, in the
• 2:04:15
  college
• 2:04:15
  classroom. And I
• 2:04:17
  also would like
• 2:04:18
  to be able to
• 2:04:19
  film my journey
• 2:04:20
  and also like
• 2:04:21
  with this
• 2:04:22
  podcast, you
• 2:04:22
  know, with the
• 2:04:23
  other people
• 2:04:24
  you've
• 2:04:24
  interviewed,
• 2:04:25
  you know, you
• 2:04:25
  show their
• 2:04:25
  journey and
• 2:04:26
  everyone's are
• 2:04:27
  either different,
• 2:04:29
  but there's
• 2:04:29
  always so
• 2:04:29
  there's
• 2:04:29
  similarities and
• 2:04:30
  people might be
• 2:04:31
  able to connect
• 2:04:31
  and be like,
• 2:04:32
  "Wow, okay, you
• 2:04:33
  know, I didn't
• 2:04:33
  get a job right
• 2:04:34
  away and neither
• 2:04:35
  did she, but
• 2:04:35
  she's doing this.
• 2:04:36
  So, you know,
• 2:04:37
  it's
• 2:04:37
  possible for me."
• 2:04:38
  So there's that
• 2:04:39
  aspect. So
• 2:04:39
  definitely a PhD
• 2:04:40
  and being able to
• 2:04:42
  show the journey
• 2:04:43
  and show the
• 2:04:43
  research and
• 2:04:43
  again, just show
• 2:04:45
  research that
• 2:04:45
  most people might
• 2:04:46
  not ever get a
• 2:04:47
  chance to
• 2:04:47
  see or didn't
• 2:04:47
  even know existed
• 2:04:48
  and get people
• 2:04:49
  excited. But
• 2:04:51
  with, in the
• 2:04:53
  meantime, I mean,
• 2:04:54
  the PhD
• 2:04:54
  search is a
• 2:04:56
  daunting one.
• 2:04:57
  I've been working
• 2:04:57
  for hours on top
• 2:04:59
  of everything
• 2:04:59
  else. I was, you
• 2:05:00
  know, in
• 2:05:00
  between, I'm
• 2:05:01
  like looking at
• 2:05:02
  universities and,
• 2:05:03
  you know, looking
• 2:05:03
  at finding
• 2:05:03
  professors, but
• 2:05:04
  it's, it normally
• 2:05:05
  tells you how
• 2:05:06
  hard it is to
• 2:05:06
  really find
• 2:05:07
  someone that
• 2:05:08
  matches your
• 2:05:09
  research
• 2:05:10
  interests.
• 2:05:11
  Yeah. That
• 2:05:12
  also will give
• 2:05:13
  you a chance to
• 2:05:14
  broaden your
• 2:05:14
  skill set and get
• 2:05:16
  you a chance to,
• 2:05:17
  you know,
• 2:05:18
  work with
• 2:05:18
  something that
• 2:05:18
  you may have
• 2:05:18
  worked before or,
• 2:05:19
  you know,
• 2:05:20
  continue working
• 2:05:21
  with what you're
• 2:05:21
  working
• 2:05:21
  with. But,
• 2:05:22
  but, you know, I,
• 2:05:23
  with my, with my
• 2:05:24
  white sharks
• 2:05:25
  stuff, like I
• 2:05:25
  don't always have
• 2:05:26
  to do white
• 2:05:26
  sharks. I
• 2:05:27
  like the
• 2:05:27
  shark stuff, but
• 2:05:28
  I would like to,
• 2:05:28
  you know, expand
• 2:05:29
  on it, work
• 2:05:30
  another species
• 2:05:30
  or, you know, I
• 2:05:32
  like the tagging
• 2:05:32
  and
• 2:05:33
  telemetry stuff.
• 2:05:34
  So maybe continue
• 2:05:35
  that with
• 2:05:35
  something
• 2:05:35
  different and
• 2:05:36
  then just hone in
• 2:05:37
  the skill set,
• 2:05:38
  but use it for,
• 2:05:39
  you know,
• 2:05:39
  variety of
• 2:05:40
  animals and I can
• 2:05:41
  learn about
• 2:05:41
  different
• 2:05:41
  behaviors. So
• 2:05:42
  there's that. But
• 2:05:45
  in the meantime,
• 2:05:46
  I'm up for an
• 2:05:47
  election. So in
• 2:05:48
  the, in Florida,
• 2:05:50
  we have Florida
• 2:05:51
  Marine Science
• 2:05:52
  Educators
• 2:05:52
  Association. So
• 2:05:53
  it's an, it's an
• 2:05:54
  association for
• 2:05:55
  all the educators
• 2:05:56
  that teach marine
• 2:05:57
  science. I mean,
• 2:05:57
  things for all
• 2:05:58
  levels. I think
• 2:05:59
  primarily it's
• 2:05:59
  more like middle
• 2:06:00
  school and high
• 2:06:00
  school teachers
• 2:06:01
  in it. Yeah. But
• 2:06:02
  I'm up for the
• 2:06:03
  Northeast
• 2:06:03
  Regional Director
• 2:06:04
  position. And I
• 2:06:05
  feel like I have
• 2:06:05
  a pretty good
• 2:06:06
  chance because
• 2:06:06
  I'm the only
• 2:06:07
  person on the
• 2:06:08
  ballot for that.
• 2:06:09
  So I'm so far,
• 2:06:10
  nobody else, but
• 2:06:11
  we just get to
• 2:06:12
  go. So, I mean, I
• 2:06:13
  think there's no
• 2:06:13
  one else running
• 2:06:14
  up against me. So
• 2:06:14
  I think I have a
• 2:06:15
  pretty good
• 2:06:15
  chance. Yeah. But
• 2:06:17
  a friend of mine,
• 2:06:19
  Chelsea Shaw,
• 2:06:20
  she's the
• 2:06:20
  President-elect.
• 2:06:21
  So she's starting
• 2:06:21
  this, this coming
• 2:06:23
  year. She reached
• 2:06:25
  out to me. We
• 2:06:26
  both had worked
• 2:06:26
  together in the
• 2:06:27
  past. And she'd
• 2:06:28
  asked me if I
• 2:06:29
  wanted to be a
• 2:06:29
  part of this.
• 2:06:30
  And, you know,
• 2:06:30
  part of me was a
• 2:06:31
  little nervous
• 2:06:31
  being like, do I
• 2:06:32
  add something
• 2:06:32
  else to my plate?
• 2:06:33
  Yeah. But it's
• 2:06:35
  education. And
• 2:06:36
  I'm like, I can
• 2:06:37
  spin this
• 2:06:37
  into my TikTok.
• 2:06:38
  And I already do
• 2:06:39
  a lot of
• 2:06:39
  education
• 2:06:40
  outreach events
• 2:06:40
  personally,
• 2:06:42
  myself. So I was
• 2:06:43
  like, this will
• 2:06:43
  just be an
• 2:06:44
  extension of that
• 2:06:45
  and kind of give
• 2:06:45
  me more chances
• 2:06:47
  or, you know, be
• 2:06:49
  able to reach a
• 2:06:50
  bigger audience
• 2:06:51
  in the educator
• 2:06:52
  circle. And so
• 2:06:54
  they just
• 2:06:55
  basically, I will
• 2:06:55
  be helping
• 2:06:56
  facilitate events
• 2:06:57
  in the area,
• 2:06:58
  putting out
• 2:06:59
  newsletters about
• 2:06:59
  events that are
• 2:07:00
  retained in
• 2:07:01
  marine science or
• 2:07:01
  education in the
• 2:07:02
  area, you know,
• 2:07:03
  facilitating
• 2:07:04
  conferences or
• 2:07:06
  just group
• 2:07:07
  meetups to make
• 2:07:07
  sure that you
• 2:07:08
  know, anyone in
• 2:07:08
  the area. And
• 2:07:10
  then it also kind
• 2:07:12
  of helps me in a
• 2:07:12
  way to have more
• 2:07:13
  of a board and
• 2:07:14
  leadership role
• 2:07:15
  that can, again,
• 2:07:16
  get me new
• 2:07:17
  experiences in
• 2:07:18
  that. So that's
• 2:07:19
  kind of like my,
• 2:07:20
  my short term and
• 2:07:22
  long term goals
• 2:07:23
  and what's
• 2:07:24
  currently kind of
• 2:07:25
  going on to
• 2:07:25
  continue this. So
• 2:07:26
  even though I'm a
• 2:07:28
  researcher, the
• 2:07:29
  education part,
• 2:07:30
  obviously, is
• 2:07:30
  so important to
• 2:07:31
  me. So this
• 2:07:32
  educator
• 2:07:33
  association kind
• 2:07:34
  of gives me that
• 2:07:34
  chance to do it
• 2:07:36
  on a bigger and
• 2:07:38
  again, at a
• 2:07:39
  professional
• 2:07:39
  level, on top of
• 2:07:40
  just the fun
• 2:07:41
  TikToks. But I
• 2:07:42
  can also use my
• 2:07:43
  TikToks in this
• 2:07:45
  and promote both
• 2:07:46
  the association
• 2:07:47
  and just talk
• 2:07:49
  about everything.
• 2:07:50
  And I think
• 2:07:50
  everything is so
• 2:07:50
  linked together
• 2:07:51
  that I, I feel
• 2:07:53
  like this was a
• 2:07:54
  good move. And I
• 2:07:55
  hope that people
• 2:07:56
  can benefit from
• 2:07:57
  this. And I hope
• 2:07:58
  that I can bring
• 2:07:59
  something new to
• 2:07:59
  the table.
• 2:08:00
  And that they,
• 2:08:02
  you know, I can
• 2:08:02
  open the doors
• 2:08:04
  for some people
• 2:08:04
  or get people
• 2:08:05
  together that are
• 2:08:05
  like minded and
• 2:08:06
  making, you know,
• 2:08:07
  again, help the
• 2:08:08
  Northeast Florida
• 2:08:09
  portion, you
• 2:08:09
  know, of Florida
• 2:08:10
  to get just
• 2:08:11
  excited about
• 2:08:11
  marine science
• 2:08:12
  and get more
• 2:08:13
  people involved.
• 2:08:14
  I love it. I
• 2:08:15
  agree with you. I
• 2:08:16
  think it's
• 2:08:16
  working. I think
• 2:08:17
  you're doing it
• 2:08:17
  and you're
• 2:08:18
  getting bigger
• 2:08:19
  and bigger
• 2:08:19
  things. And I
• 2:08:20
  just love it. You
• 2:08:21
  know, this has
• 2:08:22
  been awesome to
• 2:08:23
  have you on the
• 2:08:24
  podcast. This is
• 2:08:25
  the first
• 2:08:25
  definitely not
• 2:08:26
  last time I'd
• 2:08:26
  like to have you
• 2:08:27
  on the podcast.
• 2:08:27
  I'd love to have
• 2:08:28
  you back.
• 2:08:28
  And as you do
• 2:08:29
  more research, as
• 2:08:30
  you do more
• 2:08:31
  science
• 2:08:31
  communication,
• 2:08:32
  whether that be
• 2:08:32
  through TikToks,
• 2:08:33
  whether it be
• 2:08:34
  through like a
• 2:08:34
  regional area and
• 2:08:35
  having influence
• 2:08:36
  on how people,
• 2:08:37
  how kids are
• 2:08:38
  being educated. I
• 2:08:39
  think it's
• 2:08:39
  wonderful to be
• 2:08:41
  part of all
• 2:08:42
  that aspect.
• 2:08:42
  Because I think
• 2:08:42
  as as scientists,
• 2:08:44
  we have this this
• 2:08:45
  responsibility,
• 2:08:45
  not only to do
• 2:08:46
  really good
• 2:08:47
  research and
• 2:08:47
  really good
• 2:08:48
  science and
• 2:08:48
  conservation, we
• 2:08:49
  also have that
• 2:08:50
  ability with part
• 2:08:51
  of the
• 2:08:51
  conservation is
• 2:08:51
  to really connect
• 2:08:52
  with people.
• 2:08:53
  And I think
• 2:08:53
  you're doing that
• 2:08:54
  in a fantastic
• 2:08:54
  way. It's
• 2:08:55
  obviously
• 2:08:56
  working, whether
• 2:08:57
  you're talking
• 2:08:57
  about sequenced
• 2:08:58
  bikinis or you're
• 2:08:59
  talking about
• 2:08:59
  evolutionary
• 2:09:00
  advantages that
• 2:09:02
  fish can have. I
• 2:09:03
  just love it. I
• 2:09:04
  want to thank you
• 2:09:05
  so much for
• 2:09:05
  coming on
• 2:09:06
  the show.
• 2:09:06
  And, you know, if
• 2:09:08
  people want to
• 2:09:08
  get a hold of
• 2:09:09
  you, your TikTok
• 2:09:10
  is at Ken dot
• 2:09:12
  C's. So Ken Z's,
• 2:09:13
  but Ken dot C's
• 2:09:15
  will put the link
• 2:09:16
  in the show
• 2:09:16
  notes. Is there
• 2:09:17
  any other way
• 2:09:17
  that you want
• 2:09:18
  people to get a
• 2:09:19
  hold of you or?
• 2:09:20
  In case TikTok
• 2:09:21
  gets banned for
• 2:09:22
  whatever reason,
• 2:09:23
  I'm currently in
• 2:09:24
  the United States
• 2:09:25
  and I know we're
• 2:09:25
  all the ones
• 2:09:26
  dealing with it.
• 2:09:27
  I'm on Blue Sky.
• 2:09:29
  And I think
• 2:09:31
  there's another
• 2:09:31
  it's called
• 2:09:32
  Skylight Social,
• 2:09:33
  the new one that
• 2:09:34
  just popped up.
• 2:09:35
  I just added it's
• 2:09:35
  linked to Blue
• 2:09:36
  Sky, so they're
• 2:09:37
  kind of
• 2:09:37
  connected. I will
• 2:09:39
  be also starting
• 2:09:40
  a educational
• 2:09:42
  like Instagram,
• 2:09:43
  same all the same
• 2:09:44
  handles.
• 2:09:45
  I can't can dot
• 2:09:46
  C's or Ken dot
• 2:09:47
  C's or Ken dash
• 2:09:48
  C's. So you can
• 2:09:50
  follow me on all
• 2:09:50
  the platforms on
• 2:09:51
  that way.
• 2:09:52
  I'll put all
• 2:09:52
  those links in
• 2:09:53
  the show notes
• 2:09:53
  and I want to
• 2:09:54
  thank you again,
• 2:09:55
  Kenzie, for
• 2:09:55
  coming on the
• 2:09:55
  podcast. It's
• 2:09:56
  been great. Thank
• 2:09:57
  you for having
• 2:09:57
  me. It was a
• 2:09:57
  great time.
• 2:09:58
  Thank you,
• 2:09:58
  Kenzie, for
• 2:09:59
  joining me on
• 2:09:59
  today's episode
• 2:10:00
  of the How to
• 2:10:00
  Protect the Ocean
• 2:10:01
  podcast and
• 2:10:02
  sharing your
• 2:10:02
  story with the
• 2:10:03
  audience. It was
• 2:10:04
  great to be able
• 2:10:05
  to hear how you
• 2:10:06
  started, where
• 2:10:07
  you're ending up
• 2:10:07
  now and where
• 2:10:08
  you're going to
• 2:10:08
  go in the future
• 2:10:09
  and your goals.
• 2:10:10
  And I think it's
• 2:10:11
  amazing. I can't
• 2:10:11
  wait to see what
• 2:10:12
  you come up with.
• 2:10:13
  I can't wait to
• 2:10:13
  have you back on
• 2:10:14
  the podcast to
• 2:10:15
  talk more about
• 2:10:16
  sharks, more
• 2:10:16
  about fisheries,
• 2:10:18
  more about marine
• 2:10:18
  biology and
• 2:10:19
  science
• 2:10:19
  communication.
• 2:10:20
  It's all stuff
• 2:10:21
  that we love to
• 2:10:22
  talk about here
• 2:10:23
  on the podcast. I
• 2:10:24
  think it's really
• 2:10:24
  interesting just
• 2:10:25
  from a personal
• 2:10:25
  standpoint, our
• 2:10:26
  paths have been
• 2:10:27
  very similar just
• 2:10:28
  at different
• 2:10:28
  times. I'm older
• 2:10:29
  than her, much
• 2:10:29
  older than her.
• 2:10:30
  And we've had
• 2:10:31
  very similar sort
• 2:10:33
  of experiences
• 2:10:34
  learning GIS and
• 2:10:35
  working right
• 2:10:36
  after university
• 2:10:36
  and going back
• 2:10:37
  and doing
• 2:10:38
  graduate school.
• 2:10:38
  So we have that
• 2:10:39
  experience and we
• 2:10:40
  have that field
• 2:10:41
  experience.
• 2:10:41
  They were able to
• 2:10:42
  do a master's
• 2:10:43
  where we're
• 2:10:44
  looking at more
• 2:10:45
  data intense
• 2:10:45
  masters and
• 2:10:46
  research compared
• 2:10:47
  to field intense
• 2:10:48
  masters and
• 2:10:49
  research. And so
• 2:10:50
  I think it's
• 2:10:50
  really cool that
• 2:10:51
  we have that
• 2:10:51
  similar path.
• 2:10:52
  Obviously,
• 2:10:53
  science
• 2:10:53
  communication
• 2:10:53
  path as well. We
• 2:10:54
  share. So it was
• 2:10:55
  really great to
• 2:10:56
  connect with her
• 2:10:56
  on that.
• 2:10:57
  And I just love
• 2:10:58
  to hear that type
• 2:10:59
  of story and to
• 2:11:00
  know that, you
• 2:11:00
  know what, not
• 2:11:01
  everybody has a
• 2:11:02
  unique path. I
• 2:11:03
  mean, this is
• 2:11:03
  unique in her own
• 2:11:04
  right. But it's
• 2:11:05
  very similar to a
• 2:11:05
  lot of us who are
• 2:11:06
  coming out and
• 2:11:07
  doing more
• 2:11:07
  science
• 2:11:07
  communication. I
• 2:11:08
  just love to see
• 2:11:09
  that and enjoying
• 2:11:10
  it. Not having
• 2:11:11
  like, you know,
• 2:11:12
  crazy goals of
• 2:11:13
  earning a ton of
• 2:11:14
  money becoming an
• 2:11:14
  influencer, just
• 2:11:15
  educating for one
• 2:11:16
  person so that
• 2:11:17
  they can
• 2:11:17
  understand the
• 2:11:18
  ocean a little
• 2:11:19
  bit better. And
• 2:11:20
  that's made her
• 2:11:20
  day. I just love
• 2:11:21
  that aspect. You
• 2:11:22
  know, just
• 2:11:22
  keeping it real,
• 2:11:24
  keeping it, you
• 2:11:24
  know, just right
• 2:11:25
  in front of you
• 2:11:25
  and just being
• 2:11:26
  like, I just want
• 2:11:26
  to talk about that.
• 2:11:27
  I'm going to do
• 2:11:28
  it anyway. I
• 2:11:29
  might as well do
• 2:11:29
  it on a platform
• 2:11:30
  where people can
• 2:11:31
  listen. And if
• 2:11:31
  they're looking
• 2:11:32
  for that type of
• 2:11:33
  resource, they've
• 2:11:34
  got it. So I'm
• 2:11:35
  going to put the
• 2:11:35
  links to Kenzie's
• 2:11:36
  TikTok to her new
• 2:11:37
  Instagram is
• 2:11:38
  coming out to
• 2:11:39
  blue sky in the
• 2:11:40
  show notes. Check
• 2:11:41
  it out. And I'd
• 2:11:42
  love to hear your
• 2:11:43
  comment on her
• 2:11:44
  career. You know,
• 2:11:45
  are you following
• 2:11:45
  a similar path?
• 2:11:46
  Do you want to
• 2:11:47
  follow a similar
• 2:11:47
  path? Hit me up
• 2:11:47
  on Instagram at
• 2:11:48
  how to protect
• 2:11:49
  the ocean. Or you
• 2:11:50
  can hit me up in
• 2:11:50
  the comments. If
• 2:11:51
  you're watching
• 2:11:51
  this on YouTube,
• 2:11:53
  and I would love
• 2:11:53
  to hear your
• 2:11:54
  thoughts about
• 2:11:54
  all of this. So
• 2:11:55
  thank you so
• 2:11:56
  much, Kenzie, for your time.
• 2:11:57
  Thank you so much for joining us.
• 2:11:57
  And thank you for
• 2:11:58
  joining us on
• 2:11:59
  today's episode
• 2:11:59
  of the How to
• 2:12:00
  Protect the Ocean
• 2:12:01
  podcast. I'm your
• 2:12:02
  host, Andrew
• 2:12:02
  Lewin from the
• 2:12:02
  True North Strong
• 2:12:03
  and Free. Have a
• 2:12:04
  great day. We'll
• 2:12:05
  talk to you next
• 2:12:05
  time and happy
• 2:12:06
  conservation.