Senior Education and Research Specialist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
How does a guy, wanting little more than to scuba dive in the ocean as a college student, discover a new species of comb jellies (ctenophores)!?
Discover how George’s expertise (and mad diving skills) continue to enrich our understanding of the world of ctenophores.
Although Kasie didn’t really like chemistry in school-- “I hated Chemistry!”-- she knew that water quality has a huge impact on how animals survive in different environments. We feel incredibly fortunate to have Kasie’s innovative and energetic approach to sustaining water quality at our prized Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Learn more about Kasie’s long and winding road to our beautiful backyard.
The Real Prince of WhalesMeet Jeremy Goldbogen. He tags whales. Yep, he pretty much has one of the coolest jobs of anyone we know.
Through Jeremy’s research we get to cruise the ocean on the back of whales and experience how they eat krill, make those amazing noises and maneuver with surprising agility. With a device the size of a book, Jeremy speaks volumes about the largest animals ever known to live on earth.
The Resounding Impact of Chuck BaxterChuck Baxter has a long history of inspiring thousands of outdoor nature enthusiasts including his students, scientists, even US! It was Chuck’s vision that motivated our production of the original PBS series, The Shape of Life. Before that, Chuck was one of the founders of the Monterey Bay Aquarium where his vision led to many of the exhibits. When you consider these outlets alone, it’s difficult to quantify how many lives Chuck has enriched through his appreciation of the natural world.
Senior Scientist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute
Following Her Passion -- A Really Sound Decision
A little girl from Connecticut takes a trip to Sea World. She is captivated by the killer whales and dolphins. Especially the sounds they make and its role in marine life survival. From that point on, Kelly knew she would make a career out of the sounds in the ocean. As a fourth grader, Kelly wasn’t exactly sure how she would do this-- but, boy oh boy, she figured it out.
Behind Every Great Scientist is a Teacher with a Strong Message
How does a kid from Missouri become an award-winning scientist who specializes in animals living in the bottom of the ocean? “It wasn’t until I was in community college that I was jolted into actually applying myself. I had a teacher who told me I ‘made him sick’ because I got decent grades with such little effort”, chuckled Jim. “I mean, he had a point. I was basically surfing and goofing off.”
Jim applied himself all the way to his PhD from Scripps Institute of Oceanography and today instills a natural curiosity about the ocean with his engaging presence.
Everyone thinks about the carbon footprint of their favorite burrito, right? Maybe not—BUT!… Dr. Eugene Cordero, a self-proclaimed “burrito connoisseur,” certainly does. And, he makes it fun for middle school science students to think about the footprint of all kinds of things.
Find out more about how Dr. Cordero turned his love of science and Climate Science Education into an innovative online resource that empowers kids to fight climate change.
Imagine a 13-year old kid riding the bus with his Scuba gear. That was Steve Haddock, who grew up in Southern California. Exploring tidepools, the beach, and the ocean was Steve's favorite thing. Bored with Engineering college Steve delved into biology classes which was a 'winning combination' for researching the deep sea. Steve’s advisors, who studied bioluminescence and the deep sea, opened the door for him to follow his passion as a marine scientist. The light Steve sheds on bioluminescence of the deep sea is impressive, indeed.
Where Engineering Meets Science
When Kakani asked her engineer grandfather what direction she should explore in her education, he replied, “well, civil engineering is about concrete, and that can get boring. So, aerospace seems like a good idea.”
And so began an incredible journey from championship figure skating to groundbreaking discoveries of our oceans and how much we have to learn from larvaceans. Larvaceans, our featured chordate, are a vital part of the food web. Through Dr. Kakani Katija’s research we have learned just how pervasive plastics are in our oceans.
“Really, I want to develop tools that will help science discovery explode.”
- Dr. Kakani Katija
Dr. Micheli is a marine ecologist and conservation biologist. Fio, as she is known to students and colleagues, is Italian. Her career path wasn’t a straight line. At college in Florence she studied animal behavior, but after graduating, she took a job collecting intertidal animals for a nature documentary. Fio loved working in the rocky intertidal. This project launched her into marine science. She received her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina and then went to the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, in Santa Barbara, for a post doc. She never went back to live in Italy.