Marine Biology - Explore A Career 

• Skills Needed
• Career Advice 
• Jobs Sites  
• Position types 
• Gift Ideas
• Graduate School Sites 
• Professional Associations 
  

This is a listing of skills that will supplement your college education. Develop them early!

Learn how to:

• Boat Handling
• SCUBA
• Oral and written communication
• Working as part of a team or independently
• Instrumentation Techniques
• Ability to troubleshoot and repair mechanical equipment

• Math
• Scientific analysis
• Keen observation
• Computer
• GIS
• Algae and animal ID

Take up a team building sport

• Any sport that makes you more familiar with the outdoors; canoeing, kayaking, and fishing.
• Activities that increase your knowledge of the outdoors: scuba diving, snorkeling, fishing

• Learn to operate various types of water craft including motorboats, canoes and kayaks
• Obtain a driver's license; get experience hauling and backing boat trailer
• Learn to drive: standard transmission, pickup truck, van, 4-wheel drive vehicles

                                                             Top 

• ATTEND the Unity Career Fair - talk with the professionals in your field, conduct informational interviews
• TALK with upperclassman - where did they volunteer, intern, and find employment?
• ASK faculty, and CRC about Unity alumni who are employed in the Marine Biology field. Call alumni who are working in an area you want to work; introduce yourself, let them know you are looking for advice, internship, job

• JOIN one or more of the professional associations listed above (for annual & regional meeting) by your Junior year
• ATTEND area, state, regional, national recreation conferences
• READ any and all marine biology, ecology, aquiculture related popular and semiprofessional magazines or publications that interest you. If you find a subject or article intriguing, do some research on that subject in books or journals.

During your Junior year begin researching graduate school programs and options:
Pick your senior thesis research project with care; it will help make you a more competitive graduate school applicant.

Top 

• American Zoo and Aquarium Association  - Lists positions with zoo and aquarium jobs across the country
  
  
• Ecology Society of America - Ecology related portions including: research position, graduate student assistantships, research technicians
  
  ESA offers a listserver, ECOLOG-L for discussion of ecological research and theory and job and meeting announcements. Members and non-members are welcome to use this resource. To subscribe to ECOLOG-L, send the command “sub ECOLOG-L {your name} to the address: listserv@listserv.umd.edu
  
  
• EcoJobs - Helps you find jobs in any field in the environment (The CRC subscribes to this publication, stop by and check it out!)
  
  
• New Scientist Jobs - Select “Earth Environment” and then you can check off marine biology.  A searchable database that lets you search by job title and also by sector and job type (full-time, studentship, assistantship as well as master courses) and by location.
  
  
• Research Experiences for Undergraduates - Use their on-line searchable database to find paid research opportunities.  The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the National Science Foundation. REU projects involve students in meaningful ways in ongoing research programs or in research projects designed especially for the purpose.
  
  
• Texas A&M Job Board -A searchable site with great opportunities ranging from temporary and seasonal employment to graduate assistantships and fellowships.
  
  
• Career Resource Center's Job Webpage-Tons of other web links to jobs.

Top 

Positions to look for when you are first starting:

• Environmental science camp counselor - naturalist position or any position which strengthens your knowledge of the natural world
• Internship at a marine lab - try and get an internship at a marine lab for the summer to further your hands on experience and skills
• Whale watching and bird watch boats - a summer job as a naturalist on the boat would be great experience, even working as a deck hand on the boat would allow you to network and perhaps line up a job as the naturalist the next summer
• Volunteer - at an aquarium, for marine animal rescue, bay keepers organization, any marine related public agency or nonprofit organization

Volunteering even half a day a week for the summer will provide you with valuable
experience. You may need to ask repeatedly before being taken on as a volunteer. 

When you have some skills and experience:

• University research projects lab assistant - Apply for positions as assistants on research projects. Typically you will need to contact biology or ecology professors or their assistants directly; these types of positions are often not advertised. Also consider contacting graduate students for leads on research being conducted at their university, or a professional scientist doing research or working with plants, animals or water quality; perhaps assisting a veterinarian
• Network at places where you volunteered or interned - Organizations and people you have worked with are a great resource for networking
• Fisheries Vessel Observer – Obtain a positions as a fisheries observer
• Field Technician
• Laboratory Technician
  

Remember it's all about NETWORKING. If you don't network how is anybody to know who you are and what you have to offer? Volunteering is where you are given the chance to schmooze with the professionals, use it wisely. This is where a lot of people get their first jobs.

Definition of "NETWORKING"- Introducing yourself to, and getting to know, people who might be able to tell you about a job. "An estimated 80% of all jobs are filled by word of mouth even though they may be advertised." The Career Search Handbook
 

Top 

If anyone asks what you would like for your birthday, Christmas, Chanukah, graduation etc. suggest the following

Gift Membership to: The Oceanography Society

• Scuba lessons and dive gear
• Under water camera
• Hip boots
• Foul weather gear
• Field guides and handbooks

Need some equipment in the meantime?  Stop by the equipment room in the OAC.  With a $20.00 refundable deposit you can take out equipment including canoes, backpacks, snowshoes, skis, wet suits and much more!

Top 

• Gradschools.com -This site will allow you to search for schools that have environmental biology graduate programs.
  
  Top 

• Advancing the Science of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) - The purpose of ASLO is to foster a diverse, international scientific community that creates, integrates and communicates knowledge across the full spectrum of aquatic sciences, advances public awareness and education about aquatic resources and research, and promotes scientific stewardship of aquatic resources for the public interest. Its products and activities are directed toward these ends. (from ASLO website)
  
  
• American Zoo and Aquarium Association - AZA is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education, science, and recreation. (formerly was the American Association of Zoological Parks and Aquariums, AAZPA)
  
  
• IMATA- The International Marine Animal Trainers’ Association  - “IMATA was founded to foster communication, professionalism, and cooperation among those who serve marine mammal science through training, public display, research, husbandry, conservation, and education.” From IMATA website
  
  
• National Association of Marine Laboratories  - NAML member laboratories provide a variety of academic, research, and public service programs. They are unique "windows on the sea," providing information on the rich environmental mosaic of coastal habitats where land meets sea. Their 'sense of place' encourages wise local land management and protection of our precious natural resources. (from NAML website)
  
  
• The Oceanography Society  - The Oceanography Society was founded in 1988 to disseminate knowledge of oceanography and its application through research and education, to promote communication among oceanographers, and to provide a constituency for consensus-building across all the disciplines of the field. (from Oceanography Society)

For more information about the Marine Biology degree at Unity College 
click here or contact Dr. Emma Creaser, Associate Professor of Physiology
Coordinator of Unity College's Marine and Environmental Biology Programs

Top