After undergraduate school, I traveled to Alaska, where I worked as a Fisheries Biologist aboard commercial fishing vessels. There, I collected data on species compostion, abundance of protected species, as well as sex, age and other biological data from target species. This data was used to help set fishing quotas for the next season.

 

From there I traveled to Galveston, TX where I tested the effectiveness of turtle excluder devices in shrimp nets on the Gulf Coast. I then accepted a postion within the Protected Species Branch of the National Marine Fisheries Service rearing and releasing endangered sea turtles. While there, I conducted research into the use of Passive Integrated Transponder tags to monitor movements of loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta).

 

I then left the coast and came 600 miles inland to open the Oklahoma Aquarium. Here, I have had the honor of connecting with millions of people and sharing the importance of aquatic conservation.