I was inspired by media such as Blue Planet, underwater photography books and magazine, and aquarium visits. I sort of chose to go the marine route because it seemed more specialized and prestigious than terrestrial ecology/wildlife biology.

Marine Science was my undergrad major. I earned my SCUBA certification there and began volunteering on some in-house scientific diving projects. This earned me a part time position with a lab as a graduated. I knew I wanted a M.S. degree so I enrolled in a research-heavy grad school to start immediately after undergrad. Although I spent time with really interesting topics and classes in grad school, I became dissatisfied with academia and research. Around that time, I found a local long-term diving opportunity in the environmental consulting field, worked that job seasonally for two years, then became full-time after finishing grad school. Now my "marine biology" looks more like performing nesting seabird and marine mammal pre-construction surveys, but I'm always happy to spend time near the ocean instead of inland.

Pros of the career path:

1. I'll never forget some of the wild nature encounters I've had while on research trips or during the more exciting day-to-day activities.
2. You don't have to become a "Marine Biologist" because it's what you studied. Some of those skills and experiences are transferable to other fields.

Cons of the career path:

1. Sort of obvious, but an enormous amount of opportunities and funding I received came to me because I was well liked by others.
2. It's a small and competitive field. A lot of the fun jobs pay very little, are seasonal without benefits, etc.
3. I regret focusing so much of my education on marine ecology. If I could start over, I'd prioritize research in marine chemistry, fisheries, and climate change modeling.