career in cephalapods?

[brett]

i am 17 and looking at colleges and I am really interested in the ocean and am an avid scuba diver but i was wondering if you guys know of really good marine biology schools or careers that invlove cephalapods or marine life for that matter. I know it is broad but any personal experience would help steer me. thank you

 

[TPOTH]

Good luck! (yes i really mean it)

I believe there are quite a few good places to go to for aquatic/marine biology studies in the States, plugging some keywords into Google should net (pun!) you quite a few good adresses until somebody gives u more info here

I have however seen a lot of "avid divers" being disenchanted with research in marine biology because they did think they'd go diving everyday around some tropical island... Although that can happen (sweet memories of Indonesia) most of yr time is spent in a lab/office (they don't even let me out when nature calls... although they did crank the window open a bit)... on the same rather somber note... don't expect a 9-5 job with lots of cash either

If you can read all the above and not flinch then do go ahead and apply for the top US marine places Good luck!

TPOTH

 

[brett]

ah poop, then waht should i do? i need a solid amount of money and an exciting job. i dont want to be behind a desk ya know?

 

[TPOTH]

dunno... join the Marines?

TPOTH

 

[Andy Lister]

Come to the UK.

We have some of the best Marine Biology degrees in the world, and if you dive over here you'll love diving anywhere else you can... whether it's tropical or not it cannot be this cold!

I went to University of Hull www.hull.ac.uk in their campus in Scarborough and will happily give you any help that you need to get anywhere over here!

~Andy

 

[TPOTH]

Come to the UK.

mmmm... been there, done that... not dishing the teaching at all. Having done both BSc and Msc in merry old England, i had a total blast but afterwards NERC funding...well... a fees-only clause if you're international (or maybe just French... cuz u brits hate us frogs... ) does suck. If you have to get a(nother) job to pay for yr living expenses (rent/food/drinks/etc...) well yr PhD is going to take forever as you won't be able to put 100% in the project (which is what's required at that stage ... ask Master O ) and yr funding will probably run out before u finish...

ok, ok, grim picture .... if you can secure funding (i.e. you're not French) then yeah, by all means, Go for it!

TPOTH

 

[Andy Lister]

Haha, too true!

 

[cthulhu77]

Working in the animal trades rarely pays well, and it isn't usually exciting...but if you are passionate about something, it doesn't matter.
I guess I am lucky, in that being an artist, we are expected to suffer from bad wages for years and years...(paying your dues, it is called) I am sure that Dr. SOS had a number of nasty years prior to the fun filled times he is having now, what with all of the socialization and carrying-on he is up too...

 

[Melissa]

Research and teaching seem to go together, with a livable but not luxurious salary after years as a starving student.

Colin's kind of work may interest you more than Steve's - again, probably not megabucks, but often outdoors. Similar work near the shoreline might include dive instructors and the people who run boat excursions. I think the real money goes to the person who owns the business rather than the people manning the ship. Who maintains the Intercoastal Waterway and the marine parks?

Pirate sounds like more fun.

Melissa

 

[Nancy]

There seem to be a lot of interesting jobs, but not everyone with a degree gets them. You could work with a public aquarium, for instance, and live in a nice city by the sea.

There are a lot of excellent academic programs in the US, too. We even have some students in these programs who are TONMO. com members. It seems to me that studying marine biology would be a lot of fun.

Nancy

 

[pipsquek]

Yar matey..

Being a pirate is much better, jusk as Greenpeace. Boats get blown up, hijacked, rammed, detained, sunk, and a million other exciting things... The pay probably sucks, but I did know a lobbyist for them once, and he did seem to be doing to bad. But he wasn't get shot at by the French either, so it wasn't as exciting....

 

[brett]

what kind of campus are we talking abou for hull university and would a degree from there be recognized around the world? I am very interested in the subject and probably will double major for a back up plan. in something related but more general.

 

[Steve O'Shea]

...we are expected to suffer from bad wages for years and years...(paying your dues, it is called) I am sure that Dr. SOS had a number of nasty years prior to the fun filled times he is having now, what with all of the socialization and carrying-on he is up too...

Too true. For every one day out of the office there's usually 6 inside; for every one day at sea there's usually 10 inside; for every one day on expedition there's usually 20 organising or worrying about it, in one way or another. And ja, had many nasty years; now I just have nasty days ... and some of them can be mighty nasty; but for every nasty one there are 5 non-nasties and 1 indifferent. The $ never will be great, but I wouldn't want to change what I do.

TPOTH, you should be working!!! [crack whip noise]

 

[TPOTH]

Too true. For every one day out of the office there's usually 6 inside; for every one day at sea there's usually 10 inside; for every one day on expedition there's usually 20 organising or worrying about it, in one way or another. And ja, had many nasty years; now I just have nasty days ... and some of them can be mighty nasty; but for every nasty one there are 5 non-nasties and 1 indifferent.

Aren't you being a tad negative there?

The $ never will be great, but I wouldn't want to change what I do.

Nah... me neither, Master!

TPOTH, you should be working!!! [crack whip noise]

Siryessir!

TPOTH

 

[fluffysquid]

Texas A&M in Galveston has a pretty decent Marine Biology program... AND Galveston is the home of The National Resource Center for Cephalopods.

Texas A&M University at Galveston
http://www.nrcc.utmb.edu/

The NRCC hires lots of college interns (like me!!) to do stuff involving keeping lots of octopuses, cuttlefish, squid, and nautilus alive and breeding (except for the nautilus... they dont do much breeding there).