If I want to be a marine biologist, what activities should I do during high school?

Hi Jonya,

Omair did a great job answering the question, I can provide a little bit more color since a friend of mine is an Ocean Chemist.

HIGH SCHOOL COURSEWORK: Biology, Chemistry, Physics are a must. If you can take Advanced Placement, that would be great. To repeat with Omair said, a university degree is almost required, so get into the best school and work hard.

UNIVERSITY COURSEWORK: Biology, Marine Biology, Zoology, (Marine) Ecology, Environmental Sciences, possibly Organic Chemistry. My friend went on to complete her PhD and is currently working as an instructor on Semester at Sea.

VOLUNTEER WORK: Work with Zoos, Aquariums, Aquatic Labs and other nonprofits which may include park and nature preserves along waterfronts or coastlines. If you live near an ocean, you could volunteer on a boat that teaches children marine biology. These boats/programs actually will take kids out on trips and catch and release different animals to teach children about what's going on in the water.

If you happen to go to University of California, San Diego, I know that they have a very robust Ocean Sciences lab and program in that area that you could work on as well.

Whatever you do, keep trying and stay focused. A lot of folks may not have open spaces for you to volunteer but if you stay at it, network with the people and are constantly there to help, they'll think of you first when filling internship or volunteer positions.

p.s., it might go without saying but it's worth mentioning: you should be good with boats. If you get motion sickness easily, you'll have to take Dramamine to make it through the sailing trips!

Hi Jonya,

Since you are still in high school you should have good marks and strong interests in the following courses: Bio, Chem, Physics, Math, English, and possibly even computer sciences. To become a marine biologist a university degree is required in most cases.

Once you graduate high school and enter university or college you will have to take courses like Marine biology, zoology, ecology, botany, geology, etc. So for now just focus on the above high school courses for now and do your best. When it comes time for University or college you will have an outline of the kind of course load you will be undertaking. If you think becoming a marine biologist is something you really desire then go for it!

Source: Recently graduated with a BSc.

Hey Jonya,

Everyone above has some great advice - I have one thing to add:

A great way to figure out if marine biology is really for you is to take a field trip to a facility at a coastal location. This can give you a direct experience of the field studies that take place, and give you insight into what the biologists at these facilities do day in and day out. I took a marine biology field trip to Jamaica in college and it was an eye opening experience! You could look into scholarships for such trips to help you afford it (I did).

Best of luck!
Aaron

Hello Jonya,

I've seen that you have received a lot of great answers above. I want to provide an additional approach. Asides from coursework and academia, I would encourage you to find out certain places that do provide a catalyst for your career path. Then, reach out to employees there and ask if it's possible to volunteer or for advice.

Sincerely,
Brian

One other thing you should do, that will seem obvious in hindsight, but you will not regret finding out now, is whether or not you get deathly seasick. So it is highly recommended to go out on the ocean on a medium-sized ship (not a cruise liner, which are ballasted and have active motion compensation). Something in the 30-m to 100-m size range, which is the typical size for oceanographic research vessels, so that you can feel what the motion of that type of vessel is like (and it will be different from smaller boats like most fishing charters or small pleasurecraft). Many a budding career in oceanography (or marine biology) has sank like a lead brick upon the personal discovery of a high sensitivity to motion sickness.

The other thing you should realize is that jobs in marine biology are highly competitive since there are so few positions, and most of the available positions don't deal so much with rare species but with very common species, since those are the ones of economic importance. So you should aim high in terms of where you go to school, and commit yourself to academic excellence, and be prepared for a career where you spend a month or two in the Bering Sea counting by-catch of a purse seiner rather than identifying rare salps in the Marquesas to find new antibacterial drugs.

Hi Jonya,

Doing well accademically is very important, as many have stated above, but to truly assess you interest and love for Marine Biology I would get involved in local organizations by volunteering, get magazines, or shop your local library for video's to expose yourself to this wonderful world. You're right it sounds like a really fun job.

Check out http://www.sfbaywildlife.info/resources/orgs.htm for various resources.

There are so many things happen when you volunteer. You meet other people who have the same interest (this is called networking), you get to see if it's really what and how you thought it would be, you can create relationships with people who can guide you who are in that field (these people become your mentors).

This is exciting, I'm happy for you, stick with it, keep your focus and you will accomplish you goals.