The Three Branches of Marine Biology

Since I don't have any updates on my own work or future work, this week I thought I would write a short blog about three main areas of marine biology, and some examples of careers within each of the branches. I think that it's a pretty common misconception--likely in a lot of fields--that individuals that earn a degree in marine biology have limited career opportunities, but this field of science has three really interesting and different branches to explore. Whether someone gets a degree and wants to work on the educational side of the field or wants to work with animals, broadly, there are opportunities available and many of them overlap.

The first branch is probably the most common and well understood, which is the research and academic branch. Many individuals get advanced degrees in the marine sciences because they are interested in research or teaching, and these individuals are preparing for careers at universities, zoos/aquaria, museums, or conservation groups. I also think that there is a lot of career flexibility in this branch, since individuals with degrees in marine biology (or a similar field) may fit into biology, oceanography, or environmental science research groups, may have experience in single or multi-organism systems, or may have very specific skillsets but are really curious. From some anecdotes and research, I know that this branch, however, is also one of the more difficult to make a career in, since there are a lot of barriers to entry: limited faculty positions at universities that support marine science work, the highly competitive nature and long time-in-residence required for upper level and research focused positions at zoos, aquaria, and museums, and sometimes the very specific needs of the organization that don't fit with a candidate's portfolio.

The second branch, which is also well-known, is the governmental or NGO path. This path has some overlap with the research and academic branch because often candidates in this path are conducting research for governmental organizations or NGOs. However, I think what sets this branch apart is that the research and academic work here is often to inform policy and decision making, which may be a secondary purpose for research in the academic branch. While two governmental groups that most career candidates seek employment with are NOAA and the EPA, marine science careers are available with the USGS, NIST, and even some of the military research laboratories. Often I hear career candidates claim that this branch may have the strongest stability for a marine science career, especially if the candidate gets employed with the government, and individuals may be drawn to governmental or NGO careers if they are interested in data acquisition, analysis, and interpretation work, but perhaps don't care as much about the inception of the project or research plan.

The final branch is the broadest of the three branches, and it's the economic branch of marine science research. Perhaps there could be a fourth branch if I split this branch apart, but I think this branch is pretty broad, encompassing ocean tourism and harvesting oceanic resources. It is probably unlikely that an individual gets a terminal degree to work in ocean tourism, but advanced courses and certifications may assist scuba companies and ecotourism guides to provide outstanding guest services. Fisheries and aquaculture work, however, is often performed by individuals with advanced or terminal degrees in marine sciences fields. From oyster hatcheries to kelp farming, scientists are often expected to have these advanced degrees to maintain resources that support the needs of a growing world population. Additionally, since we harvest some marine organisms for pharmaceuticals (lots of anti-tumor agents), scientists with advanced degrees are often needed to perform the laboratory work to culture these biological products.

So are you interested in joining the field of marine biology? If you are, I hope that this blog helped explained some of the available opportunities and areas of work within the field.