For Students

In addition to the content concerning marine conservation, marine science, marine life and daily news, MarineBio offers the following specifically for interested students and/or would-be students of the marine life sciences.

See our Careers page: click here

Links to schools that offer a curriculum in marine biology:

Marine Biology Degree Programs in the U.S.
Marine Biology Degree Programs Worldwide

Camps and summer internships

Broadreach: A program that offers experiential summer adventures for teenagers ages 13-18, including scuba, sailing, marine biology, academic and wilderness programs that span the globe.
Odyssey Expeditions: Odyssey Expeditions Tropical Marine Biology Voyages is a program that offers educational adventure for students 15-22 teaching scuba, sailing, marine biology aboard sailing catamarans in the Caribbean. They have been providing unique educational adventures since 1995 and have PhD on staff from Texas A&M teaching coral reef ecology and conservation.
Seatrek BVI: SeaTrek offers tropical summer camp adventure programs in the British Virgin Islands for jr. high, high school and college aged students. Voyages revolve around hands-on sailing, scuba diving, and marine biology explorations.
Seacamp: Seacamp Association is a non-profit, marine science education facility located on Big Pine Key in the tropical Florida Keys adjacent to Looe Key and Florida's fragile coral reefs. Seacamp offers marine science education and summer camp experiences including SCUBA, sailing, board sailing, and arts & crafts to students from 12-17 years of age.
Earthwatch Institute: Earthwatch provides high school and college students the opportunity to contribute their time, experience, and energy as Earthwatch volunteers. Student volunteers become personally involved in field research and work with leading scientists to gain first-hand experience in data collection techniques. Expeditions take place year-round.

The following are David Campbell's (MarineBio's founder and president) answers to the marine biologist interview commonly assigned to students. You might also check out our "Need Help with a School Report, Project or Interview?" forum at http://planktonforums.org/viewforum.php?f=9

research underwater Marine Biology Career Interview

One of the most common requests we get is help with an assignment that requires answers to questions about a career in marine biology.

1. What kind of schooling do you go through to be a marine biologist?

It is primarily a Masters of Science (MS) and PhD degree but many schools are now also offering Bachelors of Science (BS) in Marine Biology as well. Many suggest that the undergraduate degree should be a general Biology or Zoology degree and then go for your Marine Biology degree/s in graduate school. An MS in Marine Biology is usually required to get good jobs and to be able to publish on your own.

2. What kind of salary do you make?

Marine Biologists usually make average salaries like everyone else. BS degrees typically range from $30-40K and MS degrees often get $40-70K+. It's highly variable though and many jobs are very tough to get because they are few and there are many applicants. The more people are aware of the need for more study concerning marine life, the more jobs will become available. We have a long way to go in that area.

3. What colleges should I shoot for?

The top three, in my opinion, are Woods Hole, Scripps, and UCSB or maybe the University of Miami: Rosenstiel School of Marine & Atmospheric Science.... See our schools page for a list of possible schools we've compiled.... The list changes every once and awhile and I'm sure we've missed some but it should help.

4. What, in your opinion, are the advantages and disadvantages of being a marine biologist?

No disadvantages except maybe that this country often treats scientists disrespectfully when the good ones should be treated better than any actor or sports figure based on the usefulness of their contributions. All our great comforts and advances come from science yet the media and far too many people treat science as something to be feared or some such nonsense. Another disadvantage is that when you really start studying marine life, especially in it's natural habitats, you are bound to run into the negative effects our species is causing. See our conservation section for more information. The advantages are endless for those truly passionate about the field. That holds for any field too.

5. What skills are required in marine biology?

Helps to be interested in biology, math and science overall. Communications is also becoming more and more vital so learning to write and communicate well is highly recommended. See the interviews above for more on this.

6. How would I get a job in marine biology after college?

You would first talk with your advisors or having interned/worked/volunteered with companies during breaks you may have something waiting for you that way. There are a thousand ways to look for jobs, your career advisors should be able to help a lot. There are a number of online resources available as well.

7. If you could do all this over, get another profession or keep this one, which would you do and why?

I would do just what I suggest above though I don't regret becoming a geoscientist first, it's a great foundation to be able to study nearly all sciences.

8. What are some of the types of equipment marine biologists use?

Besides, lab equipment, boats/ships and various oceanographic equipment including water samplers, various nets and traps, they use computers (see our Tools page) as well as submarines if they are lucky. Some also scuba dive and also use photographic and video systems to capture images and footage of marine animal behaviors.

9. What kind of marine biology fields would incorporate robotics?

The ones where robotics would be used for sampling or exploring places humans cannot go. For example, Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are used often instead of manned submersibles for various reasons (cost, safety, speed of deployment, etc.). So Deep-sea research uses robotics as well as whenever ROVs are used.

10. What are some of the different fields of marine biology, and how much (approx.) do they make?

Salaries are discussed above and apply here too. See the Careers page and the interviews above to learn more about the different fields often involved in marine biology.

11. What kind of people do you work with? What sort of personality do you need?

I work with average people and some remarkable ones too. Everyone needs a calm and friendly personality to go with their top-notch skills. Much research (including the work behind MarineBio.org) involves teams and team members need to be able to communicate effectively as well amicably. Type B and even C personalities are best.

12. What kind of responsibilities do you have?

I am responsible for all of MarineBio and the Plankton Forums, as well as working with the volunteers and interns, and our project teams on our projects.

13. What advice would you give to someone who wants to be a marine biologist or just started?

Enjoy what you do every second you can. If marine biology keeps you up at night and you cannot get enough of it, then read all the books, watch the films and take all the science and math classes you can. It will be hard work but if it continues to be your passion then no price is too high to succeed in it.

If you have further questions, please visit and join us in the Plankton Forums: http://planktonforums.org

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