Did you know... that marine science (and its parent, geoscience) was singled out by Yahoo as one of the 25 best job areas for 2005?  That marine biology graduates find jobs in many industries?  That marine scientists choose work in a variety of workplaces – ranging from mostly all indoors to mostly all outdoors?

In this series, we explore the familiar and not-so-familiar career paths our graduates take.  Deborah Smith, Marine Science '02, is a marine scientist based in Newport, Rhode Island.  At Maine Maritime, Deb took advantage of internships on research vessels (through the Marine Technology Education Center) and did a field and lab based senior project.

Where do you work?  What is your job title?
SAIC (Science Applications International Corporation).  Marine scientist-hydrographer.

What are your responsibilities?
Field hydrography, data management, and data processing.  Hydrography involves mapping the seafloor.

What is the purpose of your work?
It depends on the customer; our work for NOAA (the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration) is used primarily to update nautical charts. We have done survey work for universities doing various research and investigations. We have done searches for planes and lost equipment. We collect the data and process them to customer specifications. Most recently we were contracted to survey the Mississippi River just after Hurricane Katrina so that commercial and military vessels could travel up the river.

Have you had other assignments? 
I have worked for SAIC since graduating from Maine Maritime and have done mostly hydrographic survey work.  I did participate in some GIS (Geographic Information Systems) work and have worked on software testing of SAIC’s survey software.  

What is your favorite part of the job?
I love going to sea and working on boats.  So any part of the job that takes me offshore is great!

Your least favorite?
Sitting in front of a computer for 12 hours a day!

Any advice to new students?
Figure out what you really are interested in and learn as much about it as you can. Talk to people who have jobs in the field you are looking at and find out what qualifications you need to begin. Start to do this early (while you are still in college) will help you find out what you need to learn before you try and apply.

Anything else?
Remember you won’t always find your dream job right away, but hard work and determination will get you there someday.