Any guidance?

[cfarrell19]

I am looking to begin a career in Marine Biology, however I have

absolutely zero experience in the subject. I have a B.A. in

Classics/Archaeology from Haverford College. After I graduated, I became an Officer in the

Marine Corps, which I have been for the past 4 years. I am exiting

the Marines this fall and am looking to begin a career in marine

conservation.

I would like to apply to graduate programs, however I’m not even sure

if they would accept me without having the required B.S. in Biology.

Should I take all the pre-reqs before applying or after? Is that even

an option? Will I need to get another bachelors?

If anyone can provide any advice or helpful points of contact, I would be extremely grateful. I

don’t personally know anyone in the field and am somewhat overwhelmed

at the prospect of beginning anew. Thanks!

[SKN]

Hey, so I think it would probably be difficult, but I'll tell you what I did. I got a degree in psychology, but did research in a lab with a psych professor who taught comparative psych and had marine animals. So I have a lot of experience with marine invertebrates because of my lab experience. I also did a masters in experimental psych and stayed in the same lab. Now, I've been accepted into a couple of bio phd programs with little to no biology in my background. No funding, so it's not all good news, but I think you could get into such a program if you can wrangle the experience somehow, and learn quickly on the fly.

[Spore]

This will be a tough transition to finesse but not impossible.

Why are you interested in marine biology?

I think if you get a research job in a lab that studies marine biology that is affiliated with a university you will accomplish many things:

1. dedication towards your future field of study

2. letter of recommendation

3. research experience

4. ability to take coursework (for free)

5. networking contacts at prospective universities that you would meet through conferences, talks and collaborations in the research group you join.

All of this will not happen overnight.

[TropicalCharlie]

A good friend of mine went on to complete his MA in marine biology with a BA in sociology. He took intro chemistry, biology and marine biology classes as a postbac at a small state college to meet pre-reqs for the MA program. Through these courses, he was able to make connections with marine bio folks and got some great LOR's. Now he is a prof at a large CA community college teaching biology and marine biology.

As others have said here, volunteering in a research lab to gain experience is another great way to get your foot in the door. If you live near an aquarium or museum of natural history with marine exhibits, look into volunteering there as well. It will give you another perspective on marine bio and career options other than academia. My ug degree is marine bio, so i'm rooting for you!

Edited May 8, 2012 by TropicalCharlie

[fes_alum]

CFarrell19 -

Do you want to be a marine biologist or a marine conservationist? Sometimes there is a distinction between the two. For instance, conservation generally tends to combine the sciences with education, policy, and law. Biology tends to focus on organisms, the interactions between them, etc.. Also, biology is generally based entirely in the math and sciences, and at the master's level, will have a research component.

If you're considering a career in marine conservation, there are programs that you can find (e.g. Scripps Insitute of Oceanography at UCSD) that don't explicity require a degree in the life sciences. These programs, however, may require extensive work experience in the field. A master's program in biology generally requires a bachelor's degree in the life sciences (zoology, fisheries, biology, etc.). If you're set on a biology degree, you may consider taking a second bachelor's degree to obtain the basic prerequisites that you may be missing (chemistry, physics, calculus, etc.) and to gain valuable lab or research experience.

As anyone who participates in this forum can tell you, admission to graduate school is becoming increasingly more competitive--especially when you don't have the right credentials.

Regardless of what anyone tells you in this forum (myself included), the only way to determine if you are eligible for admission into a master's program is to:

1) Find a program that interests you;

2) Check out their minimum admission standards and determine if you meet them; &

3) Contact the admissions office, the graduate coordinator, or even a professor to find out if you'd be a competitive application (they will tell you).

Also, if you're looking to do a traditional master's degree in marine biology that has a research requirement, you will also need to find a professor who will support your application to their program.

I hope this helps...and thanks for your 4 years of service!

FES_ALUM

[Jimbo2]

Hey CF19, I'm a grad student in a marine bio field that hopefully can help you out. I think you might be in better shape than you think because, from my experience, marine science fields place greater emphasis on applied knowledge than theoretical in relation to other fields within biology, so your experiences in the Marines might be a strong part of your application and you can quickly make up any deficiencies you have in knowledge of general biology. For instance skill sets in boating, scuba diving, taxonomy are just as important as your knowledge of concepts taught in biology courses, e.g., if I'm netting fish at night in choppy conditions, it's very important that the person I'm working with understands how to drive and handle the boat rather than they have good "biology book smarts." The other concept that's very important is knowing how to work as a member of a team because fieldwork in programs related to marine biology is very team-oriented. I'm thinking with your background as a Marine you will have a strong background in the importance of teamwork, leadership, and attention to detail, as well as possibly having some experience on boats, which will all be very important when applying to graduate school -- a student can learn the theory/background knowledge related to his research, but it's much more difficult to teach them intangibles such as responsibility.

As far as steps you can take to strengthen your application, I would recommend reading Cambell's Biology book bookhttp://www.amazon.com/Campbell-Biology-Edition-Jane-Reece/dp/0321558235/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337816403&sr=8-1 and taking the Bio GRE to demonstrate that you are knowledgeable about broader biological concepts despite majoring in a different field. Research experience is tied to letters of recommendation, so it's important to begin working in a lab, or volunteering if you have to, to build experience and a reputation that can open doors for you.

Once you get a feel for the more specific concepts that you would be interested in developing as a graduate student, begin reading the relevant literature (google scholar is a good place to start) and start contacting profs to see what the funding landscape looks like.

Hope this helps!