Connection, as a Marine Biologist
On this blog post I want to talk about connection. This will, admittedly, be a bit of a strange post. It’s something I’ve never really done before, mixing in my Marine Biology with a little…lets call it philosophy.
I was trained as a marine biologist. As anyone who knows me, or who has taken a look around the blog should be able to tell. But the truth is marine biology is just the study of living things in the sea. There’s a hundred and one ways to approach it.
Very broadly, If i had to condense down my training, I’d say I was trained as an ecologist. What ecologists primarily focus on is the interaction between living things and their non living environments. I was trained with a focus towards how the oceans’ living things and environment interact, and consequently, how they are connected. Just to be clear, that is still a super broad area of knowledge, but it is a starting off point.
Picture of a Marine Ecosystem and food web
Nothing in nature exists in a vacuum. Everything is connected, whether directly or indirectly. The matter we are made up of right now has been cycling, from place to place and organism to organism for thousands of years. The energy we’re running on flows from the sun, to other organisms to us. In short, we are all connected. In fact, if you take a wide enough view, pretty much everything is connected.
In fact, what we think of as “a single thing”, very rarely is. There’s a concept in biology called symbiosis, where two organisms interact particularly closely, to the benefit of (at least) one. Organisms we consider one, often have bacteria and microbes which play a small(or large) part in keeping that organism running smoothly. Tree’s associate with fungi to extend their roots, and corals associate with algae to provide their food.
The truth is, everything is connected, and nothing truly exists in isolation. That’s not just the plants an animals. The more I grow, the more I realise the field itself has tons of connections.
After all, marine biology involves knowing about the water(chemistry), the land below the sea(geography), the physics of water 30 metres down(especially as a diver) and the microbes in the sea and sand(microbiology). Biotechnology is an increasingly important part of the space, and as with everything else, economics plays a role.
Being a marine biologist, trying to be a good one, has meant knowing a bit about all of these. I’ll need to keep learning, no question. And yet, there’s only so much one person can know well.
One of the big things I picked up from the Econ minor is the value of specialisation. We do our best, by focusing on something, and doing it extremely well. Then, when we collaborate, we accomplish far more than we could do on our own.
That’s where networks and teamwork comes in. As a proud West Indian, I have to mention the Caribbean Aquaculture Hub. It was the idea of Dr. Julie Russo, someone I know personally and have great respect for. She saw the very real need to bring together all the scattered skills, professionals and stakeholders in aquaculture across the Caribbean and world. After a little more than a year in the caribbean and marine science space, I see just how needed this is.
A network like this allows people to share knowledge and build on what others are doing far more effectively. It would allow people to connect with specialists and new ideas in a way that innovates and new ways of doing aquaculture that work best for our region. It would give a united front to approach governments or companies abroad. And it would make it easier for the natural potential and talent of us Caribbean people to be truly utilised.
So I’m giving of my time. I’ll be taking an active role with the students and young people in the organisation. I want to help build this community that will make things better for me and all of the young up and coming Caribbean scientists. I want to help bring together not just marine scientists like me, but all the other areas we are connected to, to create a resilient, highly productive ecosystem for Caribbean Aquaculture and Marine Science.
And hey, If this is something you want to be a part of reach out to me here or here or the network itself. It doesn’t matter if you’re a student, professional or just find it cool. After all, we’re all connected, and its going to be that connection(with people in the space, and ones we traditonally think of as outside), that’s going to create something strong and beautiful.