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Q. What does your typical workday look like?
A. I really do not have routine work that has to be done each day. One reason that I have worked so long here at the Commission is that I enjoy the diversity of work tasks I am asked to complete. In a typical office day, I generally receive a number of phone calls from biologists form our regional offices or from river authorities with procedural questions (how to sample), location questions (where to sample), or data analysis questions (what does the data mean). I also field questions from the general public about how to access data collected by our agency. I analyze data from studies that our monitoring team has collected and work to summarize the data in published reports. I am asked to review and edit reports and documents produced by others, usually within our division. I attend meetings to discuss a wide variety of topics, but usually focused on some type of monitoring effort. Finally, I spend time planning future water quality studies that we will doing.
Q. What do you like best about your job/career?
A. I really enjoy the balance among conducting field work, analyzing data, and writing reports. Texas is such a diverse State, so it is very enjoyable to travel to different areas. The topography, land uses, natural vegetation, and soil types are unique to the different regions of Texas and they are important determinants of water quality.
Q. What do you find most frustrating?
A. Many times we do not have adequate data on which to base a decision. Texas is such a large State, so data from many monitoring sites are required to document water quality status (present condition) and trends (change over time). Some types of data (sediment, fish tissue, and biological sampling) are very expensive to obtain. I find it frustrating that our monitoring program does not provide comprehensive coverage for all the important parameters.
Q. What kinds of experience and course work should a student focus on to pursue a career like yours?
A. First, I think a student pursuing a career like mine should be curious about nature. If you are the type of student that not only asks questions but one who seeks answers to those questions, you have the potential to make a good aquatic scientist. I am constantly asking questions: Is there a better way to collect that data? How reliable is that monitoring instrument? What is the origin of that pollution problem? What do the data indicate?
To do well in a career as an aquatic biologist, a student should stress course work in biology,
chemistry, and mathematics. I think it is very important to gain laboratory and field experience by
participating whenever possible. There are many opportunities to help with volunteer monitoring
programs around the State. I would encourage students interested an aquatic science career to
carefully select a college that offers a wide array of aquatic biology and chemistry courses and uses
a field approach to deliver them.
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