My name is Baylie Fadool, and I graduated from UNL in December 2020 with a Bachelors of Science in Biological Sciences. Since then, I have been volunteering at the Bimini Biological Field Station Foundation (BBFSF) as the Media Manager and Outreach Coordinator in South Bimini, The Bahamas. Part of our mission at BBFSF is to offer educational opportunities to early career scientists by hosting university courses for up to a week at our station. The University of Miami was one of these courses that came from March 11-17, 2023, and one of the graduate students was a graduate of the UNL School of Natural Resources with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife named Madeline Davis. It was a graduate-level course in Tropical Marine Biology for graduate students completing a Masters of Professional Science degree. I asked her a few questions about her experience during the week and how UNL helped propel her career choices.
Baylie: What made you interested in marine biology?
Madeline: I’ve always loved the ocean from a young age. Being from Nebraska there wasn’t many opportunities to go to the coast other than vacations with my family. I love being in the water whether it was competitively swimming or wake boarding at the lake. My love came from working at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium where I helped educate the public throughout junior high and high school at our educational wagons. Then in my senior year of high school I also got to volunteer in the aquarium helping with all aspects of diet prep, feedings, daily water testing and cleanings. My freshman year of college I then interned in the aquarium and had more responsibilities feeding the sharks, rays and sea turtles we had there. From this experience I also received college credit through UNL.
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More details at: https://snr.unl.edu/aboutus/what/newstory.aspx?fid=1040