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Go To College, Study Fish...

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December 07, 2009

Go To College, Study Fish...

By Tim Romano

I won't say I had a bad college experience by any measure, but if I could do it all over again I might just take the path Tom Detmer (my wife's cousin) is taking at the moment. Tommy as we like to call him is getting his PhD with the University of Colorado and CIRES here in Boulder, Colorado. The video below explains exactly what he's tackling and what most of his work consists of.

Sounds like a pretty good way to spend some extra years in school. Getting a PhD and fishing a ton along the way. Now, I'm not sure I have the stomach for however many years it might take to get a PhD, but am...

...very appreciative for the work my alma mater and Tommy are putting into better understanding how humans are impacting ecosystems and what we can do going forward to manage them better.

Enjoy the video.

TR

Comments (13)

Top Rated
All Comments
from jeffo52284 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Great video. I think I could get into that type of schooling

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Good for that young man. He's living the good life and earning a degree at the same time.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

If I could turn back the clock and do it all over again ...

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from dighunter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Man, that would make signing up for my master's degree classes so much less painful. Hell, I might even get the assignments in before the deadline!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from MichFish86 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

I'm currently wrapping my fisheries & wildlife B.S. degree and will be looking to enter a master's program soon. In my undergraduate experience I have been able to do everything from clean up a neglected river to helping to set up and work at a lake sturgeon hatchery focused on rehabilitating a dam-locked population. I know it's small but the picture on my account is a coworker and I lifting a 6'2" female lake sturgeon out of the water to measure, weigh, tag, and take eggs from her. These students dedicate 60+ hour weeks routinely (without a penny of overtime, mind you) in order to help improve our natural resources, thanks for recognizing the hard work, TR!

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from curmudgeon wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

CU is very fortunate to have that young man. Brains, brawn and a passion for fish.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Woodstock wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

My best wishes to the guy.

But if there's anything I can pass on to him from personal experience: many of the best fish biologists tend end up as bureaucrats.

Not saying that's a bad thing; we need top-notch bureaucrats to run the dept's that oversee our natural resources...but, if this guy is on the ball, he'll eventually have to make a tough choice: do you remain a lower-echelon biologist who does cool work in the outdoors, or do you aspire to promotions with commensurate increases in pay and responsibility, but which also put you behind a desk and farther away from the core reasons that brought you into the field?

You may even have to make similar choices in your chosen profession, Tim.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from earlyriser81 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

I wish I knew about these opportunities when I was in high school. If I could go back in time I would fire my high school guidance counselor.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from fliphuntr14 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

haha im working on my degree in biology just for this reason you can do what you love and get paid for it i understand the wages are not great and that you may have to move around a lot.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Fisheries is fun as long as you can stay in research. Even management and public relations are fun, but it makes you want to pull your hair out though when politicians and lawyers stay dictating management decisions and not the science. Oh yeah the pay is dismal too.
As for earning a degree in fisheries you can't get much more fun. I had a blast at Virginia Tech another premier fisheries school.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

that should read "start dictating", not "stay"

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from kirkdeeter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

ah... so now we understand the vt before bluegrass is a Hokie thing...

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 2 years 7 weeks ago

I'm with VT. I got out of forest biology my senior year at Ohio State after discovering I'd make more money selling shoes at the mall. Plus the girls were a whole lot prettier in the business classes.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report

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from MichFish86 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

I'm currently wrapping my fisheries & wildlife B.S. degree and will be looking to enter a master's program soon. In my undergraduate experience I have been able to do everything from clean up a neglected river to helping to set up and work at a lake sturgeon hatchery focused on rehabilitating a dam-locked population. I know it's small but the picture on my account is a coworker and I lifting a 6'2" female lake sturgeon out of the water to measure, weigh, tag, and take eggs from her. These students dedicate 60+ hour weeks routinely (without a penny of overtime, mind you) in order to help improve our natural resources, thanks for recognizing the hard work, TR!

+3 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Good for that young man. He's living the good life and earning a degree at the same time.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Fisheries is fun as long as you can stay in research. Even management and public relations are fun, but it makes you want to pull your hair out though when politicians and lawyers stay dictating management decisions and not the science. Oh yeah the pay is dismal too.
As for earning a degree in fisheries you can't get much more fun. I had a blast at Virginia Tech another premier fisheries school.

+2 Good Comment? | | Report
from jeffo52284 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Great video. I think I could get into that type of schooling

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from seadog wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

If I could turn back the clock and do it all over again ...

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from dighunter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

Man, that would make signing up for my master's degree classes so much less painful. Hell, I might even get the assignments in before the deadline!

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from curmudgeon wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

CU is very fortunate to have that young man. Brains, brawn and a passion for fish.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from Woodstock wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

My best wishes to the guy.

But if there's anything I can pass on to him from personal experience: many of the best fish biologists tend end up as bureaucrats.

Not saying that's a bad thing; we need top-notch bureaucrats to run the dept's that oversee our natural resources...but, if this guy is on the ball, he'll eventually have to make a tough choice: do you remain a lower-echelon biologist who does cool work in the outdoors, or do you aspire to promotions with commensurate increases in pay and responsibility, but which also put you behind a desk and farther away from the core reasons that brought you into the field?

You may even have to make similar choices in your chosen profession, Tim.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from earlyriser81 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

I wish I knew about these opportunities when I was in high school. If I could go back in time I would fire my high school guidance counselor.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from fliphuntr14 wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

haha im working on my degree in biology just for this reason you can do what you love and get paid for it i understand the wages are not great and that you may have to move around a lot.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from vtbluegrass wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

that should read "start dictating", not "stay"

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from kirkdeeter wrote 2 years 8 weeks ago

ah... so now we understand the vt before bluegrass is a Hokie thing...

+1 Good Comment? | | Report
from buckhunter wrote 2 years 7 weeks ago

I'm with VT. I got out of forest biology my senior year at Ohio State after discovering I'd make more money selling shoes at the mall. Plus the girls were a whole lot prettier in the business classes.

+1 Good Comment? | | Report

Post a Comment

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