Emma Hickerson prepares to dive in a research submersible.
Marine Biologist
Emma Hickerson
Research Coordinator
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Live Web Forum: Archive
December 1 - December 5, 2003
This profile has the following content:
1. Video Profiles
2. Biography
3. Career Timeline
4. Related Ocean Explorer Content
5. Print and Web Resources
Video Profiles 
Watch and listen to the video an/or read the transcript.
Emma Hickerson Profile (Quicktime, 2.4 Mb)
Discover how Emma became interested in marine science.
Research and Work (Quicktime, 3.2 Mb)
Listen as Emma describes the evolution of her marine science career.
Education, Salary, and Hours (Quicktime, 2.8 Mb)
What degree do you need? How much will you work? And what can you expect to earn?
Rewards and Advice (Quicktime, 1.9 Mb)
A few parting words of advice.
Biography
These questions are also offered in video format (above).
What is your actual title?
Research Coordinator at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
Where do you work?
Our office is in Bryan, Texas. The most common question we get is why is it located there when it is landlocked. When the sanctuary was first designated, we did not have an office, and our first manager, Steve Giddings, was a graduate student here at Texas A&M University. The National Sea Grant College Program gave the Flower Garden Banks some office space. We progressed to having our own property, but we are still here in Bryan. The office plans to move down to Galveston in the next few years.
Why are you interested in this particular area of study?
I was born and raised in Sydney, Australia, one of the most picturesque oceanside cities in the world. Because of this, the ocean was instilled in me. I probably consider myself a late bloomer as far as wanting to get involved in marine biology. It was more a matter of course as I went through undergraduate school. I knew I wanted to do something in marine biology but I didn’t know precisely what. The turning point was when I went to Costa Rica and did field work on Olive Ridley sea turtles on an arribada beach (the Spanish word for "mass nesting"). I knew then that I wanted to do field work instead of teaching.
How did you get started in this career?
My first endeavor into marine research was sea turtle biology as an undergraduate. I was lucky enough to get a small National Science Foundation grant to join a group of researchers in Costa Rica and study the mass-nesting behavior of the Olive Ridley sea turtle. My next step was to do my own graduate work at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, where I scuba dived to capture large logger ead sea turtles with a net. I brought them to the surface and attached radio and satellite transmitters to their shells. We obtained a lot of information about their movement in and around the sanctuary.
What are some of the most exciting things you have seen or done?
Probably the first really fascinating moment was to see thousands upon thousands of female Olive Ridley sea turtles climbing onto the beach, just one km long, in one evening down in Costa Rica. I watched these animals lay their eggs and crawl back into the ocean. The next morning, the beach looked like it had been turned up by bulldozers.
Another moment that left me speechless happened on a night dive during a full moon. We were swimming around a sand patch and the bioluminescence in the water created little firework explosions as the little critters crawled around on the coral. In the middle of the dive, a 5-ft-long nurse shark swam right by us, and it was glowing because of the bioluminescence.
What role do you have in the September 2003 mission to the Gulf of Mexico?
During the upcoming mission on the NOAA Ship Ronald H. Brown,we will be conducting ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle) surveys using Sonsub, Inc.'s Innovator ROV to look at some of the topographical features in the northwest Gulf of Mexico.
What are the educational requirements for your job?
Probably the minimum educational requirement to do my job is a master's degree in marine biology. My degree is actually in zoology, but the classwork that I took covered quite a bit of marine biology.
What is the salary range?
The salary range for this type of job ranges from zero on up to about $65,000 to $75,000 a year. The reason I say "zero" is because that's how much I made at the beginning. I volunteered to do this job when the position was vacant and there was no funding. I actually paid a babysitter to look after my daughter so that I could do this job! It worked out really well for me, and now I have a federally funded position.
How many hours do you work?
The hours that we work vary greatly depending on whether we are offshore or in the office. I would say it's a minimum of 8 hrs a day when we are in the office. Sometimes we work longer hours to prepare for a cruise. When we are actually offshore, the days vary, but again, it's a minimum of 8 hrs. Diving usually starts at 7 am and sometimes doesn’t finish until 10 or 11 pm, so you end up working very long hours. But you do get a little down time. When we are running ROV operations, we put in 12- to 15-hr workdays.
What else could someone with your background do?
Someone with my educational background could pursue different types of careers. It could be a career in other government agencies, such as NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service or the U.S. Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service. They could also go into private industry, such as the oil and gas industry or environmental consulting. There are also opportunities in nonprofit organizations such as Conservation International. Formal education could be another choice, teaching marine biology to high school students, for example. If you pursue a PhD, you could become a professor of marine biology teach at the college level.
Who were your role models?
I think my love of nature and love of the ocean were influenced very strongly by my upbringing. I spent my weekends at the beach or my parents would take us walking in the bush. They taught us the names of all the animals and plants, and that has really followed through to my education and interests now. When I get in the water, I want to know the names of everything. It’s pretty exciting when I see something and don’t know what it is. I really have an appetite to learn as much as I can about the underwater world.
The person who really encouraged my choices is Dr. David Owens. He was my advisor when I was an undergraduate at Texas A&M University and then as a master's student in zoology. He encouraged me to follow through with what I wanted to do, and he is one of the people I can credit for helping me the most.
Looking back, was there anything you would have done differently?
I probably would have started earlier.
What are your hobbies?
I find it really hard to differentiate between my hobbies and my job because my life really is my job. My hobbies are marine biology, underwater videography and photography, and underwater exploration.
What are some of the rewards of your job?
I think one of the most rewarding parts of my job is to come back from a cruise with still or video images and be able to package them and deliver them to the public. Whether it is adults who have never been scuba diving and never plan to go, or a group of avid scuba divers, or a group of schoolchildren learning about the ocean, it is truly rewarding to see people's enthusiasm about the ocean realm.
What message would you give to future oceanographers?
My advice for someone who has a strong desire to get into the field of marine biology, or for that matter any field that they have a strong desire to enter, is to go the extra mile because it will probably pay off. Good luck to you.
Interests in Elementary School:
The beach and ocean -- building sandcastles, chasing crabs, sticking my fingers in sea anemones, exploring every nook and cranny to find creatures in the tidepools.
Beginning of Interest in Marine Sciences:
I've always had an affinity for the ocean, but it wasn't until I became a scuba diver that I actually started to observe what was going on under the waves.
First Marine Science Class:
Undergraduate course studying sea turtle biology. After I took my trip to Costa Rica and studied the mass-nesting behavior of sea turtles, I made up my mind that fieldwork was what I wanted to do.
Degrees:
1995, BS, Zoology, Texas A&M University
2000, MS, Zoology, Texas A&M University
First Career-related Job:
After my daughter was born, while I was still working on my master's degree and teaching undergraduate biology at Texas A&M, I volunteered at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary office in the role of research coordinator.
Employment Journey:
- After high school I went to business school to learn basic office skills.
- At 17 I worked as a legal secretary.
- Moved to Texas and worked as a secretary in Texas A&M University's Recreational Sports Department.
- Enrolled at Texas A&M University.
- Studied and worked at Texas A&M Outdoors. Rented out camping gear and led outdoor trips (e.g., kayaking, canoeing, horseback
riding, skiing ) - Continued school and started working at a scuba shop.
- Volunteered at Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary as the research coordinator.
- Full-time federal position as research coordinator.
Career Transitions:
Began as a volunteer, the position evolved into a paid part-time job, and soon I was a full-time contractor. Now it’s a full-time federal position.
Other accomplishments:
Raised my daughter while working, studying and volunteering in a job that ended up being my career!
Related Ocean Explorer Content
This section points to other areas on this Web offering that relate to this career.
A Preliminary Report on the West Florida Shelf, June 12-25 Log
Gulf of Mexico Deep Sea Habitats 2003
Print and Web Resources
Online and offline books, magazines and articles related to this career.
NOAA National Marine Sanctuaries
Information about our nation's marine sanctuaries -- 13 sites with a vast range of marine creatures, habitats, historical artifacts and maritime cultures.
Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary
The northernmost coral reefs in the United States, located in the Gulf of Mexico, are likened to familiar flower gardens because of their brightly colored corals and sponges visible 50 to 100 ft below the surface.
Sea Turtle Research
Vast information on sea turtle research conducted at the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary by capturing the turtles and attaching satellite and radio transmitters.
Sea Turtle Indentification Catalogue
A monitoring study of sea turtles using the barnacle patterns on the turtles' shells.
MarineCareers.net
This site, sponsored by NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program, introduces a wide range of marine career fields and people working in those fields. Professionals describe what they like and dislike about their careers, what they see for the future in their fields, and much more. The site also provides salary and other pertinent career information.
