I ended up going to the UW knowing I wanted to do some kind of science. I had such a love for marine biology and oceanography. I studied geological oceanography because I love rocks.
During my senior research project, we were up in Glacier Bay, Alaska. One of my colleagues needed help retrieving an instrument, so we put on dry suits and waded about 50 feet. All around us, there were sea otters swimming on their backs and black oystercatchers and harbor seals—all animals I work with now.
When I graduated, the next step would have been an unpaid internship. But I couldn’t afford to do that. I ended up working different jobs. A few years later, i asked one of my professors, Rick Keil, how I could get back into the field. He suggested volunteering at the Seattle Aquarium.
I spend a lot of time in rain gear. Working with marine mammals, you’re bound to get wet.
I started in the tidepool area. Then I volunteered with birds and mammals. I was teaching yoga and bartending to pay the bills and spending all the rest of my time at the aquarium. And I studied what the staff suggested. It paid off. Ten years ago, I was hired.
Now, I’m one of the supervisors for the bird and mammal team. I work with shorebirds, seabirds, river otters, sea otters, harbor seals and fur seals.
Some days start at 5 a.m., when we prepare all the food and vitamin supplements for the animals and fill all the seal buckets.
I have another little 20-pound mammal at home in diapers. Her name is Frankie.