LadAShark Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 So I am affiliated with Oregon State University, and I was going to most likely be buying live specimens from http://www.gulfspecimen.org/purchase-live-marine-specimens/ They have a lot of interesting critters and fish there, maybe not the brightest, but definitely the weirdest. Also a good cheap alternative for some types of puffers, eels, gorgonians, sea fans, etc.. I may or may not be able to facilitate a group buy, is anyone interested? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Nothing for me, but you're right about there being some weird creatures for sale there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 I am now having flashbacks to Dr. Markel's ichtheology lab tests. Staring at some gruesome 20 year old fish in a bottle...ummmmm. Lots of real life skill gained in that class. Just the other day someone was like "hey buddy, can you harvest and prepare otilith bones? And I was like "absolutely!! what do you need"? lolSent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 3 hours ago, pdxmonkeyboy said: I am now having flashbacks to Dr. Markel's ichtheology lab tests. Staring at some gruesome 20 year old fish in a bottle...ummmmm. Lots of real life skill gained in that class. Just the other day someone was like "hey buddy, can you harvest and prepare otilith bones? And I was like "absolutely!! what do you need"? lol Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk Ah, you have some icthyology background? That was my dream as a kid... Be like Herbert R Axelrod traipsing through the amazon region looking for new tetras and the likes... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 18 minutes ago, TheClark said: Ah, you have some icthyology background? That was my dream as a kid... Be like Herbert R Axelrod traipsing through the amazon region looking for new tetras and the likes... I was going to be a paleontologist, because I thought I'd be digging up a new dinosaur every week. I learned that's not how it works and switched my dream to trapeze artist, mostly for the sparkly costumes! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Ah, you have some icthyology background? That was my dream as a kid... Be like Herbert R Axelrod traipsing through the amazon region looking for new tetras and the likes...yeah i have some fish chemistry floating around in my head. Chloride cells, rete mirabele, yada yada yada. it's pretty interesting stuff..how a swim bladder actually works, how salmon osmoregulate between fresh and saltwater etc. But the reality of being a fish biologist is sitting in a lab most of the time and the rest of the time begging for money. I became a restoration ecologist/wetland biologist with dreams of traipsing through lush beautiful wetlands and restoring vast ecosystems. While I advanced enough to do those sorts of things most of my career was spent facilitating road, house, and business construction. Flooded with email, drowning in federal state, and local permitting red tape I walked away from all of it to become a farmer. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 Very interesting! Sometimes what we love sadly is a better hobby than career. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
albertareef Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 6 minutes ago, pdxmonkeyboy said: yeah i have some fish chemistry floating around in my head. Chloride cells, rete mirabele, yada yada yada. it's pretty interesting stuff..how a swim bladder actually works, how salmon osmoregulate between fresh and saltwater etc. But the reality of being a fish biologist is sitting in a lab most of the time and the rest of the time begging for money. I became a restoration ecologist/wetland biologist with dreams of traipsing through lush beautiful wetlands and restoring vast ecosystems. While I advanced enough to do those sorts of things most of my career was spent facilitating road, house, and business construction. Flooded with email, drowning in federal state, and local permitting red tape I walked away from all of it to become a farmer. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk 5 minutes ago, TheClark said: Very interesting! Sometimes what we love sadly is a better hobby than career. 32 minutes ago, TheClark said: Ah, you have some icthyology background? That was my dream as a kid... Be like Herbert R Axelrod traipsing through the amazon region looking for new tetras and the likes... Lots of science-y types floating around on the board these days! Likewise, planned to go to grad school in Marine Biology until I realized that the only way to qualify for the few programs out there at the time was to have graduated from their undergraduate programs. Ooops. Instead, ended up being a neuroscience researcher instead and the marine interest became a hobby. Had visions of starting up/working in aquaculture - which would have somewhat put me ahead of the curve - but alas, didn't work out. Given the struggles I have with just my own tank, however, maybe it was all for the best! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted April 6, 2017 Share Posted April 6, 2017 yeah, my understanding was the only real jobs for marine bio are PhD grade. Neuroscience is cool though!! hell, any science is cool. It's disheartening how pervasive the culture of ignorance has become. People simply "fake newsing" peer reviewed research papers. what? Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadAShark Posted April 7, 2017 Author Share Posted April 7, 2017 Sadly all of the above is true. Study to be a scientist and you make a little more than you would have if you hadn't... if your field is hiring non PhD degrees. Same thing goes for chemical engineering, though the pay is better. Go through hundreds of interviews during job season, and if you're lucky you'll find one. Many of them want grad school, and if you have grad school, then they want 3 years minimum in the field. Seriously ridiculous. When I was little I dreamed of being a marine biologist. The more I found out about it the less I liked it. I had (and still have) a chance to go to med school, but after talking to doctors working 80 hour weeks while still on call, bot to mention having to spend 25% of their time doing paperwork for insurance companies, I couldn't help but get cold feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdxmonkeyboy Posted April 7, 2017 Share Posted April 7, 2017 yeah, I thought about being a doctor but interacting with patients would get tiring. the only doctor I know who truly loves his job is a pediatric neurosurgeon. talk about delicate and stressful. It could be worse, we could all be working at Wal-Mart. But sometimes I do wonder..is ignorance bliss? It would be nice to just have clouds passing through my head instead of spreadsheets and to do lists and getting totally annoyed at commercials like "hey, did your chemotherapy cause permanent hair loss?" well... forget the fact that AT LEAST YOUR STILL ALIVE.. let's sue somebody because your bald now. rant over. sorry to hijack your marine group order thread. great opportunity and cool species. if I had the room I would order a half dozen octopus. Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spectra Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 On 4/6/2017 at 2:23 PM, Flashy Fins said: I was going to be a paleontologist, because I thought I'd be digging up a new dinosaur every week. I learned that's not how it works and switched my dream to trapeze artist, mostly for the sparkly costumes! Well did you join the circus Had to ask............. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashy Fins Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 3 minutes ago, spectra said: Well did you join the circus Had to ask............. I wish! Then again, I've never been attacked by a tiger or told to walk on glass, so perhaps a desk job is not so bad. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nancymacc Posted April 8, 2017 Share Posted April 8, 2017 I enjoyed reading this thread. I too dreamed of becoming a marine biologist but the thought of combating zebra mussels in the Great Lakes didn't hold the mystic of the Great Barrier Reef...I couldn't afford to go to school outside of Canada...sigh, off to nursing school it was. I do agree that having your passion as a hobby can often be more rewarding than as a career. You have way more freedom to follow the tangents that tickle your fancy. I was lucky to be into computers forever. It helped me transition from bedside nursing to the IT side as I rapidly climb to retirement age. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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