Oceana | Protecting the World's Oceans

Senior Communications Specialist, Marketing & Communications

Based in: Washington, DC, USA

I grew up in Baltimore, and from Inner Harbor to the steamed crabs to the vacations in Ocean City, it was impossible for me not to be interested in the ocean.

Two people really got me interested in the environment and conservation. The first person was my high school biology teacher. She taught a class on the Chesapeake Bay and really connected with me. The second, as goofy as it sounds, was the Crocodile Hunter. He seemed to be doing more harm than good most of the time, but he did raise awareness, by crikey!

I graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Md. with a BA in Environmental Studies. In my time there, I took a slew of great courses that centered around the ocean including Ichthyology, the Ecology of Coastal Maine, Evolutionary Biology, Sailing and Scuba.  My senior thesis was on the introduction of foreign oysters into the Chesapeake Bay. I determined that oysters were weird, but they still needed a lot of help.

While I was getting an Environmental Studies degree, I was a sports columnist for the school newspaper, and after graduation I wanted to give journalism a try. I started at a semi-weekly newspaper in Bel Air, Md. and after a year and a half I went to the Baltimore Examiner. I helped with the launch of that paper and was given the opportunity to cover University of Maryland football and basketball as well as some time covering the Baltimore Orioles.

The pace was starting to catch up with me and I was really feeling the need to get into a field where my degree might better serve me. I started as communications specialist for Oceana in the beginning of August 2007. From our mission of protecting the oceans, to all the employees, working at Oceana has been fantastic and I am glad to be giving something back to the environment.