HOW TO BECOME A MARINE
BIOLOGIST
To become a marine biologist you have to have a very strong love
for all ocean life. You must live near the ocean, and it
wouldn’t hurt to get you SCUBA certificate, a driver’s
license, and be able to drive a boat.
In highschool and your first year of college you should try to
take classes like these: biology, botany, chemistry, ecology,
fish biology, marine mammology, and conservation courses. You
might also take classes later on in college like these:
systematics, anatomy, physiology, ocean farming, and pollution
biology.
The college you go to should have interests in fish, marine
mammals, and sea plants. It will take you a minimum of four years
to get your Bachelor of Science degree, and two to five years to
get your Masters degree. Your Bachelors degree is usually the
only thing required, but most marine biologists improve their
degree for a better chance at a better job.
In college you will spend a lot of your time in the laboratory,
and a little time in the ocean. Remember marine biologists
aren’t always in the ocean. They spend much of their time in
the laboratory using microscopes. While you are in college it
wouldn’t hurt to have a job at a veterinary clinic, fish
store, aquarium, or zoo.
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