Michael (Mike) Ford was born in Colorado in 1967. He received his Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences from Stanford University and his PhD in Population Genetics from Cornell University in 1991. In 1995, Mike began working at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center as a national research associate where he studied the local adaptations of Chinook salmon using molecular genetic data. Since 2003, Mike has been the Director of the Conservation Biology Division at the Center.

Michael Rust is an aquaculture science advisor for NOAA in Silver Spring, Maryland and has spent the last two decades conducting aquaculture research at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center. He received his undergraduate degree in biology from the University of Colorado. He then served two years in the Peace Corps in the Philippines before returning to the United States. Rust pursued two Master’s degrees at the University ofCalifornia, one in International Agricultural Development and one in Animal Sciences. He also has a Ph.D. from the University of Washington.

Born and raised in Hawaii, Dr. Seki received his B.S. in Biology from the University of Oregon- Eugene, his M.S. in Oceanography from the University of Hawaii-Manoa, and his PhD in Marine Environment and Resources from Hokkaido University Graduate School of Fisheries Science in Hakodate. He began working with at the Pacific Island Fisheries Science Center in 1980. He is currently the Science Center Director.

Interview contains discussions of: Seabirds, high seas drift nets, satellite technology, seamounts, long line fisheries, swordfish, tuna, JIMAR.

Michael Sissenwine was born in 1947. He earned his B.S. in Physics and Mathematics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and his M.S. in Oceanography at the University of Rhode Island. He began working as a scientist at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center at Woods Hole in 1975, eventually rising to the position of Center Director at the Woods Hole lab and later, Director of Scientific Programs and Chief Science Advisor at NOAA Fisheries.

Dr. Nancy Thompson was born in September 1949 in Newark, New Jersey. She earned her PhD from the University of Rhode Island. Dr. Thompson worked for NOAA from 1980-2011, serving as the Director at both the Southeast and Northeast Fisheries Science Centers during her career. At the time of this interview in 2016, she was working at the University of South Florida’s College of Marine Science.

Dr. Patricia Clay is a fisheries anthropologist with the Social Science Branch of NOAA, where she has worked since 1993. She has a B.A. in Anthropology and Modern Languages from Notre Dame, and a PhD in Anthropology from Indiana University. She works with the NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole, Massachusetts from the NMFS headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Patricia Gerrior was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts and grew up in Weymouth, Massachusetts where she would spend time on the water with her father which led to her interest in marine science. She studied Biology at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and began her 40 year career during her junior year in college with the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries which became NOAA National Marine Fisheries Service.

Paul Rago is a National Marine Fisheries Service biologist. He was born in 1952 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania and later studied at University of Michigan as well as Colorado State University where he received his master’s degree. Later, he earned his Ph.D. and dedicated much of his life to fishery science.

Interview contains discussions of: power plants, striped bass, preservation of fish species in the Great Lakes, nuclear energy, fishing yield.

Paul Rago's interview reviews his career path and his work.

Dr. Peter Lawson earned his Bachelor’s degree at Evergreen State College, and his Master’s and Ph.D. in Stream Ecology at Idaho State University. Dr. Lawson was a field ornithologist in northeastern Mexico, studying in particular parrots and peregrine falcons. After earning his graduate degrees he joined the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife using modeling to study Coho salmon.

Phillip Levin was born in Champaign, IL in 1962. He studied at the University of Texas receiving his Bachelor's in Zoology. During college, a fish class led to his interest in marine biology and field work. After teaching marine science at a San Antonio high school, he attended the University of New Hampshire where he received his PhD in Zoology. He then was an Assistant Professor at Texas A & M before he joined NOAA Fisheries at the Northwest Fisheries Science Center in 1999 as a Research Fisheries Biologist.