Born in 1926, Ray Fritz grew up in Detroit, Michigan and attended Michigan State College. He graduated in 1953 with a Bachelors in Biology and Zoology. He began his career with the Bureau of Commercial Fisheries as a biologist at the Woods Hole Lab in 1956. During his time in Woods Hole, he spent time at-sea on the R/V Albatross III and R/V Albatross IV. He served as Chief Scientist on both vessels. In the late 1960's, he moved to Headquarters in Washington where he worked with the Federal Aid Program and served as Chief of Law Enforcement for National Marine Fisheries Service. Mr.

Marvin Grosslein was born October 24, 1929 in Seattle. He grew up in Minnesota where a summer job with the Minnesota Conservation Department sparked his interest in fisheries science. He graduated from the University of Minnesota before attending Cornell University for his PhD. For his doctoral thesis, Dr. Grosslein developed a survey program that would provide a basis for estimating catches of all species. His graduate work took him to Woods Hole in the summer of 1959. He began full time in 1961 after completing his PhD.

Jason Link is Senior Scientist for Ecosystem-based Management for the National Marine Fisheries Service, still sitting at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center in Woods Hole. Dr. Link earned his B.S. in Biology with a minor in Chemistry from Central Michigan University. He then received his Ph.D. from Michigan Technological University. He began his career with NOAA NMFS at the Pascagoula Lab before moving to the Woods Hole Lab.

Dr. Richard McBride earned his bachelor’s degree in biology from Eckerd College, his Master’s in Oceanography from Stonybrook University, and his Ph.D. in Ecology and Evolution from Rutgers University. He worked at the Florida Marine Research Institute beginning in 1994. In 2006, he joined the Northeast Fisheries Science Center at Woods Hole where, as of this interview in 2016, he currently works as the Chief of the Population Biology Branch.

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. Anne Richards was born the youngest of five children in Morristown, NJ on June 26, 1952 to parents from Ohio. She moved around a lot growing up and fell in love with New England when she lived here for a short time. Anne intentionally came back to New England to attend Colby College and studied marine Science and became interested in animal behavior. She attended the University of Rhode Island focusing on behavioral and ecological communities of fish in the Zoology department.

Gary Shepherd is a research fishery biologist with the Coastal Pelagic Resources Task in the Population Dynamics Branch of the Northeast Fisheries Science Center. He started working for NMFS as a summer student aide in 1975 as a college freshman at UMass Dartmouth and did work-study in the Age and Growth Unit during his senior year. He went to Rutgers for graduate school where he conducted research on weakfish and striped bass populations.

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.

Gordon Waring was born on July 19, 1946 in Brooklyn, New York. He earned his B.A. in Biology from Humboldt State College, his Master’s from Bridgewater State College, and his Ph.D. in Fisheries and Wildlife Conservation from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Waring began working for NOAA in 1973 and is a retired former team leader of the seal project within the Protected Species Branch at the Northeast Fisheries Science Center.

Dr. Emory Anderson was born on September 11, 1939, in Kenmare, North Dakota. He attended Dana College, majoring in Mathematics and minoring in Physics. After graduating, he became a high school math teacher. After two years of teaching, Anderson decided he wanted to pursue a career involving wildlife and the outdoors. He attended the University of Minnesota, where he first took preliminary science courses to prepare him for graduate school. During this time, he worked as a fish hatchery technician, encouraging him to pursue fisheries science.