Jack McDermott - M.S. student
Hometown?
Issaquah, Washington
Where did you study for your undergraduate degree?
University of Washington
What project were you working on immediately before joining the Lewison Lab?
Before joining the lab, I was working as a fisheries observer in the Deep-Set Buoy Gear, Drift Gillnet, and Deep-Set Longline fisheries targeting swordfish and tuna in Southern California.
What experience led you to pursue your current career path?
Growing up, I was consistently surrounded by fishing, rivers, Puget Sound, and salmon. My hometown even has an annual festival, Salmon Days, to celebrate the return of the local Chinook population. This appreciation for the ecological, economic, and social benefits fish provides people, paired with early career exposure to fisheries management and conservation research solidified my path in the field.
What are you most excited about in joining the Lewison Lab and the SDSU Ecology Program?
I am excited to contribute alongside a bright group of individuals on applied science topics and develop quantitative fisheries and ecological modeling skills.
What is your favorite study species you have worked with?
Steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Favorite place you have lived/visited?
Lived - Washington State. It’s hard to think of a better place to live than the Cascades. Visited - The Andes, but specifically Peru and Colombia. Experiencing Colombia’s unmatched tropical biodiversity and Peru’s high alpine on the Cordillera Huayhuash were spectacular experiences.
Who is your science hero?
Billy Frank Jr was an incredibly influential environmental leader and treaty rights activist for both his Nisqually Indian Tribe and Pacific Northwest salmon. His legacy integrated social, cultural, and ecological values in salmon conservation and serves as a powerful inspiration for fisheries management.
What is your dream job?
Research Fisheries Biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service or similar agency.
Random fun fact that we don't know about you!
I have poison dart frogs as pets. But they’re not poisonous in captivity.
Issaquah, Washington
Where did you study for your undergraduate degree?
University of Washington
What project were you working on immediately before joining the Lewison Lab?
Before joining the lab, I was working as a fisheries observer in the Deep-Set Buoy Gear, Drift Gillnet, and Deep-Set Longline fisheries targeting swordfish and tuna in Southern California.
What experience led you to pursue your current career path?
Growing up, I was consistently surrounded by fishing, rivers, Puget Sound, and salmon. My hometown even has an annual festival, Salmon Days, to celebrate the return of the local Chinook population. This appreciation for the ecological, economic, and social benefits fish provides people, paired with early career exposure to fisheries management and conservation research solidified my path in the field.
What are you most excited about in joining the Lewison Lab and the SDSU Ecology Program?
I am excited to contribute alongside a bright group of individuals on applied science topics and develop quantitative fisheries and ecological modeling skills.
What is your favorite study species you have worked with?
Steelhead, Oncorhynchus mykiss
Favorite place you have lived/visited?
Lived - Washington State. It’s hard to think of a better place to live than the Cascades. Visited - The Andes, but specifically Peru and Colombia. Experiencing Colombia’s unmatched tropical biodiversity and Peru’s high alpine on the Cordillera Huayhuash were spectacular experiences.
Who is your science hero?
Billy Frank Jr was an incredibly influential environmental leader and treaty rights activist for both his Nisqually Indian Tribe and Pacific Northwest salmon. His legacy integrated social, cultural, and ecological values in salmon conservation and serves as a powerful inspiration for fisheries management.
What is your dream job?
Research Fisheries Biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service or similar agency.
Random fun fact that we don't know about you!
I have poison dart frogs as pets. But they’re not poisonous in captivity.
Hunter Milles - Ph.D. Student
Hometown?
New York, NY
Where did you study for your undergraduate degree?
Oberlin College, where I majored in biology.
What project were you working on immediately before joining the Lewison Lab?
I was working with whale sharks, characterizing their distribution in the western North Atlantic Ocean using species distribution modeling.
What experience led you to pursue your current career path?
It’s hard to settle on a single experience (because there were several!), so I’ll summarize what was the most recent and what I would describe as my first. The most recent would be my work investigating whale shark movement ecology, where I was a summer student fellow with Dr. Camrin Braun at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I had some experience in R but nothing nearly as quantitatively focused. That said, I really learned to appreciate (and now seek out) how we can harness something as small as a laptop and use it to help us address complex questions in a difficult to work in field—the open ocean. Pivoting, the first experience would be me winning a goldfish at a carnival when I was ~13 or so and got a tank to support it: slippery slope from there (pun intended).
What are you most excited about in joining the Lewison Lab and the SDSU Ecology Program?
To join a team that geeks out over the same topics as myself, join a supportive community, and learn about/contribute some awesome research along the way.
What is your favorite study species you have worked with?
Whale sharks.
Favorite place you have lived/visited?
Cairns, Australia
Who is your science hero?
Her deepness, Sylvia Earle
What is your dream job?
To continue what I’m doing!
Random fun fact that we don’t know about you!
Broke my collarbone rolling off my bed in my sleep.
New York, NY
Where did you study for your undergraduate degree?
Oberlin College, where I majored in biology.
What project were you working on immediately before joining the Lewison Lab?
I was working with whale sharks, characterizing their distribution in the western North Atlantic Ocean using species distribution modeling.
What experience led you to pursue your current career path?
It’s hard to settle on a single experience (because there were several!), so I’ll summarize what was the most recent and what I would describe as my first. The most recent would be my work investigating whale shark movement ecology, where I was a summer student fellow with Dr. Camrin Braun at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. I had some experience in R but nothing nearly as quantitatively focused. That said, I really learned to appreciate (and now seek out) how we can harness something as small as a laptop and use it to help us address complex questions in a difficult to work in field—the open ocean. Pivoting, the first experience would be me winning a goldfish at a carnival when I was ~13 or so and got a tank to support it: slippery slope from there (pun intended).
What are you most excited about in joining the Lewison Lab and the SDSU Ecology Program?
To join a team that geeks out over the same topics as myself, join a supportive community, and learn about/contribute some awesome research along the way.
What is your favorite study species you have worked with?
Whale sharks.
Favorite place you have lived/visited?
Cairns, Australia
Who is your science hero?
Her deepness, Sylvia Earle
What is your dream job?
To continue what I’m doing!
Random fun fact that we don’t know about you!
Broke my collarbone rolling off my bed in my sleep.
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