Kenan Chan - Marine Ecologist, Scientific Diver & Photographer

This was such an interesting conversation for me because prior to talking to Kenan, I knew NOTHING about marine biology or what it was like to work in the field. 

I feel like most people, including myself, often think that marine biologists/ecologists lead this glamorous life, diving on distant reefs, studying exotic marine animals, and fending off sharks. ;) While some of this may be true, there are also long days, travel to sometimes inconvenient places, and frequently not enough income. Marine biology jobs are hard to get, so to be competitive, you need to plan early.

Today, I am joined with Kenan Chan. Kenan is 28 years old, born and raised in California. Kenan is a marine ecologist, scientific diver, and avid photographer. He did his undergrad at UC Santa Cruz in Marine Biology. He has experience working at US National Park Services as a diver. More recently, he was in Ireland working as a full-time marine ecologist and scientific diver.

In this episode, we talk break down what exactly marine biology and ecology is, the difficulties of securing a full-time job, some funny stories and realities of working in the field, living in the US compared to Ireland, and his passion for photography. Kenan is actually so funny and I loved how honest he was about the nature of his industry! Even if you don't plan on going in marine biology, I think this episode is super informative and light-hearted.

Kenan's photography IG (he's actually so talented) @kenanchan

This was such an interesting conversation for me because prior to talking to Kenan, I knew NOTHING about marine biology or what it was like to work in the field. I feel like most people, including myself, often think that marine biologists/ecologists lead this glamorous life, diving on distant reefs, studying exotic marine animals, and fending off sharks.