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This short article is a written interview highlighting the career of a biologist, Doctor Kelley, from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
The interview discusses Dr. Kelley's background, current work, career pathway, and work highlights in exciting environments like under sea ice in Antarctica.
The article includes fun pictures and links to Dr. Kelley's publications and website.
This interview shows that career pathways do not look the same for all scientists and that students can follow a childhood passion to develop their careers.
Dr. Kelley discusses how specific skills and traits such as scuba diving, curiosity, resiliency, and following your interests can manifest into an exciting career.
Additional Prerequisites
Students should be familiar with scientific research terms such as variables, remote sensors, data collection, and environmental conditions.
Students may benefit from understanding how climate change impacts oceans and what that can mean for aquatic ecosystems.
Differentiation
Before reading the article, have students draw out what they think is the typical career timeline of a research scientist.
Have students choose one of the ocean issues listed in the article to explore further, some of which included shifting ocean pH, increasing ocean temperature, melting polar ice, etc.
As a class, research and discuss how scientists use remote sensing technology.
Using Dr. Kelley's timeline as inspiration, students can create career timelines for themselves, reflecting the careers they are interested in.
Scientist Notes
Teaching Tips
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