We asked each of our scientists to give us their thoughts on their professions and what they think the future holds for humanity.

What would you recommend for students wanting to pursue a similar career?
Stay in school and earn a higher degree in the biological sciences. Take as many whole organism and Earth System Science classes as you can. Spend time outdoors and travel to different countries as much as you can — especially to countries that do not have as high a standard of living as does the United States. Make a concentrated effort to hone your writing and communication skills. Most importantly, always stay curious. If you have a question, stick with it and answer it. You'll be happy you did. Knowledge is cumulative — every question you answer will help you answer yet another even more interesting question down the road.

What do you like best about your profession?
I have a very varied profession and I absolutely love the diversity of what I research for science filmmaking. I adore speaking and interviewing scientists who are in the thick of their discoveries. There is so much exciting research being conducted in the oceans and in marine science — it is a continual source of inspiration and excitement to be in this field.

For my own research on the ocean sunfish, I love collaborating with people from all over the world with similar interests. Researching and revealing where and how ocean animals travel the world involves some of the most intensely fun detective work imaginable and working with some of the world's most inventive and wonderful scientists.

What makes you most fearful for the future?
The very speed at which we can collaborate to make our world a better place can unfortunately also work in the opposite direction. The speed of changes to our climate, landscapes, oceans, coastal regions and cities is alarming. As our global population careens towards 9+ billion, the pressures on our planet's living and non-living resources are mounting exponentially. I fear our population will continue "business as usual" relentlessly escalating our use of non-renewable resources while society and governments condone and even encourage the purchase of more and more unnecessary material possessions.

The continued lack of financial resources put towards public education is one of my greatest fears along with the loss of independent news media outlets. We cannot hope to move into a sustainable and bright future with an uninformed, uneducated public.

What makes you most hopeful for the future?
The relative speed and ease at which we can now collaborate with global research partners is tremendously exciting. This potential for multi-national collaboration is unprecedented. This fact makes me quite hopeful that someday we can work together as a planet to understand how best to lessen our impacts on the environment.