Meet the Manatee Experts
Meet Dan O'Dell, Ph.D.:
Hair: Gray
Eyes: Brown
Married: Yes
Kids: I have three children. They are all grown up. They are all scientists, but none of them are marine biologists. My son studied ecology and physiology. One of my twin daughters is a chemist at the University of Illinois. The other twin daughter is not a marine biologist but she has studied dolphin behavior and she volunteers at the Albuquerque Aquarium.
My kids grew up helping me to pick up dead manatees that washed ashore.
Pets: My wife and I have one parakeet named BRGL (pronounced birgell). BRGL is a true snowbird. He flew in one winter and has never left.
Favorite TV shows: Star Trek (all of them), Sherlock Holmes mysteries, anything on A & E
Favorite movies: Enemy of the State, Star Wars, The Spanish Prisoner
Favorite book: Short story mysteries by Ellery Queen
Sports: Bicycling, aerobics, and hiking
Hobbies: Gardening, computers, photography
Education: I graduated from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, with a BS degree in Wildlife Biology in 1967. I worked in Alaska on the Privilof Islands during the summers. I had a job that counted towards my degree. I was studying Alaskan fur seals.
In 1972, I graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with an M.S. and Ph.D. in Biology. For my thesis, I studied sea lions and elephant seals on San Nicholas Island, in southern California.
Background: I saw my first manatee in 1968 at the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. It was an Amazonian manatee. My first job after graduating from UCLA was at the Marine Lab at the University of Miami. After that I worked at the Miami Seaquarium.
Job Title: Research Biologist
Employer: Sea World
How long on job: I have been here at Sea World since 1987.
What my job is: I oversee all research activities in all four Sea World parks. I coordinate and review research projects. The projects are either Sea World staff projects or studies by graduate students. There are scientists studying dolphin breeding, the development of killer whale calves, water quality research, animal diets, and we even have some educational studies assessing the educational impact of our exhibits.
I also oversee the technical publications and manuscripts and journals. I review the books in the gift shops for accuracy.
I serve on state and federal commitees on manatees. I belong to several professional societies. I get to travel a lot, but I don't have very much time to do research underwater!
What I like best about my job: I love the variety. I never know what exciting thing is going to happen next.
What don't like most about my job: At times, the paperwork. There is never enough time to do everything I want to do.
Advice for kids who would like to get a job like mine: You need a good basic background in biological sciences. Study basic biology and math. When you get to high school, study chemistry and physics. Know how to read and write English. Be able to speak in front of an audience.
Do some research on your own and find our what marine biology is really like. (It's not just going in the water and swimming with dolphins and manatees!) Be flexible and be able to go where the job is. There may not be funding for the exact research you want. You may have to try a different field of study, like psychology or engineering, and then apply what you've learned to marine biology.
Check out Sea World's web page for information on Camp Sea World. You could learn a lot about a career at Sea World at Camp Sea World.
Goal: My goal is to continue doing my part to help save manatees. We need to be careful in managing manatees so that we don't lose them. I believe in environmental education and I'm here to pass on what I've learned.