Marine Science Career Profiles

Dr. Hobson is a professor specializing in biological oceanography at the University of Victoria, located in Victoria, B.C. One of the most popular and well-liked instructors at U Vic, Dr. Hobson always has time for one-on-one assistance with his students. He moved to Victoria from the United States in 1970, and has since become one of the foremost experts on the ecology of protistan plankton in local waters. OceanLink talked with Dr. Hobson in his office/laboratory at UVic.

What would you describe as your current field of study?

My principal field of study is the interaction between the ocean environment and planktonic organisms in that environment. Specifically, we are primarily looking at protistan plankton, which are unicellular organisms traditionally known as phytoplankton.

What are some of the different aspects of what you do here at the university?

I have three responsibilities: teaching, administration and research. I teach undergraduate courses in Oceanography, Algal Diversity and Marine Ecology, as well as a graduate course called Marine Science. In addition, any honours and graduate students that are involved in the lab are also part of my responsibilities.

My administrative functions are quite varied, and have included positions such as Chair of the Biology Department, Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee and membership on the ARPT Committee (Appointments, Reappointments, Promotion and Tenure Committee).

The third part is to do research, to obtain new knowledge about biological oceanography. This research component is probably the most important component in many of my colleagues' minds, although I think that the teaching is an equal responsibility.

So, did you always want to be a biological oceanographer?

Oh, wonderful question. No! In high school I was going to be an engineer, and even first year of college was engineering. For something to relieve the monotony of math, physics, and engineering, I ended up taking first year zoology. The professor for this course had done all his work at the Stanford Marine Research Laboratory. Invertebrate zoology, which was the first half of this course, was really an eye-opener for me. I didn't even know such organisms existed. We did lots of field trips south of San Francisco to the tide pools. It was an eye-opening experience.

In addition we had to do a group project, and we thought it would be really interesting to tow a net through the intertidal zone and see what planktonic critters might be in there. One of our group worked for the Ortho Research Corporation, and the wonderful thing was that he had access to the research laboratory with research microscopes, not teaching models. So we took our samples to this lab where we had access in the evening to this equipment. And I guess for me the first time we saw one of these critters in that microscope, it was a classic large diatom, I was really hooked. Just like that. I thought, what the heck are these?! And that's when I became really quite keen on marine sciences, although not necessarily phytoplankton biology.

So I went on to the last two years of college, and oriented myself to zoology and got a B.Sc. in zoology/fisheries management, in order to get a job. But during my last year in college I took an oceanography course, and I thought wow, this was really great because this was an area where all that engineering stuff I had taken fits into biology. Its an interface where you can combine a zoology background with a physics/math/chemistry background.

Where did you complete your graduate work?

I applied to a large number of universities in the States that had graduate programs in oceanography, and ended up going to the University of Washington. I was open to any kind of biological oceanography, but the Department got a great big research grant from the Atomic Energy Commission of the United States, to study the oceanography off the Columbia River in relation to possible effects from a nuclear reactor that was located along the river. I did my masters' work on phytoplankton ecology associated with Columbia River effluent in the North Pacific Ocean.

My Ph. D. was, in many respects, a continuation of that project because it was the same funding, but they were concerned now about the offshore environment. Part of the project was assessing the distribution of particles in that area, and we revisited the same suite of three stations which were set up in a triangular section so that we could get three-dimensional ocean currents through the area. There's now a chart at the University of Washington with Station H marked on it.

What was your first job in marine science?

My first job was a post-doc (Post-Doctorate Research Fellowship), in which I was given a grant of $10 000 per annum for two years. I think up to that point my annual income was probably about $3 000 as a graduate student. So this post-doc was like manna from heaven! It was at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, in Woods Hole, Massachusetts on Cape Cod. I was looking at the production of particulates and their fate as they moved downstream in the current structure of the ocean. The thrust was to compare production in upwelling regions of the ocean to areas that were known biological deserts or very low productivity areas.

So would you say that graduate work is essential for a career as an oceanographer?

In British Columbia it has been my general observation that people with master's degrees are much more employable than either those with B.Sc's or Ph.D's. The people with master's degrees pluck off those jobs that require someone to oversee a project, but they aren't so highly trained that they have to put high up in the organization. However, if you are seeking to become a university professor like myself, you must have a Ph.D. Of course, things have changed since I graduated. When I received my degree I had a job offer from North Carolina State University with no experience other than a Ph.D.

Would you say that would happen nowadays?

No, not at all. Totally impossible. Now you not only have to have a Ph.D., you have to have a post-doc and often two post-docs.

What exactly is a post-doc?

These days research has become a really big business, and large American universities especially have hopped on the bandwagon because they can augment their income via research. They hire faculty that already have a proven research record and ability to capture large amounts of funding. The scientist with the reputation basically does very little other than write proposals and travel around the world doing public relations. Someone has to do the research, and that's where the post-docs come in. They bring in a number of post-docs and a horde of graduate students who are overseen by the post-docs. So a lot of research gets done, a student gets a degree and then goes on to a post-doc themselves some place. This is the way that successful labs are organized. If you're an undergraduate at the University of Illinois, you are really lucky to ever see a prof. in a class. Almost certainly a graduate student, at the most a post-doc, teaches the class because the professor does not have time for teaching. I think people are starting to make noises in the States about the fact that this is not what was intended. The undergraduate student is really getting short-changed.

What do you enjoy most about your position here at the university?

My favourite thing is really the interplay between research and teaching. I worked for four years in a purely research-oriented institution and it was very easy to become bored, at least from my personal perspective. For me, the chance to teach and talk about the stuff that's going on in the research world really makes a nice compliment to just doing research. I also spend a lot of time outside physically being here thinking about research and teaching. Being a university professor is not a 9 to 5 job, and it would be really boring if it were. Even though physically I may not be here I'm often thinking about things that are going on. Its basically a 24 hour a day job. I think its wonderful, because its exciting, interesting, and I'm rarely ever bored.

What do you dislike the most about your job?

I think what I dislike the most is what I see as poor judgement amongst our administrators. For example, pandering more and more to the purely research-oriented professor. In other words, they're five years behind what's happening in the States, an experiment that's now being seen to have perhaps failed.

Financially of course these are hard times, and it seems to me that the monies could be better spent. Not only do we have less money but we have more students, so we're being forced into a position of removing laboratory sessions, which are really important for students to have.

And finally, what advice would you give to young people interested in going into a career in oceanography?

Well, these are difficult times, and there aren't nearly as many jobs in oceanography as there used to be. In the past both provincial and federal governments were major hirers of people with degrees in oceanography. Its not as rosy a picture any longer, but on the other hand I wouldn't want to discourage anybody from pursuing what they're interested in. My conclusion has been that of students going through university, those that excel usually will get a job in the area of their interest. Some of my colleagues have actively dissuaded students from seeking careers in the marine sciences because of the bleak prospects for employment, but I wouldn't do that. I think its up to the student. If they are really interested in the subject and well motivated, then I think that they might well stand a good chance.

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