Mckenzie

A bit about me:

Hi! I’m Mckenzie (any pronouns). I was born in Calgary, Alberta and then raised in Honolulu, Hawai’i. My first marine internship was at the Hawai’i Institute for Marine Biology in the Ruth Gates lab where I got to develop a love for coral. I then went on to do my own independent research at my undergraduate university, Chaminade University of Honolulu. My first research project focused on ocean acidification effects on the gonad of the Hawaiian collector urchin, a endemic urchin that saved the reefs of Hawai’i. Then I focused on a project to categorize the genome of native and endemic corals of Hawai’i. My partner and I moved to Canada before the pandemic and I am currently planning on going back to school to achieve my masters and eventually PhD. I am a bit stuck on what interest I want to follow next and I am hoping my experience here with Ocean Wise will help me flush that out.

What gets me out of bed in morning?

I get out of bed in the morning because my dogs will annoy me until I do.

A fun fact about me:

I learned to swim before I learned to walk.

Also, I have been a naturalist for the past 7+ years. I worked with humpback whales in Hawai’i as well as on a touring submarine showing people the beauty that lies beneath the waves. I know work as a science communicator online, a job I wouldn’t have been able to do without my previous experience.