What department are you a graduate student in? 

Geography

Why did you decide to go to graduate school?

I wanted to grow my skills and knowledge to better address the issues and topics in which I am most interested. I love to learn and I really enjoy research, so I decided that pursuing a doctorate was a good option for me.

Did your interests change throughout your program? 

My interests have shifted slightly, but not to a large extent. I worked for three years after college and then obtained a master’s degree, so I took the time I needed to figure out what I wanted to study for my doctorate. When I arrived at FSU, I knew that I wanted to study interactions between wild-capture fisheries and marine aquaculture (i.e. the farming of marine organisms). The specific interactions I chose and the methods I decided to use changed over the course of my first year, but the overarching interest remained the same.

What do you want to do with your advanced degree? 

Regardless of where I end up, I’d like to be working to improve marine resources management and policy. Ideally I’d be focused on issues related to the sustainability and accessibility of seafood. For my next step, I am focused on the scope and location of my job, and believe I would be happy doing this as a government employee, at a non-profit, in academia, or in the private sector. 

Hayley Lemoine is a PhD student in the Department of Geography at Florida State University. You can learn more about Hayley here.

Source for featured image: https://geography.fsu.edu/people/hayley-lemoine/