Patty Anderson's
Start in Oceanography
Many years ago, when I was a child, I went to Marine Land (now defunct, but then located in San Pedro, CA) and was watching the killer whale show. We were sitting down in front and I got splashed. My father told me to lick the water on my arm, so I did. It was salty! He then told me that the water was salty because the whales had peed in the water. Years later while attending High School in Dana Point I would get bored with school and take off for the beach, about 4 long blocks away. Yes, I used to ditch school to go to the beach. Well, one thing led to another and over the years I kept going to the beach to swim, surf, scuba dive, and explore. In 1990 I was taking some classes at Palomar College and had found a nice place to study just outside of ES-19. However, I found myself distracted by the lectures going on inside. It was Al Trujillo giving his lectures for his Oceanography 100 class. He invited me to take his class the next semester, and so I did. Of course I got the highest grade and generally loved the subject. Al then challenged me to apply to UCSD and to my surprise I was accepted. I started in 1992 with my major as Chemistry/Earth Sciences. A short time later the Earth Science Department opened their degree program and I immediately changed my major to ES/Chem. During my freshman year I had the wonderful opportunity to work with Dr. Lal at Scripps Institution of Oceanography and met many wonderful people. Two years later I got an unpaid internship working for Dr. Kastner as a lab assistant. I remained in her lab for the next two years learning every piece of analytical equipment I could. I graduated with my BS in Earth Science in 1996 and applied for entrance to graduate school, but was turned down. However, I had received a summer research program grant and worked that summer for Dr. Castillo. After being turned down twice for graduate school I figured it would be a good time to start my family, so I took the next year off. But, I didn't give up, nor did I stop talking to people at Scripps. In the Fall of 1997 I started taking classes at UCSD through the extension as if I'd been accepted to graduate school. I approached the department chair with a proposal that if I received high grades that he might pull some strings and get me into Scripps. He tentatively agreed and Dr. Castillo agreed to give me a project. But, as the semester ended I was told I would have to do 2 semesters before I would be accepted. I did, but this time he told me he could not make it happen and they had to take my project and professor away from me. Things were looking pretty grim. I still would not give up on my dream to be an oceanographer! So, I went to the Director's office for advice and spoke to Dr. Wolf Berger, the interim Director, and told him my story asking him if he knew of anybody that might be looking for a dedicated student. He replied, "yes, ... I am" Needless to say, my persistence paid off and not only was I in, I also had a wonderful experience in graduate school! I finished my MS in 2000 and soon there after started working as an adjunct professor at Palomar College. Right back at the beginning. Oh yes, I did find out that the oceans aren't salty because of whale pee! And, if you want to know the real reason... Take My Class!
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