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I started my master’s at CEI in association with Carleton University in May 2012. I will be studying the thermal biology and spatial ecology of bonefish (for global warming implications) as a grad student in the Dr. Steve Cooke and Dr. Cory Suski labs of Carleton University and the University of Illinois, respectively.Master's student Liane Nowell

The staff and faculty at CEI are a wonderful bunch of people. They are encouraging and eager to help me develop professionally and as a person. I really enjoy and appreciate CEI’s unique ability to engage in outdoor, experiential classrooms near Exuma sound. It’s nice to be a short boat ride away from the mangrove creeks that act as my study site. To date, I’ve been given the opportunity to work with a multi-disciplinary network of professionals including meeting and working alongside visiting world-class scientists, collaborating with other master’s students, both here and abroad, and working closely with a host of Ph.D. students at the institute.

Aside from offering me fantastic opportunities to grow professionally, CEI has presented me a host of other amazing opportunities which I don’t think would be available if I were elsewhere. Not many students are able to catch and tag sea turtles, go drum lining for sharks, or dive into an off-shore aquaculture cage to feed cobia on their days off, in addition to working with mangroves and bonefish. CEI has also enabled me to become a professional diver; I was an open water diver when I arrived and have recently completed my dive master certification.

Though I do occasionally miss the change of leaves and crisp fall air or a nice snowfall in Canada, I feel that I have gained so much through living and studying in The Bahamas, both professionally and through so many amazing opportunities.