NOAA scientists from NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center (NMFS PIFSC) visited Suzanne Acord’s (TAS, 2014) ninth grade students at Mid-Pacific Institute in Honolulu, HI on May 15, 2014. The Chief Scientist, Dr. Don Kobayashi, and the science crew from NOAA ship Oscar Elton Sette (Adrienne Copeland, Melanie Abecassis, Eric Mooney, Giacomo Giorli, Ali Bayless and Jessica Chen) spoke to the students about how they became scientists during a career path discussion and shared hands-on activities at science stations. Students learned about deep-sea trawl catches, hydrophones for marine mammal observation, humpback and sperm whales, and how scientists record conductivity, temperature and depth in the ocean. 
 
Dr. Acord’s students wrote letters to the NMFS PIFSC scientists after their visit. Quotes from their letters follow: 

“Thank you for teaching our class so much about your jobs and how each specific person has a job on the boat.” 

“The most interesting thing I learned was how to listen for whale sounds. It intrigued me when listening to the audio clips because the sounds were so beautiful and graceful.” 

“We enjoyed your visit. It was a great learning experience for us not only about the oceans, but also about life and our career.”

“I was never really interested in marine biology, but your visit has made me really consider doing marine biology as a profession. Learning about how far all of you had to come to get where you are now is incredible. I admire how passionate you all are about your jobs.”