![\"Megan](\"https:\/\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2121\/files\/2019\/09\/Cameron-Zegers-Photography-megan-cook-web.jpg\")
Megan Cook (09), biology and chemistry alumna<\/p><\/div>\n
Reflecting on her time at OSU, Cook says: “What I think is remarkable is that although OSU is a big school, I found opportunities and support to have a ton of personal, really impactful experiences. I did undergraduate research which I think I got the gumption to go for from a seminar class where they told us if you’re interested, then you should just go and knock on a professor’s door.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I went and saw [then-Professor of Zoology] Mark Hixon<\/a> as a freshman, and he said in the kindest way possible, \u2018Come back when you’ve taken a few more classes,\u2019 \u201d laughs Cook. \u201cI continued to schedule meetings and ask for opportunities, maybe pester him, and eventually I got the foot in the door. I think we talk about the foot in the door sometimes being this glorious moment\u2014like somebody just waves a magic wand and poof now you\u2019re a scientist\u2014but the foot in the door is often doing something small. I had the chance at first to help by doing QAQC (quality assurance and quality control) of data entry spreadsheets, but it was a first step.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite a strong family connection to OSU\u2014her dad was once a basketball coach for the Beavers, Cook was reluctant to follow the expected path, preferring to chart her own course. But then \u201cshowed up on campus and completely fell in love with the place.\u201c<\/p>\n An impassioned Beaver, Cook rowed for OSU\u2019s NCAA crew team, played for the Equestrian Polo team, edited an undergraduate research journal, studied abroad in two programs and worked as an undergraduate recruiter for several years giving campus tours.<\/p>\n \u201cI just loved passing on that first-impression feeling, that same honesty of \u2018College is a big decision. You need to go with your gut. You need to be at a place where you feel like you’re going to be successful. And here’s a bunch of reasons why I think that OSU can be that place for you\u2019. \u201d<\/p>\n During her first term at OSU, Cook recalls a freshman biology seminar with its spirited conversations about all the things students can do with a biology degree and that helped her hone in on the field of ecology appreciating the way it was a field full of connections and networks.<\/p>\n \u201cThey talked about all the things you can be part of on campus, the different departments and specialties in the college, ways you could spin this degree and really take it where you wanted. I arrived on campus very much like \u2018marine biology is the path for me\u2019. Now I spend my professional life speaking about STEM careers making sure kids know that marine bio is not<\/em> the only possibility that can lead them to the ocean.\u201d<\/p>\n Cook\u2019s research began in the field ecology via Hixon\u2019s Lab studying tropical reef fishes.<\/p>\n \u201cMy work in Hixon\u2019s Lab turned into a really great mentoring experience. By my junior year, I applied for and received undergraduate research funding to spend the summer working with his lab in the Bahamas giving me hands-on field experience, or I guess \u2018fins-on\u2019 because the projects were scuba diving based underwater ecology work! As a student, I received professional training while doing field operations, worked for a scientific diving certification, chose to study abroad. So even in this really big place, I felt like everyone made sure I knew there was this menu of possibilities, and I found support to make them possible. I love that aspect of having studied science at OSU.\u201d<\/p>\n Since graduating magna cum laude from the College of Science in 2009, Cook has made good use of her bachelor\u2019s degrees in biology and chemistry and marine biology option, conducting and facilitating interdisciplinary research across biology, geology, marine chemistry and maritime history.<\/p>\n Friends headed off to work in business, finance, health science, forestry or whatever after college would ask \u2018What are you doing?\u2019 And I wanted to be able to share something more compelling than saying, \u2018Uh, I am being dragged behind a boat looking for trash in the ocean\u2019!?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Following her wide-ranging interests and passion landed Cook at a job in Hawaii which began just days after graduation. The job was as a marine debris diver focused critical habitat protection and marine debris management on most remote coral reefs in the world.<\/p>\nDiving in and finding her sea legs<\/strong><\/h2>\n