Blackfin

My name's Blackfin, and I was referred to this forum by Mokele. I'm a junior in high school, and right now I'm busy surviving AP Bio, AP Environmental Science, and Marine Bio I. My interests lie very strongly in the area of marine biology, my specialty being marine mammalogy energetics. I also want to study apex marine predator ecology - organisms like mackerel sharks, orcas, etc. because I think the predator/prey relationship gets glossed over and that we are screwing over prey species by eliminating predator species, and generally weakening ecological resilience overall. ^^; I'm only 17, so, forgive me if I'm not up to par with some of the professionals. I work hard at being well-read and gaining practical experience, but I have only so much opportunity being at the high school level. A little bit of history... I fell in love with science in 9th grade during my first Bio I H class. To me it is an entire way of looking at the world, and I think it takes a lot of guts to willingly question everything and abandon the complacency of taking things at face value that plagues so many people today. That's why anyone involved in science - a student, a scientist, a lay person who watches the Discovery Channel - gets my respect, because they're brave enough to question and put forth the effort to see the world as it is, not how it's just "supposed" to be. I will do my damndest to back up every post I make with some sort of source or documentation, and I will also do my best to challenge and clarify misconceptions about certain biological concepts. I will also do my best to call other forum members on their bluffs, and debate them if they state something as a fact without sufficient back-up. I will put forth my best effort to critically evaluate all of my own conclusions and make sure I've thought through an opinion before I post it, and if you can show me I'm wrong, I'll admit it readily. Currently I plan to attend Eckerd College to get a B.S. in marine biology, and then attend graduate school at USF College of Marine Science. My end goal - the final ultimate goal - is to become a professor of marine biology, hopefully somewhere here in Florida.