People

James first started snorkeling in various locations around the Caribbean at the tender age of 5, eagerly pointing out every fish he saw to anybody that would listen to his garbled shouts of excitement emitting from his snorkel. He got scuba certified as early as possible at the age of 12 and continued to explore more of the marine environment in the Caribbean, Mexico and California. An early mentorship under Chuck Norris inspired him give up his job as a crime-fighting sidekick to chase his dream of combining his love of science and diving. This prompted him to complete his BSc in Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz in 2006. Afterwards, (much like a super hero) he felt the world needed him elsewhere, and worked on a coral recruitment study for two years off the west coast of the Big Island, in Hawaii. Inspired by a strong showing of JCU researchers at the 2008 International Coral Reef Symposium, he enrolled in the MAppSci program at JCU in 2009. He’s since upgraded to the PhD program, where he studies under the vigilant eyes of Prof. Mark McCormick (JCU) and Dr. Mark Meekan (AIMS). His research examines the role of boldness and other personality traits in the fitness and other life history tradeoffs of juvenile marine fishes. http://www.jamesryanwhite.com