My name is Jake Whistad. I’m originally from Seattle but I live in the Great Lakes region now, I’m at University of Toledo but I’m slowly transitioning over the course of the summer to Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant. I would have to say it’s the Pacific Ocean.

When I was a young boy we lived on Guam because my Dad is Military, he’s in the coast guard. I can remember, pretty clearly snorkelling, around the Island of Guam and I remember seeing little clown fish dart past my eyes back and forth and that’s probably one of my earliest memories of a waterbody that left an impact on me. I think it definitely solidified an interest in fisheries, and in aquatic sciences for me. It filled me with some curiosity about the world and what goes on beneath the waves and I think that did impact all my decisions to where I am today.