I am an ichthyologist, person that studies fishes, that pursues effective ways to enable people to appreciate the organisms, ecological processes, and evolutionary processes around them. I’m the instructor for several courses in Biological Sciences and the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. I approach these courses as an opportunity to share my passion for learning and to encourage students to make connections with the world we live in. My role as a curator involves describing species, investigating threats and community trends, and making sure all the data held in the DA Etnier Ichthyological Collection is available to researchers and the public. Many students that study/work in the collection end up continuing in graduate school and/or in careers with government and non-government agencies like TVA, USFW, TWRA, and Conservation Fisheries, Inc.