For this month’s Fish Sister profile, we would like to introduce you to Laura Slater, our newest Women of Fisheries Board Member! Laura Slater is a fisheries biologist with over a decade’s worth of experience conducting research in the marine realm (Bering Sea crabs) and the freshwater realm (salmonids in California). She works as a biologist for the US Food and Drug Administration working in a shellfish aquaculture policy group. Prior to that, she served as a Monitoring Program Manager for California Sea Grant supporting salmonid recovery in central California and as a Research Program Manager for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game supporting sustainable management of commercial crab fisheries. Laura has also served on the Western Division of the American Fisheries Society Diversity and Inclusion Committee, and we look forward to her input and leadership on future endeavors.
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CURRENT POSITION(S):
Biologist with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF YOUR WORK/RESEARCH:
My career has focused on research, seeking answers to how organisms respond to change. My interests and opportunities have allowed me to work with coral, tide pool blennies, and green sea turtles in Hawaii, nudibranchs in Bermuda, marine copepods and crabs in Alaska, and salmon in California. I am starting a new position with a shellfish aquaculture policy group at the FDA. I have enjoyed the diversity of my experiences and learning different approaches to answer management, recovery, and now seafood production questions.
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN IN FISHERIES?
I have worked in the field for 16 years, plus seven years of education before that.
HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE FIELD?
I grew up enjoying the outdoors with my family, and natural resource management was instilled in me as a core value throughout my life. When I moved from Michigan to Washington in high school, I started scuba diving and that experience and exposure focused my interests to the underwater realm.
My undergraduate education was in marine biology in Hawaii, and I took advantage of many research and internship opportunities there. My master’s degree was in marine biology in Alaska. I stayed in Alaska and worked in a research group supporting fisheries management for the state.
WHO HAS BEEN YOUR FAVORITE MENTOR OR ROLE MODEL?
My research team when I started my state position in Alaska. Discussing research approaches, thinking about population-level responses to perturbations in climate, and geeking out about all things crab was a great way to learn and grow and stay excited about the work.
WHO HAD THE GREATEST INFLUENCE ON YOU?
My grandfather. His time with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Michigan in the late 1930’s started his lifelong hobby of planting trees. I enjoyed spending time outdoors with him, learning how to build a connection with place, hearing about his knowledge of trees, birds, and wildlife and how things adapted with the seasons. He often had a twinkle in his eye, whether he was growing cucumbers inside jars so he could make individual pickles too large for any of us grandkids to pull out, passing along a book (such as the Sand County Almanac), watching his trees grow, or just enjoying the company of a fellow nature enthusiast.
WHAT WAS THE BEST ADVICE YOU’VE GOTTEN?
Don’t work to please others. Know your value. Push back.
DO YOU HAVE ANY ADVICE FOR NEW WOMEN ENTERING THE FIELD?
Expect a challenge and prepare yourself for it. When facing a hurdle, try a different tact, enlist allies, and learn to evaluate and accept when a challenge is too big for a single person to overcome. In other words, knowing when to walk away is a valuable skill. There is always the next opportunity.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT WORKING IN FISHERIES?
Learning. I am a non-traditional PhD student, having returned to graduate school more than a decade after completing my masters, while working full time and starting a family along the way. Needless to say, it has been a slow and steady progression, but I am a fan of small steps.
WHAT WAS THE COOLEST EXPERIENCE YOU’VE HAD WHILE WORKING IN FISHERIES?
I’ve had many. My proudest moment has been building a seawater laboratory for holding Bering Sea crabs. I designed and established one room with six large rectangular tanks with circulating chilled seawater and another room with scientific equipment for conducting research. I learned a lot about equipment selection and maintenance in the process.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE FISH?
Seahorses
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE YOU WANT TO SHARE?
I’m excited to be a part of a community that focuses on lifting up, supporting, and encouraging women in this profession. My experience has had its ups and downs, and I’ve learned how to spot, avoid, and overcome the difficult. I continue to stick with it as the work is rewarding and the good outweighs the rest.