MTS now offers a Early Career Ocean Professionals (ECOP) membership category. ECOP members are defined as “an individual who is within 10 years of their last professional degree and self-identified as an ECOP.” This membership ($50) will come with all the rights and privileges of Society membership. To foster outreach and engagement with our new ECOP section, each month in Currents, we will introduce you to some of our newest ECOP members.

Nicole Waite, Marine and Lab Technician at Rutgers University, Center for Ocean Observing Leadership

Nicole has been working as a professional in ocean sciences since 2014 at Rutgers, with a focus split between Antarctic phytoplankton and underwater gliders. “I have been in the ocean science field since undergrad when I graduated with a degree in Marine Biology from the University of New England. Following that, I interned in a seagrass ecology lab at the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama.” Following her internship, she attended graduate school and received a Master's in Oceanography from Rutgers University in 2014. 

Nicole first joined MTS as a graduate student in 2013. She has been an active member of the organization as an instructor on underwater gliders for MTS sponsored technology training camps. As an ECOP member, Nicole said she finds “the ECOP category to be highly valuable for the community and getting connected with other younger professionals in the field.” She said she is looking forward to getting more involved and to attending “events or meetings to connect research and academic institutes with industry - not just technology manufacturers, but industry wanting to get involved with research/technology use as well.”

For more information on ECOPs, contact Joshua Baghdady to join or visit HERE.