Amanda was raised in the South Side of Chicago and loved going to the city’s Shedd Aquarium from the time she was a little girl, always getting particularly stuck at the shark tank. She loved animals, and thought of being a veterinarian in high school until she realized that she was allergic to all types of fur. Amanda also found out in high school that she could join a prestigious after-school research program at Shedd Aquarium for teens. That’s when she fell in love with marine biology. By the time Amanda applied to college, she knew she wanted to be a marine scientist, but had to choose between a university with a marine program or a college that could give her a good ?nancial aid package. She chose the ?nancial aid at a small college without a marine program, and to make up the learning gap, spent her summers winning internships at aquariums. Amanda also didn’t give up when she was rejected 3 times by Shedd, and today works in one of the country’s best marine research centers, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium, perched on Florida’s Gulf of Mexico coast.