Bess Ruff

Why FSU?

While working with marine stakeholders on marine spatial planning projects in Bermuda and Curaçao as a master's student at the University of California-Santa Barbara, I recognized how integral it is to consider the spatial interactions between ocean resources and human activities when prescribing management strategies. This experience convinced me to pursue a doctoral degree, but I found that the interdisciplinary nature of my research interests made it difficult to find the right fit in both an advisor and a department. When my supervisor during the Bermuda project, Dr. Sarah Lester, transitioned to an assistant professor position in the Department of Geography at Florida State University (FSU), I knew I would be following her to Florida. Geography has a strong tradition of evaluating human-environment relations across space, and the department at FSU offers (in addition to Dr. Lester) the distinct opportunity to collaborate across geographic subdisciplines with a faculty of both physical and human geographers.

Motivation to pursue a graduate degree

Through my experiences working on marine management projects throughout the Caribbean, I have witnessed how entangled people are with the ocean politically, economically, socially, and culturally. I interacted extensively with fishermen, tour operators, conservationists, and other marine stakeholders on these projects, gaining an understanding of the intensity, diversity, and complexity of the problems facing the world's oceans at varying local, national, and global scales. As a result, I realized that addressing these problems would necessitate a broad knowledge of human-ocean interactions as well as a diverse quantitative and qualitative skill set. These experiences motivated my pursuit of knowledge across a variety of disciplines that are critical, but rarely interwoven, when developing solutions to the challenges facing ocean environments.

Importance of research and work

The question is not whether mariculture, as one of the fastest growing sectors in our global food system, will continue to expand, but rather where and when. Mariculture has substantial potential to meet global seafood demand, improve local food security, and bring much needed economic growth to coastal communities, but sound management and strategic policy decisions are paramount to meeting coexisting objectives of healthy oceans, economic growth, and social equity. The academic and research communities have only recently begun studying mariculture, thus knowledge that can inform management and policy approaches is quite limited. The findings of my research provide policy-makers, industry managers, and mariculture operators with practical evidence that can inform the design of future policy interventions, industry regulations, and economic incentives that can facilitate environmentally, economically, and socially sustainable mariculture development.

Advice for anyone considering graduate school

Take your time deciding if, when, and where to go. Grad school will still be there if you need to take a year or more to do some networking, save money for school, or gain extra training/learning experience. I took a year off between my undergraduate degree and master's degree and the same between my master's and starting my doctoral degree. I wanted to make sure I was going to grad school with intention.

Accomplishments during graduate career

Thanks to some networking and funding hustle, I am currently collaborating with The Nature Conservancy's Australia office on an oyster reef restoration project across four Australian states. Additionally, I have published my first two dissertation chapters in peer-reviewed journals, and my third is currently under review at a journal. In 2021, I won a P.E.O. Scholar Award, and I am also a recipient of an NSF INTERN fellowship and the Women Divers Hall of Fame Advanced Dive Training Grant.

Career aspirations

Given my desire to work on applied solutions to human-ocean conflicts, my career goal is to work for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) where I can directly address specific management problems and inform strategic policy that will support sustainable ocean use. I am specifically interested in NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science because this division is involved with research, management, and policy for both seafood farming and marine spatial planning initiatives.