Marine Biology and Sustainable Aquaculture
Bachelor of Science

“Unity gave me everything I needed to get here, and now I’m taking it into the world.”

Danielle D.

Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and Sustainable Aquaculture

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Danielle D.

Bachelor of Science in Marine Biology and Sustainable Aquaculture

From a COVID-era career pivot to a primary candidacy in the NOAA Corps, this aquarium educator turned her passion for the ocean into a life-changing mission.

Danielle grew up in North Carolina watching Steve Irwin. She knew with a child’s unshakable certainty that she was meant to work with animals in the wild. That feeling never left her. It just took a few detours to find its shape.

She started with an associate’s degree and built toward a career in the nature field without a clear road map. Then COVID-19 arrived and brought an unexpected opening: a job in the aquarium industry. Something clicked as she stood among marine life every day. She switched her focus to environmental science and began looking for a bachelor’s program that could take her further.

She found Unity in January 2021.

Balancing a full-time role at the aquarium with her coursework wasn’t easy. But Danielle found the challenge worth it; not just for the credential, but for what she was actually learning. Unity’s courses pushed her in ways she hadn’t anticipated. The support she received along the way made the difference.

Her favorite course was Marine Mammals. The professor’s enthusiasm was contagious. Extra reading materials and assignments pushed well beyond the syllabus. It was the kind of class that reminds you why you chose a field in the first place.

Group projects brought their own rewards. Coordinating schedules with other working adults across the country wasn’t always simple. It built real connections all the same. Danielle made friends through the program: people who understood exactly what it meant to study and work while pushing forward at the same time. She walked the stage for her bachelor’s degree and felt every bit of what that moment represented.

One course stood out for its practical impact: a class focused on reading, writing, and communicating science. Danielle worked closely with her professor to develop a scientific document. She learned each step of the publishing process along the way. The skills she gained transferred immediately to her work at the aquarium. She educates guests there every single day about conservation and the natural world.

That audience is not small. Her aquarium welcomes up to 20,000 visitors a day.

“I use what I learned at Unity to talk to guests about conservation,” she says. “Understanding the bigger picture (environmental law, collective action, why it all matters) changes how you communicate it to people.”

Now Danielle is on the verge of her biggest step yet. She is a primary candidate for the NOAA Corps. It is a uniformed service under the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and its members conduct science-based research, scuba diving operations, fisheries work, and weather research. It is exactly the field-driven role she has been working toward.

The application process was rigorous. A completed bachelor’s degree, a 3.5 GPA, and five letters of recommendation are among the requirements. Unity’s education and the academic record she built there made her application possible. She is now fully accepted and awaiting a national background check before she begins.

For Danielle the path from a childhood fascination with wildlife to the doorstep of a national science corps was never perfectly straight. But each turn makes sense when she looks back.

Unity didn’t just give her a degree. It gave her the tools, the knowledge, and the confidence to step into the field and make a difference: one conversation, one research project, one coral reef at a time.

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