Dr. Rachel Venn Beecham was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Marine Biology at Texas A&M University and her Ph.D. in Biology at the University of Mississippi.  She worked at the National Warmwater Aquaculture Center as a catfish researcher for Mississippi State University.  She also taught at Mississippi Valley State University in the Biology Department for almost 20 years.  Dr. Beecham has been involved in a number of projects designing equipment and techniques to help catfish farmers improve their harvest quality and efficiency.  She is very interested in anatomy and physiology, ecology, aquatic, and earth sciences, as these sciences help us understand how the world works and the processes that built the different structures we see today.  Dr. Beecham’s hobbies include swimming, hiking, kayaking, and remodeling houses.