Amrita Duggal Agee - Women in Science
Meet wildlife biologist Amrita Duggal Agee. Amy discusses her transition from the U.S. Navy to pursuing an education in wildlife biology at CSU Channel Islands. Learn how she overcame challenges and landed her dream job as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Video by Hazel Rodriguez/USFWS.
Transcript for video:
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:10.040
Hi, I'm Amy Duggal Agee and I'm a biologist for the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office.
00:00:10.040 --> 00:00:14.540
I served in the United States Navy for six years, I was a Seabee meaning I was in the
00:00:14.540 --> 00:00:20.250
Naval construction force. The highlight of my career was that I got to deploy to Afghanistan
00:00:20.250 --> 00:00:24.800
twice in 2009 and 2010, apart from that I got to
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.700
travel parts of Europe and most of southeast Asia and it was during
00:00:29.700 --> 00:00:34.580
my travels that I realized that not many countries have
00:00:34.580 --> 00:00:38.450
a wildlife agency dedicated towards the conservation of wildlife and
00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:43.210
their habitat. And that's what makes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so
00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:48.220
special and I'm happy to be a part of it. Going into my undergrad, I
00:00:48.220 --> 00:00:55.200
wasn't a 100 % sure of what my path was going to be, so I took all of the classes.
00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:00.310
I took as many different classes as possible, and there were a few ecology classes that I took
00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:03.840
that really changed my course 180.
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.630
The first few years of a brand new career are challenging, there's a lot to learn.
00:01:08.630 --> 00:01:12.460
And life is complex, and I think it
00:01:12.460 --> 00:01:16.930
was specially complex for me because I came from the military where I was
00:01:16.930 --> 00:01:21.930
trained in construction practices and firing machine guns. Those skills
00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:27.280
aren't particularly transferable so I've had to learn a lot.
00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.740
and very quickly. While I absolutely love it, it is challenging.
00:01:32.740 --> 00:01:39.730
For students I would recommend that you apply, apply, and apply.
00:01:39.730 --> 00:01:44.770
Apply everywhere and everywhere. And maybe say seven times our of ten you get
00:01:44.770 --> 00:01:48.030
a no, but there out of ten you might get a
00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:52.980
yes or a maybe. And while I'm here I'd like to give a shout out to three of my favorite
00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:57.520
professors Dr. Allison Alvarado, Dr. Donald Rodriguez, and Dr. Jeffrey Dilly.
d332ae24-71e1-4c8c-9f45-1dc07b17dd41
00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:02.370
Thank you so much for your classes, and they really instilled a love for ecology for me.
Amrita Duggal Agee - Women in Science
Meet wildlife biologist Amrita Duggal Agee. Amy discusses her transition from the U.S. Navy to pursuing an education in wildlife biology at CSU Channel Islands. Learn how she overcame challenges and landed her dream job as a wildlife biologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Video by Hazel Rodriguez/USFWS.
Transcript for video:
00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:10.040
Hi, I'm Amy Duggal Agee and I'm a biologist for the Ventura Fish and Wildlife Office.
00:00:10.040 --> 00:00:14.540
I served in the United States Navy for six years, I was a Seabee meaning I was in the
00:00:14.540 --> 00:00:20.250
Naval construction force. The highlight of my career was that I got to deploy to Afghanistan
00:00:20.250 --> 00:00:24.800
twice in 2009 and 2010, apart from that I got to
00:00:24.800 --> 00:00:29.700
travel parts of Europe and most of southeast Asia and it was during
00:00:29.700 --> 00:00:34.580
my travels that I realized that not many countries have
00:00:34.580 --> 00:00:38.450
a wildlife agency dedicated towards the conservation of wildlife and
00:00:38.450 --> 00:00:43.210
their habitat. And that's what makes the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service so
00:00:43.210 --> 00:00:48.220
special and I'm happy to be a part of it. Going into my undergrad, I
00:00:48.220 --> 00:00:55.200
wasn't a 100 % sure of what my path was going to be, so I took all of the classes.
00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:00.310
I took as many different classes as possible, and there were a few ecology classes that I took
00:01:00.310 --> 00:01:03.840
that really changed my course 180.
00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.630
The first few years of a brand new career are challenging, there's a lot to learn.
00:01:08.630 --> 00:01:12.460
And life is complex, and I think it
00:01:12.460 --> 00:01:16.930
was specially complex for me because I came from the military where I was
00:01:16.930 --> 00:01:21.930
trained in construction practices and firing machine guns. Those skills
00:01:21.930 --> 00:01:27.280
aren't particularly transferable so I've had to learn a lot.
00:01:27.280 --> 00:01:32.740
and very quickly. While I absolutely love it, it is challenging.
00:01:32.740 --> 00:01:39.730
For students I would recommend that you apply, apply, and apply.
00:01:39.730 --> 00:01:44.770
Apply everywhere and everywhere. And maybe say seven times our of ten you get
00:01:44.770 --> 00:01:48.030
a no, but there out of ten you might get a
00:01:48.030 --> 00:01:52.980
yes or a maybe. And while I'm here I'd like to give a shout out to three of my favorite
00:01:52.980 --> 00:01:57.520
professors Dr. Allison Alvarado, Dr. Donald Rodriguez, and Dr. Jeffrey Dilly.
d332ae24-71e1-4c8c-9f45-1dc07b17dd41
00:01:57.520 --> 00:02:02.370
Thank you so much for your classes, and they really instilled a love for ecology for me.