Dauphin Island Shellfish Lab Assistant Extension Professor and DIRECTOR, Andrea Tarnecki
Andrea Tarnecki was interviewed by Stephen Pinna at Aquaculture America 2023. Interview edited by Carla Schubiger.
Andrea is quick to tell you that she’s an Assistant Extension Professor at the Dauphin Island Shellfish Lab, but she’s known to forget to add that she also has the honor and privilege to be the DIRECTOR! Read below to learn more about Andrea, her lab, and some personal tidbits of information for the interested aquaculture minds!
1. First question is, what is your position, and what are you working on?
My name is Andrea Tarnecki; I am an Assistant Extension Professor at the Auburn. Shellfish Lab in Dauphin Island. I am also the director of the lab, which I always need to remember to tell people! Our primary mission at the shellfish lab is to do applied research to help aid the off-bottom oyster farming industry and restoration efforts. We have the entire oyster life cycle from the broodstock maintenance to larvae to the nursery and back to the farms. We also do a lot of outreach and extension efforts to transfer technology, inform the public, and improve the perception of aquaculture.
2. How did you first get involved in the field of Aquaculture, and what was the position?
As an undergrad, I always wanted to do fish biology. Fish was always my passion. However, after my undergrad, I worked in an environmental lab for a couple of years. I hated it and so did a last-minute transfer back to into a master's degree at my undergrad institution on a teaching assistantship. Still, they didn't have enough advisors for the people they brought on for teaching assistantships, so my adopted advisor introduced me to Cova Arias at Auburn. I interviewed with her and came to do my master's work there. Her background was in microbiology, which I hated microbiology. Still, she said that she wanted to develop fish microbial community work in her lab, which meant that I could go fishing to collect my samples! So it was a win-win. And in the process, I fell in love with microbiology and transitioned to a PhD where I worked with seafood safety and oysters alongside the fish microbiome work.
When I was ready to graduate, a post-doctoral position was open at Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, Florida. It was a unique opportunity because instead of being paid, there was a specific grant on which you get to design your own research program. And I really wanted to move forward with the fish microbiome. So I interviewed there, was lucky enough to get hired, and started developing that research. I worked closely with Nicole Rhody and Kevin Maine, who were running the aquaculture facility, which got me into probiotics research, and now I am here in aquaculture! So ultimately, I went from wanting to do ecology to being a microbiologist in the aquaculture realm. When talking to students about potential jobs, I always tell them not to rule anything out because I never thought I would love microbiology as much as I do now!
3. What advice would you give someone starting in the field of Aquaculture?
Generally, when starting any career, be open-minded and try new things. One of the biggest things in aquaculture is collaboration. There are many people and places with different expertise, and sometimes it is on another species, but it's perfectly relevant. And sometimes, people try to work as an island, which is not the best way to solve hurdles.
I love coming to these meetings [Aquaculture America 2023] because I meet many people doing a lot of exciting things, and you build collaborations and write proposals to get money to help solve different issues that arise. Also, don't be afraid to get wet and dirty because even as a microbiologist in the lab, I still like to get dirty on occasion. So Be flexible, meet many people, and think outside the box.
4. What is something that most people don’t know about the Aquaculture Industry or your role in the Industry?
Yeah, coming from an extension side, there are many academics who don't understand the importance of projects that help the industry. There are many cool things you can do in aquaculture research. But I would rather do the applied research and be able to solve issues and hurdles that the industry has.
Extension agents have a crucial role; hopefully, they understand that you should constantly communicate with your stakeholders. Just because you are in academia doesn't mean you should be walled off from the industry.
5. Do you have a funny story to share about something that happened to you in Aquaculture?
When I was doing fish research, I worked a lot with fish poop. So I became known around the lab as the “Poop Queen”. Every time anyone was doing anything, they would ask me if I wanted fecal samples from whatever animal they were working on. The sad thing is I usually said yes!
6. In your opinion, what is the most fascinating part of the industry and why?
The closeness of the industry is really cool. Everybody knows who everybody is. That is a really neat aspect. In addition, it has the ability to suck people in. You get interns and students who were like, “I don't know what aquaculture is; why am I here?” But by the end of the internship, they're like “this is amazing!”
7. What is a trend that you’ve seen come and go or where do you envision the Aquaculture Industry in 10 years?
I know there is a lot of effort into genetic breeding programs in the shellfish world. In the Gulf of Mexico, for example, just the uniqueness of each farm, everybody kind of wants their own strain, tailored to those environmental conditions. So a lot of work goes into genetic breeding programs, which is really important for the industry. It's going to help them long-term with climate change and ocean acidification because there's a lot of work going into making a more resilient animal for the different farms.
8. Being a woman in aquaculture, what are the challenges/successes you’d like to share?
I've been fortunate in this aspect and haven't had that many challenges. Many places I worked at have been primarily women, and I have the previous generations to thank for that. I imagine that my new position might be a little more difficult - I have heard that sometimes harvesters and farmers may be a little less willing to work with a woman, but I feel like I can get my way in there and get them to trust me. So, overall, I feel like I’ve been very, very lucky in that aspect.
Andrea’s message for students or for anyone starting in the industry is to not rule anything out, to be open-minded, and to try new things! Get out, meet new people, take chances, and read up on our interviewees to learn more about how they started in aquaculture! Come back next month where we interview Anoushka Concepcion from Connecticut Sea Grant and UConn’s Cooperative Extension.