{"id":18532,"date":"2023-09-18T10:39:14","date_gmt":"2023-09-18T14:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/?page_id=18532"},"modified":"2024-07-08T10:39:27","modified_gmt":"2024-07-08T14:39:27","slug":"behind-the-researcher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ncseagrant.ncsu.edu\/coastwatch\/behind-the-researcher\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Researcher: Matt Damiano, Warming Waters, and Sustaining Iconic Fish"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\u201cWe have a rapidly changing landscape of both the ocean environment and the makeup of who is going out to catch fish.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When you give a child a National Geographic<\/em> video on sharks, you might just hook them on sea life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI wanted to be a marine biologist, basically from the moment I watched a National Geographic video featuring Dr. Eugenie Clark,\u201d says Matt Damiano, an alumnus of North Carolina State University\u2019s Department of Applied Ecology. \u201cShe was my hero growing up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Damiano started scuba diving when he was just 13 years old, earning certification when he was 15. But what he saw while diving inspired him to look beyond sharks and instead to the species they eat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSharks are big charismatic creatures, so they\u2019re a good ambassador to the 35,000-plus known species of fish that exist,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While earning his Ph.D. at NC State, Damiano worked to address fishery sustainability and resource management in the face of warming oceans and changing needs of fisheries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While at Oregon State, Damiano developed an interest in studying fish population dynamics, and then he earned his master\u2019s at the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science studying Eastern oysters. After working in fisheries management for two years, Damiano found his way to NC State\u2019s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI decided that management wasn\u2019t really for me,\u201d says Damiano. \u201cMy heart was in research, and that\u2019s what led me to NC State. In 2019, I connected with Jie Cao at the Center for Marine Sciences and Technology.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nTHE PATH TO BOGUE SOUND<\/h2>\n\n\n\n