Growing up in western Washington, Matt has always been surrounded by amazing sealife in Puget Sound. This encouraged him to receive his B.S. in Biology at the University of Washington while simultaneously acting as the Lead Biologist at Highline College’s Marine Science & Technology Center (MaST). While caring for over 300 native species and almost 3,000 gallons of unfiltered seawater, Matt also helped support interpretive, outreach, and research efforts with his husbandry skills for nearly a decade. In addition to caring for wolf eels, rockfish, and giant Pacific octopus, Matt is an accomplished aquaculturist and assisted in leading a community science team focused on jellyfish aquaculture. However, his experience spans the world, as he has also cared for hammerhead sharks, eagle rays, and sea turtles while working at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium while helping open their new Pacific Seas Aquarium. Nonetheless, cold water and community-focused science centers have always been his passion. Through SCUBA diving, careful observation, and research, Matt uses ecology to inform his husbandry practices and designs exhibits that bring the natural environment into the aquarium. He is excited to showcase the marine life of Sitka Sound while getting to care for both familiar and new species. His favorite animal changes almost daily, but at the time of writing this it is a basket star (Gorgonocephalus eucnemis). If he’s not in the aquarium, he’s likely diving (for fun), hiking, or building computers.