Jessica Colla ’15 always knew she wanted to be a marine biologist. As a child, she loved being outdoors, enjoyed traveling with her family, and always had the mentality that she was going to learn about the environment and save it. Colla is now the director of education at the Maui Ocean Center in Wailuku, Hawaii. While at Ferrum College, Colla studied Environmental Science with a minor in Ecotourism.
While still a young alumna, Colla has already had an exciting career, which began during her senior year at Ferrum College when she spent time in Belize with the IX Jaguar Project of Belize collecting and analyzing data on vegetation measurements and identifying the relationship between jaguar presence and forest structure. After graduation, she moved to Andros Island, Bahamas with the Bahamian National Trust and Greenforce to work as a coral reef surveyor.
Colla first worked in the Pacific in Fiji as a divemaster and marine educator with Waitui Conservation and then as a marine naturalist at the Pacific Whale Foundation in Wailuku, Hawaii. Next, she was accepted into the University of Sydney’s Marine Science and Development program in Australia where she also worked with Fantasea Cruising as a marine biologist.
Colla explained that the majority of the experiences she’s had are due to her taking the initiative rather than utilizing existing connections. “It was a ton of self-research and figuring out what would work the best for me. It was almost entirely reliant on me to do the research and get outside of my comfort zone to call people and apply where a job wasn’t even listed,” said Colla.
Colla shared more about why she decided to pursue marine biology. “I remember being fascinated by women in science including Sylvia Earl, a marine biologist who was the first in the field to become renowned, and Jane Goodall, who studied chimpanzees. I thought those women were fascinating,” explained Colla.
Colla, who is from Mahomet, Illinois—a small town close to the University of Illinois—described how she heard about Ferrum College. “I found Ferrum since it has the second oldest environmental science program in the nation. I grew up around cornfields and soybeans and those programs catered to the agricultural side of environmental science, and that was not of interest to me at all,” said Colla. After seeing that Ferrum also offered coursework in sustainability and ecotourism, and visiting campus, she applied.
While at Ferrum, Colla stayed involved with Ferrum Outdoors and Spanish Club.
Former Ferrum College professor Glen Stevens said of Colla, “Jessica was definitely one of the best students I worked with while I was at Ferrum. She really stood out, as she was active in multiple programs on campus, and was always engaged and thoughtful in the classroom. She came to Ferrum because she wanted to study both Environmental Science and Ecotourism, and it has been wonderful to see her career integrate those ideas.”
Some of her fondest memories of Ferrum College are the travel opportunities she had through E-Term. “The first year, I did Alaska with the Ecotourism department. The second year, I did Peru with my Spanish class. My last year, when I was going to be doing research in Belize, I went with the Belize e-term and learned alongside the full class. Because I was going to stay in Belize, I had my own science project. I got to teach the class how to do my science project and my data collection while we were there,” said Colla.
Colla also shared how prepared she felt for the different opportunities she’s had because of what she learned at Ferrum. “Ferrum did a really good job with giving me a good, solid foundation and teaching me to think like a scientist. I felt so much more prepared for my master’s with a few years hiatus, than some people who went straight from their bachelor’s to their master’s program,” explained Colla.
Chris Mayer, associate professor of recreation leadership and ecotourism said of Colla, “Jessica was driven to excel in the classroom. She was always in class, prepared and ready to contribute. I got to know her and learn about her career aspirations when she would stop by my office for advice or a cup of tea. Through those visits, I learned she was interested in guiding and the field of environmental interpretation which is my specialty. I hope I made a small contribution to her career by providing her with examples of how she might apply what she learned in class to what she loved doing—sharing nature with the public.”
Colla encourages current and future students to take advantage of the professors and the opportunities Ferrum College offers. “There are so many opportunities. Don’t feel weird using your professors to the utmost of your advantage. In order to get the most out of your experience, most of the professors are willing to bend over backwards for you,” advised Colla.
Colla also suggests students look for and apply to different opportunities. “Just because a company isn’t hiring, that doesn’t mean anything. Apply anyway! Don’t get disheartened when you keep applying and you don’t hear back, or if the answer is no,” concluded Colla.
To learn more about the Maui Ocean Center, visit: https://mauioceancenter.com/our-story/
To learn more about our Environmental Science program, visit: https://www.ferrum.edu/school-of-undergraduate-studies/environmental-science/
To learn more about our Ecotourism program, visit: https://www.ferrum.edu/school-of-undergraduate-studies/ecotourism/
To see more photos throughout Jessica’s career, visit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ferrumcollege/albums/72177720305366532
