We recently connected with Mikki McComb-Kobza and have shared our conversation below.

Mikki, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My parents were my absolute foundation in life. As a young girl I grew up in Colorado and my parents regularly took me and my older brother camping in the mountains. These early experiences in the wild instilled a deep love of the outdoors. One of my earliest memories was camping with my family and my dad and I went off to collect firewood. For some reason I just do not like shoes and I was not wearing any. My dad was concerned so he asked me to go back to our camp to get them. Well, I headed out and got lost, very lost. I was not able to find my way back and luckily, some nature lovers found me and reunited me with my family! My takeaway from all of this was that nature was beautiful and that I was not scared. My parents were relieved but we lived at a time when getting lost in the woods was not a crisis. I believe some of these early experiences helped shape my relationship with the natural world and my fundamental drive to protect it.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

When I was seven years old I saw the movie Jaws with my older brother. I walked out of that movie forever changed. I was terrified of sharks. I thought they were under my bed and under the kitchen table. I made the swim team because I was swimming so fast from invisible sharks coming out of the drain! I had a shark problem and the only way I knew to overcome this fear was to read about sharks. Luckily, my parents had an animal encyclopedia, and I was able to read and learn all about sharks. My fear was replaced with fascination as I learned that sharks are older than the trees and have lived through mass extinction events that took out the dinosaurs! I became hooked by sharks and their incredible story. I did not become a shark researcher in a straight path. I entered the business world as a young adult and did really well. However, it did not fulfill me. I needed to get back to my passion. At age 28 after becoming a Scuba diving instructor in the Florida Keys, I went back to pursue my degree at Florida International University. I ended up getting my PhD in Biology and began conducting research all over the world on sharks. I took a post– doctoral position at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute and then moved back home to Colorado. It was there, in Boulder, the most unlikely of places that Ocean First Institute was born. An ocean conservation non-profit right in the Rocky Mountains. Our mission is ocean conservation through research and education, so I am able to conduct meaningful research on sharks and bring those stories back through our outreach programs. We have grown so much since our early years and now have a large staff of researchers and educators. Just this year we opened the Ocean First Institute Shark Lab in the Florida Keys hosted by our partners at Marinelab. We are able to use our novel and non– invasive techniques to learn all about the shark populations in the keys and beyond. Our ultimate goal is to be inclusive and share with people why the ocean matters to them, even when they live in a land locked state like Colorado. We have reached nearly 200,000 students with our award– winning conservation programs. Our hope is that we reach far more and instill the simple things that each of us can do to help conserve ocean life and biodiversity which ultimately is great for all of us.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I dove straight into a business career as a young adult and did very well. However, it was not my passion. I was not fulfilled. I needed to go back to my passion and find meaning. Just as these feelings were coming to me, my father became ill and I moved from Colorado to Florida, where he lived, to be his caregiver. It was a very hard year, but I was there for my dad and have no regrets. After he passed away, I remember sitting at the end of a dock, thinking, what will I do now?. I knew then that I had a chance to reinvent myself, to do something that mattered. After all, my dad taught me that life is precious, and you should live it to the fullest. So, right there I decided that I wanted to study sharks. My childhood dream. I moved to the Florida Keys and became a Scuba instructor. It was one of the happiest times of my life. I was able to swim with sharks and spend time with them underwater. I loved it. But I soon realized many sharks were in trouble. Their numbers were declining due to the demand for shark fins for shark fin soup. I wanted to do more, I wanted to be a voice for these animals. So, I went back to the university and got my doctorate. Now, running my conservation non-profit, I feel like I am making a difference through the research we do and the outreach and conservation programs we run. It is the most important work I can do and I am grateful that many people have come on board to help.

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I have a very high functioning team at our nonprofit organization. One key thing is that we all wear many hats and we have to pitch in to do things we may not be trained in or comfortable with. But we have to get the job done and we do it as a team. We take risks, we communicate, we share our passion. I believe communicating effectively is key and making time for a debrief from staff on what is working and what is not. Giving and receiving criticism is one of the only ways we can improve and become better and stronger as individuals and as a team. I strive to make sure my team is communicating effectively and is getting all they need to succeed. As non- profit we work with a large core of volunteers and this is another incredibly valuable facet to our success and again clear communication is vital.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.oceanfirstinstitute.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oceanfirstinstitute/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oceanfirstinstitute1/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikkikobza/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/OceanFirstInst
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/c/oceanfirstinstitute