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“I like working on things I can actually eat,” Thomas Ihde said with a laugh, recounting his early graduate research on spotted seatrout at William & Mary’s Batten School & VIMS. “But really,” he said, “I went to graduate school because I wanted to work in a field where I felt I could contribute to marine policy. I did an extensive review of all the Ph.D. marine programs around the country, and VIMS was my top choice.” 

Since graduating from the Batten School of Coastal & Marine Sciences & VIMS, Ihde has carved out an impressive career in fisheries science. As a research assistant professor at Morgan State University’s Patuxent Environmental and Aquatic Research Laboratory (PEARL), he specializes in Chesapeake Bay research, leading PEARL’s long-term survey of Bay blue crabs, now entering its 58th year, and building ecosystem models with his students to capture the dynamics of fished marine populations within broader ecological contexts. 

Looking back on his education and career, Ihde shared a wealth of wisdom and experience that would benefit aspiring marine scientists, particularly those in graduate programs. 

Community reveals a broader perspective 

One of Ihde’s most valuable takeaways from his time in graduate school was the importance of community. “There was a lot of camaraderie at VIMS and the fisheries department was a fairly close-knit family, which was invaluable to me,” he said. However, Ihde noted that in addition to relationships, the Batten School & VIMS community also offered unique learning opportunities. “We not only supported each other but also worked together to solve problems and learn about new subjects.” 

Ihde emphasized that students should take full advantage of this community. “Get as much experience as possible. Don't leave your blinders on as a graduate student. It's very tempting to just focus on the small world of your specific research question, but that's so important not to do,” he said. “You need to understand the context of the questions you’re asking. You need to recognize and collaborate on other projects happening around you, because if you are to know the importance of your work, you need to understand how it fits into the bigger picture.” 

Ihde’s career has continued to affirm the importance of stepping back to appreciate the broader circumstances of scientific inquiry. While working at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Chesapeake Bay office, Ihde led a multidisciplinary project to develop an ecosystem model of the entire Chesapeake Bay, which made an indelible impression. 

"It really put those fish populations in context with their environment,” he said, “and now I feel strongly about how important that is to the continued development of fisheries science. It's all about understanding a population’s change in context with its prey, and its prey’s prey, and the predators that are eating it, and all the fisheries that are harvesting it and the changing conditions of its habitat.” 

Developing practical scientific skills 

Ihde encourages students to participate in field research while in graduate school, which provides opportunities to learn new skills from both faculty and staff. “I got a lot of training from VIMS staff, specifically,” he said. “Getting to participate on the wide variety of fisheries research surveys with the fisheries staff was an incredible experience every time we went out, and you get to know the waters of Virginia intimately.” 

Throughout his time at the Batten School & VIMS, Ihde’s evolving academic interests mirrored his pursuit of new skills. “Spotted seatrout were a wonderful project for my master’s, but I wanted to do more along the lines of stock assessment and learn those skills as well. So, I connected with Dr. John Hoenig to be my Ph.D. advisor, and we ended up working on rock lobster in southern Australia. I went to Tasmania several times to do an experiment with that population in a marine reserve there. It was an amazing learning experience.” 

Working with Hoenig, Ihde came to value both traditional and non-traditional analytical skills. “When data's lacking, anecdotal information can be used to answer research questions, and sometimes that's the best we have. Sometimes that's knowledge from fishermen, sometimes that's the size of fish in the marketplace. And John taught me a lot about always making the most of what's available to you, even if it wasn't some ideal experimental design.” Ihde’s diverse research on Chesapeake Bay fisheries ecology helped him understand how to apply these lessons in real-world fisheries management. 

Ihde also points out that people skills are essential for networking and research collaboration, and he advocates for students to get involved in professional organizations. “Get to meetings, talk to people, and ask questions,” he said. “And look at professional societies on the edges of your field; cross-fertilization between disciplines is important.” 

Exemplifying the necessity of scientific cooperation, Ihde says his current work at PEARL “really requires ongoing collaboration with researchers from all around the Bay system, including upstream in the tributaries. So, it’s super important to stay in contact with people and to maintain that network in a very real way.” 

Navigating unpredictability in the field, and in life 

One of the biggest lessons Ihde learned during his time at the Batten School & VIMS was how to adapt to the unexpected. “In fisheries, you find out quickly that nothing is ideal. Things go wrong, tagging studies fail, cohorts of fish sometimes just don't come through.” And, he says, those experiences don’t stop after graduation. His team was recently studying the effects of oyster reef restoration but quickly realized they also needed to factor in the loss of eelgrass that is also happening at the same time. “The project got a little complicated,” he said, “but it addressed a lot of interesting questions, and we came up with useful information for management policy.” 

In a tumultuous job market, Ihde also says students also need to prepare early and be ready to pivot to alternate options. “Start to look around and focus on jobs long before graduation,” he said. “Plan ahead and always have plans B and C, and ideally, a plan D.” 

If that future sounds daunting, Ihde has reassurance for students at the Batten School & VIMS that they are in the right place to succeed if they take advantage of the unique community and opportunities to learn, develop practical skills and grow their professional network. “VIMS is still, in my view, the premier marine science institution for integrative science,” he said. “The institute has a very well-earned reputation, and so students there can know they made a good choice.”

This alumni profile was written and published in April, 2025.