Tanya Moore

Tanya Moore

Lab Manager

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a Veterinarian when I grew up. Then, I wanted to be a dolphin trainer and then a professional hula-hoop dancer in the circus. Needless to say, none of my early career ambitions transpired into a life long commitment and when I graduated from UNB with a Bachelor's Degree in Biology in 2001, I found myself at a loss for what to do with myself next.

I was lucky enough to find an internship with Agriculture Canada at the Potato Research Center in Lincoln. Nine months of one-on-one tutelage from the tech in the Molecular Lab equipped me with the skills I needed to spend the next two and a half years jumping from contract to contract within the Center. While it was a learning experience beyond compare, I quickly saw that if I wanted more from life then a job…I needed to look outside the Research Center and find a career. I came to an interview with Gary Saunders in June of 2004 and thought to myself, “I know nothing about seaweed and even less about systematics….how did I end up here?” It's a far cry from my circus aspirations but having loved the sea all my life, I felt up to the challenge and quickly learned that this was where I was meant to be.

It's been a long winding road but life has a way of putting us right where we belong with out our even realizing it sometimes. Someone once said that fate is only the result of opportunity and experience colliding. I believe this completely as each contract was a stepping-stone in my path of learning which finally, when the time was right, brought me full circle back to UNB. Managing this lab seems to be the rights career path for me…who would of thought it? Not this hula girl.

Cheers!