
Each month the UT Martin Alumni Association highlights an alumnus who has soared to great heights and made significant contributions in their career post-graduation. Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Dr. Kesley Banks, a Successful Skyhawk whose achievements inspire us all and remind us of the boundless possibilities that lie ahead!
Marine Biologist Dr. Kesley Banks Puts Her Degrees to Work—From the Sea to the Screen.
Northwest Tennessee might seem like a surprising place to start a marine biology career, but for Dr. Kesley Banks, Associate Research Scientist at the Center for Sportfish Science and Conservation at the Harte Research Institute at Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, UT Martin prepared her for a profession that would later land her multiple appearances on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week.
“Obviously, there is little living marine fish in Tennessee,” Kesley notes. “However, with help from the professors in the biology and geology departments, I was able to design a plan that helped me gain experience and the education needed to eventually make my way to the coast.”
Since stepping on UTM’s campus in 2008, Kesley was involved with Campus Rec., Phi Eta Sigma National Honor Society, the Undergraduate Alumni Council (now named the Student Alumni Council), TriBeta, and Eta Alpha chapter of Sigma Gamma Epsilon, to name a few.
In 2012, she graduated with a bachelor’s degree in biology and continued her studies at Troy University where she earned a master’s degree in environmental science in 2015. Kesley then attended Texas A&M-Corpus Christi for her doctorate in marine biology, which she earned in December 2019. Her dissertation focused on movement patterns and habitat use for fishery species of varying life history strategies, including Red Snapper and Shortfin Mako sharks.
Today, she is working her dream job in marine fisheries, running the highly migratory species research for the Sportfish Center. In addition to earning Kesley a spot on Shark Week, her research has allowed her to travel and join federal committees and councils to help translate science into management. She currently serves as the vice chair for the Gulf Council, which manages all federal fisheries in the gulf.
As someone who tracks marine species for a living, her advice to current students is simple. “No one’s path is the same and you should not compare yours to someone else’s,” says Kesley. “Each deviation, twist, and turn gives you a new life experience that will allow you to have your own unique perspective that only you can bring to the table.”
No one’s path is the same, and you should not compare yours to someone else’s.
Dr. Kesley Banks
Class of 2012
B.S. in Biology
Q&A with Kesley
I don’t have just one because I met so many amazing people that made a difference in my life. Time spent with them are treasured experiences and memories to me.
Obviously, there is little living marine fish in Tennessee. However, with help from the professors in the biology and geology department, I was able to design a plan that helped me gain experience and the education needed to eventually make my way to the coast. I also participated in undergraduate research which taught me many valuable life lessons, one of the most important of which was to not give up and how to problem solve when things aren’t going the way they are supposed to go. In fact, I spent over a year trying to determine why experiments were failing.
I am working my dream job in marine fisheries, running the highly migratory species research for the Sportfish Center. This research has allowed me to appear multiple years on Shark Week, and where I met my now husband (he was the captain of one of our vessels for the filming). We have two adorable fur babies and are living our best lives together.
No one’s path is the same and you should not compare yours to someone else’s. Each deviation, twist, and turn gives you a new life experience that will allow you to have your own unique perspective that only you can bring to the table. That viewpoint is one of the most valuable things you bring to the table in any field or job.