How do you go from marine biologist...

Here's a short answer (and I'm going to use our handy new tracking feature to not track this):

In graduate school I spent a lot of time on the water. I went on research cruises. I kayaked and sailed. I was underwater a lot. I fished for my dinner. It sounds pretty romantic until you consider I had no money at all. :)

Once I got my degree I sat in an office and wrote grant proposals and published our research. I was very, very grateful to have a job at all, because getting to be a professor is guelingly difficult, especially when you consider the training required. But I was on the computer, while the grad students got to go out in the field and collect the data. I figured if I was going to sit in an office on a computer all day I might as well be playing games. (I did truly love teaching though and I miss that a little.)

My heart goes out to scientists and science teachers, because I understand the sacrifices they have to make for their career. I admire them a lot. You have to love that job to be any good at it and I just didn't love it enough. This job I love. Marine biology makes a better hobby than a career for some of us.

If I can offer any totally unsolicited career advice, it's not to obsess too much about what career you're going to end up in. Many of us end up changing careers at some point. (That may be especially true in the current economic climate.) If you're still in school, the potential careers you might end up in possibly don't even exist yet. I'm pretty sure there were like six people doing professional game design when I was 13.

Q u o t e:
Not to be a downer but can we get some information on your actual formal training as it pertains to programming or game design ?

No, it's a totally legit quesiton. I have no formal training. I know maybe 5 guys doing design in the industry that do, and perhaps none at Blizzard (not 100% sure on that). If you want to go into programming, art, or sound then you either need formal training or you need to be very, very good. You do not need formal training for game design. You do need excellent communication, research and creative skills. It is in some ways the hardest job to get because you can't prove your chops the way an artist can with a demo reel. I am not an artist or a programmer. I do know enough about those jobs to be able to do my job.

As the game industry matures, we will see more and more schools that teach game design and other skills to hopefully get you a leg up in the industry. I would not at all consider those mandatory for many years, if ever, but they work for some people. For science, by contrast, you need many years of formal training and you almost always need an advanced degree for any type of senior position.