Ed Ricketts, marine biologist and ecologist

Ed Ricketts was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1897. When he was six, his uncle gave Ed a book about animals. That was when he decided that he wanted to study animals when he grew up.

Ricketts became a marine biologist, a scientist who studies the plants and animals of the ocean. Early in his career, he started the Pacific Biological Laboratories in Pacific Grove, California. His lab collected ocean plants and animals. He also made microscope slides for schools and research.

After several years, Ed moved his laboratory to Monterey, California. He worked with the famous writer, John Steinbeck, who was also his good friend. Together they explored nature along the coast and wrote about it. Ed Ricketts was one of the first Americans to study the ocean ecosystem and its importance to all of earth.