Brother to freshman Dalaney Mier, Conrad Mier lives out his dream career. Since visiting Sea World, Conrad has aspired to be a marine mammal trainer. Conrad currently works with California Sea Lions, Pacific Harbor Seals as well as Atlantic and Pacific Bottle-nose Dolphins as a trainer in Miami, Florida.

Obtaining a degree in zoology from The University of Findlay, Conrad has been in his field for almost five years and has worked at his current facility for two and a half years. Prior to working at the Miami Seaquarium, he worked at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California. When he was five, he touched a dolphin dorsal fin, and from then on he knew he wanted to work with marine life.

Conrad’s job entails caring for twenty-eight Pinnipeds, otherwise known as seals, and eight dolphins. Some of his duties include food preparation, maintaining old and new training behaviors, preparing for presentations and shows for the public, as well as maintenance and cleaning around the animals environments. Conrad noted his regular routine.

“Some days I show up earlier than my co-workers to deliver and [preparation] fish for the day. This involves breaking fish out of a freezer, delivering it to individual areas and then weighing out food for each individual animal. Fish [preparation] is our quality control, any fish that does not reach standards is thrown away. After fish [preparation] we have a morning meeting to look for any conflicts with our daily schedule, also to address anything out of the ordinary. From there on out its a day full of training sessions, session talks, shows, and interactions. Finally the day is concluded with [afternoon] duties, which involves cleaning anything and everything that has gotten dirty throughout the day’s events,” Conrad said.

Conrad’s mother, Lisa Mier, noted his keen interest in biology and zoology. Lisa commented on his career and work ethic.

“Conrad has a very strong work ethic and works hard to be good at what he does. Marc Anthony [once] said, ‘do what you love and you will never work a day in your life.’ That is true for Conrad,” Lisa said.

Conrad explained that being a trainer requires working closely with others, stressing the detrimental effect that would occur if everyone worked individually. Working alongside collegues, Conrad conducts fifteen to twenty-five sessions where he directly interacts with animals. Conrad commented on his favorite sea creature.

“I have a special bond with each and every one of my animals, but [there is] nothing like interacting with Lolita, our 7,000 pound Orca,” Conrad said.

Conrad noted the controversy and stereotypes surrounding his career, explaining that he is the only male employed with ten women outnumbering him.

“[There is] a lot of controversy surrounding my field, as there has always been. The worst stereotype is that we do this for the glory. We are in front of the public for maybe five percent of our day.The rest of the time is spent behind the scenes interacting with awesome animals, but the majority of it is spent doing things for the animals rather than with the animals,” Conrad said.

While reflecting on his career, Conrad undergoes many unique experiences. He commented on his favorite and least favorite aspects of his job.

“[My favorite] moment [is] when [I am] training a behavior and my animal has that light bulb moment where you can tell they understand what the goal of the training session is. My least favorite aspect of the job is dealing with sickness and death. It [does not] happen very often but [there is] nothing worse than your animal not feeling well and trying to figure out, not only, what is wrong but also how to make them feel better,” Conrad said.

Conrad noted his joy when family and friends visit or shadow him at work.

“I have both family and friends come to visit, and I love showing them what I do on a daily basis. Due to proprietary information, I can only share so much, but what I am able to show is always memorable for my friends and family,” Conrad said.

After visiting Conrad in eighth grade, Dalaney got first-hand experience of his career. Dalaney described his passion for his job.

“My brother has always loved all animals, from dogs to dolphins. He goes in on his off-days to help where is needed with sick or injured animals,” Dalaney said.

Lisa commented on her first experience visiting Conrad at work.

“I was so proud of him, I cried during his first show and seeing him with the animals,” Lisa said.

Due to his overwhelming desire to work with marine-life since he was a child, Conrad pursued a career in this field. He spends time outside of work caring for them, especially the sick and injured, or playing with his dogs, Shelby and Baxter, trying to give all animals the best quality of life possible. While enjoying his rare career, Conrad noted that he lives the dream and loves life, working in the only field he has ever considered.