At the beginning of her sophomore year, Alex Ulmke had no idea what to major in. She had grown up visiting her grandparents’ house on a Florida inlet with manatees swimming by, and she wanted to become a marine biologist to save them. During her freshman year at UW, she took study breaks to watch documentaries about whales. After taking a course from a UW professor who was researching whales and the Endangered Species Act, she figured out she could tailor her UW education to her fascination with marine mammal conservation.