Abstract I have cooperated with, and learnt from, excellent colleagues with different competencies and career paths. Mine has been one of measurements and observations. I have worked in locations spanning from the brackish surface layer of fjords to the bottom of the sea, and in high to low latitudes. I have had the opportunity of experimenting with whole fjord systems, turning a river on and off. I have especially benefited from using easily accessible fjords as ocean laboratories and models. Together with talented and innovative early career scientists, we have applied submerged echosounders cabled to shore for in situ assessment of deep-living organisms at time scales of seconds to years. This approach has allowed following individual lantern fish swimming at several hundred meters depth as well as establishing their varying diel vertical migration patterns throughout the seasons. Deep sea jellyfish turned out to have surprisingly varied behaviour. We have observed responses to hypoxia among plankton and fish and life under ice. While benefitting from research in well-known environments, I have also learnt the contrasting lesson that working in unfamiliar settings may bring new perspectives into the research. Spending hundreds of days at sea has led to unexpected findings and reminded me why I became a marine biologist in the first place. Being a university professor has involved the privilege of working with young, enthusiastic people and hopefully helping in promoting career paths of the next generation. I look back on my own with joy and gratitude.
Stein Kaartvedt (Sun,) studied this question.