Holley Muraco’s love of animals has taken her around the globe.

She became fascinated with marine biology after a six-month internship at Walt Disney World’s Epcot. The Potts Camp native has traveled far and wide studying bottlenose dolphins and walruses, and has spent time as a Walt Disney World zookeeper. Her work has taken her to Nevada, California, the Netherlands, Bermuda, South China and Alaska.

“I’ve worked with sharks, sea turtles, beluga whales and dolphins, and then I opened Discovery Cove and the dolphin swim program experience there. I eventually started working with gorillas, but I really began to miss science. I loved zookeeping and animal training, but at my core, I am a researcher with too many questions that were unanswered.”

Her educational path was somewhat nontraditional. She jumped into MSU’s animal physiology doctoral program after earning a bachelor’s degree from the university in 1998, all while working as an animal reproduction consultant for zoos and aquariums. She earned her Ph.D. in 2015.

She was researching the failure behind walrus reproduction in California when she was approached by British Broadcasting Corporation producers about traveling to Alaska and starring in a documentary about the animals. Muraco traveled back and forth for two years to St. Lawrence Island, known as the walrus capital of the world. She also traveled to Wales where she spent some time on ice floes with subsistence hunters—individuals who hunt for survival—and met members of the Eskimo Walrus Commission who represent the coastal walrus hunting community in Alaska.

“I spent time with the Inuit population. We camped in the Aleutian Island chains, and I’m thinking, ‘How did this Mississippi farm kid get here? What am I doing?’ I would say that of all my experiences, that one was the most exciting for me,” she said.

Currently, Muraco works as an assistant research professor in animal and dairy sciences and is stationed at MSU’s Coastal Research and Extension Center. As a Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station scientist, she conducts research on Coastal One Health, with the goal of enhancing the health of coastal ecosystems, wildlife and human communities by investigating and understanding their interconnectedness.

“I have my dream job working for Mississippi State. I love MSU, and it’s perfect for me because I want to build a legacy. When I retire, I want to look back on my time here and see that I’ve given MSU students an opportunity to work in marine biology,” she said. “If I can inspire a generation to take care of our amazing world that we have on the coast, then I feel like I’ve done my job.”