He started diving with his dad at four years old, decades before he'd ever set foot at Loggerhead Marinelife Center. Andy DeHart's father was a former Navy diver, and that early exposure to the water hooked him on marine biology for good. By 15 he was already working in aquariums, and he went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Nebraska Omaha. From there, DeHart spent more than 25 years building and running some of North America's biggest public aquariums: he helped build and open the Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo early in his career, helped open Ripley's Aquarium of Canada in Toronto (where he served as Director of Husbandry, and where host Andrew Lewin, also living in Burlington, Ontario at the time, first got to know him), spent 19 years at the National Aquarium across its Baltimore and Washington, D.C. locations, and served as Vice President of Animal Husbandry and Marine Conservation at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Miami.
Along the way, DeHart built a media résumé most marine biologists only dream of: seven Discovery Channel Shark Week productions as shark advisor, plus appearances on Today, NBC Nightly News, and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. He also spent 12 years on the board of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF). On June 24, 2022, he was named President and CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center in Juno Beach, Florida, a free-admission nonprofit built around rescuing, rehabilitating, and releasing sea turtles through hands-on education, an outdoor sea turtle hospital, and ongoing research. In his own words: "I could not be more excited to join the Loggerhead Marinelife Center family and continue their incredible work in education, conservation, and research."
For Andrew, the story isn't a career pivot, it's a homecoming: someone who built his career around aquariums, sharks, and marine life is now running an organization built entirely around one animal he's spent decades around. DeHart is known for mentoring the scientists, educators, and veterinarians who come through his programs, and Andrew, who calls him a friend and someone he regularly talks career strategy with, sees a lot of his own path reflected in it: two marine biologists, decades into their dream jobs, doing the work from different sides of the same mission.
Takeaways:
Andy DeHart first fell for the ocean diving with his father, a former Navy diver, at age four, and started working in aquariums by 15.
He holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Nebraska Omaha and spent more than 25 years building and running major North American aquariums.
His career includes Director of Husbandry at Ripley's Aquarium of Canada (Toronto), 19 years at the National Aquarium (Baltimore/D.C.), Vice President of Animal Husbandry and Marine Conservation at the Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science (Miami), and helping build and open the Kingdom of the Seas Aquarium at Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo.
He's served as shark advisor on seven Discovery Channel Shark Week productions and appeared on Today, NBC Nightly News, and The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer.
He spent 12 years on the board of the Reef Environmental Education Foundation (REEF).
On June 24, 2022, he was named President and CEO of Loggerhead Marinelife Center, a free-admission sea turtle rescue, rehabilitation, and research nonprofit in Juno Beach, Florida.
Host Andrew Lewin, a longtime friend who first met DeHart in Burlington, Ontario, frames the move not as a career pivot but as a homecoming to the animals and mission he's spent his whole career around.
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