NEW YORK—It was 1997, and Jon Forrest Dohlin had one final assignment to complete for his graduate program at Parsons University before hitting the real world as an architect: design a new exhibit at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s New York Aquarium.
“Like most people in New York, I had no idea we had an aquarium,” Dohlin said with a laugh.
The design studio project called for the students to work on every aspect of the design, apart from building it. By semester’s end, Dohlin submitted his project: “I created a ‘Swim with the Shark’ exhibit that sat on the boardwalk so people could swim through the middle of it with sharks all around.”
Fifteen years later, Dohlin is very familiar with the New York Aquarium—he has been the director since 2008—and in October, the aquarium will break ground on the new “Ocean Wonders: Sharks!” exhibit. The new exhibit is not on the boardwalk, but it will allow visitors to walk (not swim) through a tunnel and view sharks in a new interactive way.
Although the design for the new exhibit was not based off Dohlin’s graduate school plans, he said he still has them.
Dohlin sat down with The Epoch Times in mid-August at the aquarium in Coney Island, Brooklyn, showcasing both quick-witted humor and pure joy for his job, while sharing the story of how he married the two passions in his life into one amazing job.
Critter Kid
Dohlin’s room from his childhood in Southern California resembled a zoo, he said. “I was what I call a critter kid. From the time I was able to have anything, I had it,” he said.
As a youngster, Dohlin was always out exploring nature’s offerings, often bringing samples back to his room. Dohlin’s parents were not as fanatical about animals as he was, so they struck a deal: Keep it in your room, and we are not coming into your room. He had a menagerie of animals including fish, turtles, mice, snakes, and birds that flew free.
Now, at the aquarium, as kids walk past the exhibits and take in the beautiful saltwater fish and stingrays, Dohlin witnesses them squeal with joy. For him, it’s like looking at a younger version of himself. “The most rewarding part of my job is hearing them coming in, so excited. I am like, I was you! I totally get it,” he said.
From Vet to Architect
At age 16, Dohlin moved to Humboldt County, Calif. His passion for animals didn’t diminish, and he began to think more seriously about making his childhood dream of becoming a veterinarian a reality. After graduating high school he enrolled at Humboldt State University and began his pre-med studies in biology.
He began working with veterinarians, but soon realized it was not how he wanted to relate to animals or nature. He decided against the veterinary path, but continued his education, getting a degree in biology.
He spent summers working for the California Department of Fish and Game and the Bureau of Land Management, but didn’t feel a fit there either. “For me [there was] this sort of value battle: I loved science and learning about nature but … I didn’t really have the science personality.”
Dohlin resonated more with his artists and poet friends, who also loved nature, and he had the drive to do something—he just didn’t know what.
He took a job in Humboldt County running a dairy farm, and in addition to tending to the animals, he mended fences, fixed sheds, and did general maintenance. He began to understand building design and construction and developed an interest for it.
Always fascinated by the way the systems of different organisms worked, Dohlin wondered why buildings didn’t work the same way.
As that thought grew stronger in his mind, Dohlin realized, after 10 years, his time in Humboldt County had drawn to a close. He packed up for the East Coast, first heading to Burlington, Vermont, for a short time before moving to New York City to study architecture at Parsons.
Defining Moment
Dohlin’s senior class project at Parsons was not only foretelling of his future career at the New York Aquarium, but it also helped him find the missing piece in answering the great question of his calling.
While doing research for the project, the class took a field trip to the Bronx Zoo, which was in the midst of building its Congo Gorilla exhibit. It was during this trip that Dohlin had an epiphany: Those working on the project were not only working with animals but using architecture to talk about conservation. It was his dream job.
“It was this moment where I was like, wow, these things could all come together,” Dohlin said.
As soon as he graduated from Parsons, he took a job at the Bronx Zoo working on the gorilla exhibit. “I was three months out of graduate school, and I designed the entire gift shop because they didn’t have anyone else,” Dohlin said.
Saving the World
Today, as the director of the New York Aquarium, you can still find him running around the aquarium getting just as big of a thrill out of the exhibits as he did when he was a kid.
Dohlin is also excited about sharing the experience with the children of New York. “I think on some level what we are doing here is simple and it is entertaining, but it is a hook. Any great teacher makes learning fun, and we have the greatest teachers in the world here,” Dohlin said pointing to the fish swimming in the tank behind him.
“That hook can change somebody’s life, somebody’s idea, and it is all about saving the world. We are working to save wildlife and wild places.”
In addition to the exhibits, the aquarium fundraises to save wildlife through activities like Run for the Wild, a 5-km family fun run on Oct. 6. The run will benefit walruses whose homes are being threatened by melting sea ice.
When asked if he would participate in the run, Dohlin boasted he runs it every year, before laughing and saying it was only into its second year. Dohlin admitted he is not a runner, but is happy to support the cause, and hopes he doesn’t have a repeat of last year’s run. He was sprinting to what he thought was the finish line, only to only to realize he had to loop around to finish. “You can see it on video—you can see my face as I am getting closer and closer to the finish line that it goes another 300 yards,” Dohlin said, mimicking his agonizing look from last year.
He loves his job, saying he sometimes gets out of bed in the morning singing, ecstatic about going to work. “It’s the greatest job in the world because I can feel like I am making a difference and I am quite serious and literal when I say I feel like I am working to save the world,” Dohlin said.
He is also optimistic about the future of the aquarium. “I honestly can say, you and I are going to talk in another five years or 10 years, and we are both going to look around and go, ‘Wow, this is a really different and cool place,’” Dohlin said. “At the end of the day, not too many times you can say that about life—that you really made a difference.”
Fifteen years ago, he was right about the shark exhibit. I wouldn’t doubt him.
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