"Bringing Marine Wonders to the Surface!"
Welcome to Inner Space Apparel
Meet the Founder, Dr. Jim TolanI'm a retired Marine Biologist, who spent 26 years working for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Coastal Fisheries Division. I specialized in Ecology, Fisheries, Population Biology, and Ecological Indicators. My Expertise was in Larval Fish Biology, and there is where the beginnings of this Company began. The adult fishes that we all know don't start out looking quite as familiar, and the larvae and juveniles go through some amazing transformations as they grow into adults. Documenting these changes, and sharing my passion for larval fishes is my goal for this venture. I like to say that “We know more about parts of Outer Space than we do parts of the Oceans”. Hence the name – Inner Space.
Having grown up in a Navy household, we were always stationed near the oceans, and one particular deployment sort of set the stage for my interests. My family was stationed in Guam during the late 1970's, and I got certified in Open Water SCUBA Diving. Diving on those pristine coral reefs, I knew right then that I wanted to work with fish as a career, even though I was only in my early teens.
Fortunate for me, our final duty station was Flour Bluff, Texas, and I had the opportunity to take the High School class of 'Oceanography', taught by Mr. David Bartling. One of my jobs was to take plankton samples from the Bay, and under a dissecting scope, pick out all the ichthyoplankton (the fish larvae and juveniles) and make drawings of them. This cemented me in wanting to specialize in Larval Fish Biology, despite the many, many hours spent under a scope, staring into a petri-dish searching for any fish that came with everything else in the sample. Despite this being a High School class, it was the most challenging thing I ever did academically (and I spent an additional 13 years in College to achieve a Ph.D.!!).
From post-high school, knowing I need funds to go to College, I joined the US Army for 4 years, and spent time in Neu Ulm, Germany, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, as an 11-Bravo Infantryman. It was this time in my life where I picked up the habit of 'never sleep past dawn, because that's when the Indians and French attack'. I still run routine Dawn Patrols of the beach here in Texas, protecting the mainland from any marauding-types.
After my time in the service, I achieved a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Corpus Christi State University, a Master Degree in Marine Biology from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and a Ph.D. In Oceanography and Coastal Science from Louisiana State University [Geaux Tigers!!!]. I sincerely enjoyed my career with Parks and Wildlife, and I hope you enjoy my line of apparel as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.
Dr. Jim Tolan
Having grown up in a Navy household, we were always stationed near the oceans, and one particular deployment sort of set the stage for my interests. My family was stationed in Guam during the late 1970's, and I got certified in Open Water SCUBA Diving. Diving on those pristine coral reefs, I knew right then that I wanted to work with fish as a career, even though I was only in my early teens.
Fortunate for me, our final duty station was Flour Bluff, Texas, and I had the opportunity to take the High School class of 'Oceanography', taught by Mr. David Bartling. One of my jobs was to take plankton samples from the Bay, and under a dissecting scope, pick out all the ichthyoplankton (the fish larvae and juveniles) and make drawings of them. This cemented me in wanting to specialize in Larval Fish Biology, despite the many, many hours spent under a scope, staring into a petri-dish searching for any fish that came with everything else in the sample. Despite this being a High School class, it was the most challenging thing I ever did academically (and I spent an additional 13 years in College to achieve a Ph.D.!!).
From post-high school, knowing I need funds to go to College, I joined the US Army for 4 years, and spent time in Neu Ulm, Germany, and Fort Polk, Louisiana, as an 11-Bravo Infantryman. It was this time in my life where I picked up the habit of 'never sleep past dawn, because that's when the Indians and French attack'. I still run routine Dawn Patrols of the beach here in Texas, protecting the mainland from any marauding-types.
After my time in the service, I achieved a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Corpus Christi State University, a Master Degree in Marine Biology from Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, and a Ph.D. In Oceanography and Coastal Science from Louisiana State University [Geaux Tigers!!!]. I sincerely enjoyed my career with Parks and Wildlife, and I hope you enjoy my line of apparel as much as I enjoy bringing it to you.
Dr. Jim Tolan
