As a kid, Paul Clerkin explored the tide pools of the Mendocino shoreline, was mesmerized by the exhibits at Monterey Bay Aquarium and grew to love the deep-sea predators featured on “Shark Week.” But when he started college in 2000, he was considering a career in medicine. His mom knew better…Developing this early interest as an undergraduate, Clerkin had several internships, including at Rutgers University’s marine station at Little Egg Harbor in New Jersey and the Cornell Biological Field Station on Oneida Lake in New York.