At UMBC, students get a versatile education that Retrievers can draw on to succeed no matter where their career lands them. But sometimes, you hit the home run and end up with your dream job. For Kennedy Lamb ’20, English—who also played softball for UMBC—that meant a role in the storied legacy of National Geographic. But dream jobs don’t land because of random luck or chance. Lamb knew early on that she wanted to lean on her love of science in her English degree and topped off her UMBC education with a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University’s program in science writing. Ultimately, when she applied for the gig at Nat Geo, she’d loaded her bases and was ready to knock it out of the park.
Seven years ago, I sat in my academic advisor’s office in the Performing Art and Humanities Building mulling over which classes to take next semester. The meeting, like all meetings with English professor Christopher Corbett, mostly consisted of discussing select passages from Phillip Lopate’s Art of the Personal Essay, the Baltimore Orioles’ record, and Babe Ruth. I always looked forward to them.
“What do you want to do after college?” he asked, chuckling good-naturedly. I smiled politely and fiddled with my earrings. At 19, the prospect of securing a full-time job was daunting. I knew I loved to write. I knew I loved science. I did not know how to combine the two. “I’m not sure,” I said. “Write, I guess.”
Corbett took a sip out of his coffee mug and sat back in his chair. “Well, I can tell you where others have gone on after college, if that would help.” I nodded. In his Maine drawl, he rattled off a few media outlets, some of which I was familiar with. Nothing piqued my interest.
Lamb runs to first base her last collegiate game before the COVID-19 pandemic canceled the 2020 season. Photo by Ian Feldmann ’21.
“And one alumna went to write for National Geographic,” he said, almost as an afterthought. I looked up at him. “Really?” I replied.
Corbett hadn’t heard me and continued recounting the various places alumni from the English Department went on to work. But my mind was stuck: National Geographic. Now that would be something special. I pictured the iconic yellow borders in my head and pondered the pathway from college sophomore to Nat Geo writer.
At the end of the meeting, I had signed up for a handful of writing seminars, an introductory biology class, and Deborah Rudacille’s science writing class. As semesters turned into years and my time at UMBC came to a close in 2020, the dreams of National Geographic lingered in the back of my mind. What if? I would wonder. And how?
Fast forward to 2025, and that dream has become a reality. I am a communications specialist at the National Geographic Society, the centuries-old nonprofit dedicated to illuminating and protecting the wonders of our world. As a public relations professional, I’m tasked with translating stories of scientific discovery into well-packaged pitches to writers around the world.
Left: Lamb poses with a copy of The Wall Street Journal featuring the “mega coral.” Photo courtesy of Lamb. Right: A diver measures the world’s largest coral in the Solomon Islands. October 2024. Photograph by Manu San Félix, National Geographic Pristine Seas.
No two days are alike. Some days are spent decoding technical science papers about extinct human ancestors or writing a press release about cutting-edge conservation tactics that aim to save a slimy snail. Other days are spent digging through National Geographic’s colossal photo archive to find just the right picture for a reporter or presenting to leaders from Pacific Island countries about how to communicate the benefits of marine protected areas.
Perhaps my proudest moment came when a team of scientists and filmmakers from National Geographic Pristine Seas uncovered the world’s largest piece of coral (dubbed the “mega coral”) while on expedition in the Solomon Islands. After being briefed on the discovery by the expedition team and Solomon Islands scientists, our communications crew began a two-week sprint to craft a press release and press kit, organize a press conference, and pitch the story to reporters across the globe.
And that work paid off: The story went viral. In three weeks, the story was picked up by over 3,000 outlets in 50 countries. The mega coral graced the front page of The Wall Street Journal, was featured on Germany’s largest television show Tagesschau and even became the butt of a joke on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (All press is good press, right?)
In moments like this, I’m reminded of the privilege of working for such an iconic brand. It’s easy to trudge to the next assignment and never truly celebrate the amount of work that went into making a piece of coral in the Pacific Ocean a viral sensation. But after the story had run its course, I reflected on what got me to this moment.
What I realized is that there is no secret to landing a dream job. It is hard work with a healthy serving of serendipity. I took nearly every internship offered to me (including one at UMBC Magazine!) and tried to view even the most mundane task as a chance to learn something new. When it came time to apply to the National Geographic Society, I trusted my skills.
All writers know there is no such thing as perfection. Instead, I try to strive for the asymptote of perfection. It is demanding and, at times, downright exhausting. But because I know the impact of conservancy in action—from coral reefs to slimy snails—I wouldn’t have it any other way.
— Kennedy Lamb ’20
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