John Pohl

John Pohl - Profile

John Pohl was born and raised on a homestead in Alaska, which engrained in him both a love of the written word (from lots of reading-time beside the fireplace on winter nights) as well as an insatiable thirst for adventure (fleeing bossy sisters into the wilderness will do that to you.) His college years were marked by a war between three passions: marine science, collegiate rowing, and sleep. He persevered on the degree path, however, eventually escaping Humboldt State University in California with a B.S. degree in biological oceanography.

Since then, he has been on or near the water most of his adult life. He’s worked as a deckhand on tall ships in the Pacific Northwest, a boat handler for the US Fish and Wildlife Service in Southcentral Alaska, and a US National Marine Fisheries Service observer in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea. This hopscotch of jobs culminated in a ten year run as an oceanographer and working diver with the US National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration in Juneau, Alaska.

In 2007 he left his science position on the high seas to pursue with partners a project organized around certain ecommerce trends. Ever faithful to his love of the written word, he is also honing his freelance writing craft. To date he has published in the Alaskan Business Monthly, Alaskan Southeaster, and Alaska Fisherman’s Journal.

When not typing madly on his laptop, he pours his time into exploring Portland Oregon, playing soccer, and reading.