People often dream of leaving it all behind and finding a job in the travel industry. At Yahoo Travel, we are profiling people who work in all fields of the industry — small jobs, big jobs, any jobs. This week, we talked to Marcela Cañón, better known as The St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort’s on-site marine biologist and “green team” leader. Marcela educates guests on the unique marine life and maintains the first Audubon International Certification as a Gold Sanctuary in the Caribbean.

Marcela Cañón always knew she wanted to be a hands-on marine biologist, but she loved working with people almost as much as she loved working with the creatures under the sea. She figured out a way to bring together those two seemingly disparate things to create her dream job. Initially brought in as a consultant for the St. Regis Bahia Beach, Marcela pitched a full-time gig called the “green team”: She would be the resort’s staffed marine biologist leading guests on once-in-a-lifetime educational tours.

Marcela has been working with the St. Regis Bahia Beach for seven years now and continues to expand her custom-made position. We got the chance to catch up with her in between working with endangered animals and exploring the beach, aka her office.

Marcela Cañón: I’m a marine biologist, so I get to work with the ocean and environmental issues, but it’s in the hospitality industry where you can give service to people. Usually as a marine biologist you don’t have that opportunity to work with all of those things. We are a private nature sanctuary, which is rare. And we have some endangered species, like the leatherback turtles in the area, so being a marine biologist and having the opportunity to work with them is a top priority. I have the best of both worlds: the conservation, and working with guests and people at the hotel.