Reply: All of them graduated from a Zoology diploma on the College of Exeter in 2016!
With the beginning of a brand new tutorial yr, this time usually comes with huge choices and plenty of uncertainty. Maybe you’re making choices on which college to attend, or possibly you’ve simply began college and are starting to surprise what the subsequent 3 years would possibly appear like. Usually individuals will begin college doing a level with a good suggestion of what they need to do, however others possibly aren’t fairly so clear, however that’s what makes this time so thrilling! We hope that this weblog reveals that although you’ve picked your diploma, the trail you are taking is unwritten and there are such a lot of alternatives forward of you.
On this newest weblog, we hear from three 2016 College of Exeter graduates, Bek Trehern (BT), Molly Meadows (MM) and Sam Westcott (SW), who all began in the identical place, a Zoology course in Cornwall in 2013, and at the moment are all in very totally different careers all on the Centre for the Setting, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (CEFAS). Though beginning out in the identical place, with the identical diploma, they’ve every taken very totally different routes inside marine science. Hear about their expertise at Exeter, their path since graduating, their present position and prime recommendation to any new Zoology college students.
BT I’m Bek and I’m an Engagement and Communications Officer at Cefas. My position entails discovering alternative ways to speak the science we do and the affect it has to a variety of audiences together with authorities, non-governmental organisations, native communities and most of the people.
MM I’m Molly and I’m a Shellfish Scientist at Cefas. I specialize in crab, lobster and cephalopod fisheries. This entails finishing up analysis and supporting growth initiatives and surveys to make sure that these fisheries have the information they want, together with the common monitoring and evaluation concerned with inventory evaluation. I’m fortunate to have the ability to attend fishing surveys aboard analysis vessels to gather knowledge and samples immediately.
SW I’m Sam and I’m a Fish Well being Inspector at Cefas. The Fish Well being Inspectorate goals to guard the well being of fish and shellfish within the UK making certain our skill to commerce internationally. We do that by means of a programme of inspections, illness investigations, enforcement, export/import management and collaboration between the opposite related our bodies such because the Setting Company, Marine Administration Organisation, Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority, Pure England and Division for Setting, Meals and Rural Affairs. As a member of the sector crew, I spend most of my day out travelling the nation visiting websites and taking samples. I’ve additionally been concerned within the Clear Seas Setting Monitoring Programme on board the RV Cefas Endeavour taking samples from fish in our coastal waters.
Why did you select to check Zoology at Exeter?
BT I knew I wished to do one thing that mixed my love of the ocean, nature, animals and the atmosphere. As a toddler, I at all times wished to be a marine biologist, however coming from Yorkshire, it didn’t appear very achievable! Throughout careers conferences in school, I used to be usually instructed that nobody turns into a marine biologist, so I began searching for one thing related. It was really my A-level biology instructor who inspired me to do Zoology. I selected Exeter particularly as I favored that I used to be in a position to choose my modules and design the diploma to go well with me, plus it was (and is) famend for the experience of the lecturers. I believe I actually favored that I used to be going to get good publicity to a spread of disciplines. Plus the prospect to dwell in Cornwall was an enormous bonus!
MM I selected to do zoology as a result of I used to be at all times fascinated by the pure world, spending a lot of my childhood searching for critters. I cherished studying, and the draw of studying the whole lot to do with the animal kingdom was too tough to withstand. I selected Exeter due to the setting; I grew up with household in Falmouth and cherished Cornwall. Studying about animals while having tangible entry to the coast and its creatures was unbelievable.
SW Course sensible, I knew that I used to be at all times going to finish up on a zoology diploma. Rising up on a trout farm within the Yorkshire Dales I used to be immersed in nature from day one. After I wasn’t operating round on the moors chasing issues, I used to be crawling by means of streams – finding out zoology didn’t actually really feel like a choice, extra only a pure development from what I might at all times achieved as a child. Why Exeter particularly? I used to be fairly set on Sheffield till the open day which was partly spent on the seaside within the solar whereas it was snowing again residence in Yorkshire. I by no means seemed again!
What was your largest spotlight out of your diploma?
BT I believe it was my third-year discipline journey to the Bahamas. It was essentially the most unbelievable expertise waking up on daily basis and simply heading out into the tropical waters and with the ability to really immerse myself in marine biology finding out the whole lot about sharks, rays, coral and tropical fish. It was at this level that I assumed my dream of being a marine biologist possibly wasn’t that out of attain.
MM One of many strongest reminiscences from my time at Exeter was the number of modules and the specialists main them. On any given day you could possibly be studying unbelievable info in regards to the sensory ecology of a beetle, earlier than going to a seminar to workshop social experiments demonstrating the evolution of human tradition, to then rounding off the day by heading to the lab to watch the dissection of a bottlenose dolphin.
SW The lecturers educating us. Personable and real, but clearly wonderful of their respective fields. One other is the situation of the course itself, with easy accessibility to the distinctive Cornish shoreline and wild areas. I additionally appreciated how this was folded into many modules on the course.
What have you ever been doing because you left Exeter and what are you doing now?
BT After graduating from my BSc, I continued at Exeter to do a Masters by Analysis finding out lionfish within the Bahamas. After my six-month analysis interval, as an alternative of returning residence, I made a decision to undertake an internship on the College of Western Australia investigating the affect of ocean acidification on numerous corals and coralline algae. After 2 years, I needed to come again to the UK and was employed as an Entertainments and Training Supervisor on the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. On this position, I realised what I loved most was speaking and sharing my love and information of nature and the ocean. I then labored as an Engagement Officer on the Discipline Research Council. Nonetheless, as a lot as I loved these roles, I knew that I missed being linked to science. In July 2022, I began as an Engagement and Communications Officer at Cefas.
MM After ending my undergraduate diploma, I went on to do a Grasp by Analysis finding out stingrays within the Bahamas, this was such an unbelievable expertise and I nonetheless dream of stingrays virtually each evening. I then took a profession break to stroll from Mexico to Canada on the Pacific Crest Path. Following this intensive lesson in resilience, I joined the civil service faststream the place I learnt how science was really carried out and utilized in central authorities. From right here I transferred inside the civil service to Cefas. I’m now a scientist inside the shellfish crew.
SW After graduating I did some travelling by means of the US, Mexico, right down to Costa Rica and the whole lot in between. I washed up again within the UK for temporary a stint as a lumberjack, returned to fish farming after which Stannary bar again in Penryn. I began my masters in Aberdeen finding out Fisheries and Marine ecology and targeted my dissertation on salmonid aquaculture and genetics. My first position at Cefas was within the Lowestoft lab, within the radiochemistry crew testing radionuclide ranges in our surroundings earlier than transferring to Weymouth for my present position as a Fish Well being Inspector.
What’s your favorite a part of your position at Cefas?
BT My present position at Cefas is the right mixture of science, communication and engagement. I actually take pleasure in taking innovative science and turning it into one thing simply digestible for a non-science viewers. I additionally get to work with such a spread of individuals each internally and externally which makes my position extremely assorted.
MM On the finish of final yr, I used to be privileged to go on the RSS Discovery expedition throughout the Atlantic, as a part of the Blue Belt Programme. My position as crustacean and cephalopod Identification Specialist was to determine alien creatures from the deep which only a few individuals had ever heard of, not to mention seen within the flesh.
SW The independence. For essentially the most half, I determine once I go the place. I’ve my programme of visits to fish farms to finish inside a sure timeframe and it’s my duty to see them achieved, however I get to decide on how I accomplish this. I don’t spend a lot time in an workplace, and I actually recognize the number of work we get to do.
What abilities and experiences out of your diploma have been most helpful in your profession/present position?
BT I believe the publicity to totally different analysis areas and knowledgeable researchers that I had throughout my diploma have been invaluable as I’m now in a position to perceive advanced terminology and discover a option to make it accessible. I additionally work with a spread of individuals on a day-to-day foundation, and I believe my time at college set me up to do that nicely.
MM Effectively, you could possibly say that as I’m primarily knowledgeable rock pooler now, so the common rock pooling discipline programs at Exeter have been elementary to my skilled trajectory! I additionally do plenty of statistical evaluation in my position, so the modules that launched the foundations of the programme R and organic statistics at Exeter, I exploit virtually on daily basis.
SW I believe the introduction to academia gave me a basis on this area to enter a scientific organisation. There are strategies of collaboration, methods of talking and definitely methods of working which are constant all through the scientific panorama and Exeter launched me to that.
What recommendation would you give to a present pupil who needs to pursue your profession?
BT Strive issues and take full benefit of each alternative you might be given. I really feel like I’ve moved round rather a lot between analysis, academia, schooling and communications to try to get an actual really feel for what I take pleasure in doing. It’s so vital to take pleasure in what you do (we spend plenty of time at work), so don’t be afraid to attempt new issues.
MM The very best alternatives will come up from curiosity and enthusiasm, so attempt to maintain this on the coronary heart of each determination you make!
SW I believe as a pupil essentially the most helpful factor you are able to do is use what your abilities are, what units you aside or pursuits you after which attempt to maximise this. For me, it was utilising my upbringing on fish farms and benefiting from this sensible expertise with extremely regarded levels just like the one at Exeter to present me the tutorial abilities I wanted to enter a extra scientific world.
