I did my placement with the University of Georgia Marine Extension and Sea Grant, which is on Skidaway Island just off the coast of Georgia. I really wanted to do a placement because I didn't feel ready to jump straight in to third year and I wanted to see everything we've been learning about put into practice, just to make sure that this is definitely what I want to pursue for a career.

At the UGA Aquarium, I got to do such a range of different activities, which is one of the main reasons why I picked it. I didn't want a job where I was going to be doing the same thing every day. For me, the whole reason I was doing it was to gain as much experience as possible, so I went through the job description and saw that you got to do education work, animal husbandry and you got to talk with researchers at the neighbouring Oceanography Institute.

The role itself was a fellowship, so I was a marine education fellow. The primary focus was on educational work with school groups, from pre-K the whole way through to colleges. We also had public programs for adults so I got to connect with such a range of people to talk about the ocean with.

I really enjoyed my placement. I had one of the best years there, and I wouldn't change a thing about it. I'd spent so much time in Belfast I really wanted to get away and just experience a bit of a different culture, and I definitely got that in Georgia. The culture in Southern America is so, so different to ours. It was really interesting to see the types of music that they listened to and their food, so I feel like I gained a lot personally as well as academically with my placement.

 

If there was one key part of the job that I really enjoyed, it was in the second half of the year when we all got the chance to do our own projects. We were given complete freedom with this, which was a little bit daunting at first. I am passionate about getting students excited about marine science and making information more accessible for everybody so I chose to create a tool that would support both goals.

I collaborated with researchers at the Skidaway Institute of Oceanography (SKIO), specifically the ZERO-C lab, which studies zooplankton, the tiny drifters of the ocean, and their role in marine ecosystems. This lab regularly visits local high schools to teach students why zooplankton are so important and how to identify them from image data. However, talking and reading aren’t always the most engaging ways to learn. I wanted to make the experience more fun and interactive

When I reached out to Skidaway Institute they were so welcoming. They were excited to have someone else that wanted to learn about zooplankton and they wanted to help me learn as much as I could while I was there. It was really reassuring because I was a little bit hesitant to throw myself in.

The interactive learning platform that I made, I made it using CARE software that UGA has. I curated the information SKIO researchers wanted to share with students into a more digestible and engaging format. The platform includes background on zooplankton and their different types, alongside interactive activities to help students practice and improve their identification skills. Through this project I gained experience in science communication, computer literacy, and local zooplankton ecology, while also creating a resource that will benefit both researchers and students

It was made to be used alongside Zooniverse, which is one of the biggest community science platforms online. They have loads of different ongoing science projects that pretty much cover every topic that you could think of. There is one specifically on zooplankton all about organizing images and data. There's too much data for just researchers and labs to look through, so this gets people involved globally, helping by being part of this data analysis. I really wanted to be a part of helping to contribute to this and make people feel more comfortable while doing so.

I feel like more tools like this that are free, online and open to everybody, can really help show that science is for everybody, and ultimately there's not much point in doing the research unless you're going to then share it and show why it’s important and why we should care about it.

 

If anyone ever has the opportunity to take a placement year, I would highly recommend it. The experience of being in the workplace is invaluable. Coming in to university I knew I wanted to learn about the oceans, but I didn't actually know what jobs were available in marine science, and I didn't really know what was involved with being in the workplace. I had all of this theoretical knowledge and then during placement I was actually able to put it into practice. Now I have a much clearer view on what I want to do for my career, the different kinds of jobs that are out there and the skills you need for them. It really gives you clarity and it makes it seem less daunting. It gives you confidence in yourself and your abilities as well.

Coming back from placement, I feel so much more confident going into my final year and knowing that I have a better idea of what I want to get from my career.

 

Kate Milne

BSc Marine Biology