Next step - The Masters Degree!

I mentioned in my last post that I was heading off at the end of the long wet British summertime (and it was very long and VERY wet - try storm-force winds in a rickety tent in Cornwall!) to begin a Masters Degree in Marine Biology at Bangor University.

I've now been here over 4 months, and learnt an incredible amount, not just about Marine Biology but about being a scientist and also myself and others!

The workload seemed bearable at the start - with fishing trips and lectures making up the bulk of our course, but a tough statistical assignment and then a highly intense group work exercise before Christmas wiped us out! I learnt that different people have very different opinions of what classes as hard work, and never to trust anyone when Peer-review marking is a big part of the total marks!

I am finding it very tough at times, but very rewarding at others, I'm struggling to come to terms with the fact that the work I'm doing isn't my best, but I'm muddling through, and finding each time my work gets better and I'm learning things about my writing or statistical analysis that I hope will be useful!

It has definitely been a work hard - play hard few months!

On a lighter note, I've been lucky enough to get an AMAZING research project opportunity with Dr Simon Oliver from the Thresher Shark Research and Conservation Project, based in Monad Shoal in the Philippines! I don't get to go as part of my project, (but would dearly love to!) instead I'm analysing video recordings of thresher shark interactions with cleaner fish on the shoal, and trying to work out why they go to which area and for how long, and fiddling with a little bit of parasitology in the meantime! Behavioural ecology and parasitology were my favourite subjects in the BSc course I did at Bristol, and so I'm a little overexcited about reprising those areas of study in a marine context!

Hopefully this is another positive step on my journey to becoming a fully fledged Shark Biologist!

Why on Earth did I come home?

Home being Mid-Wales, nowhere near the Ocean, surrounded by farms and trees and fields all that lovely countryside stuff, but still, nowhere near the Ocean! 

Having spent 6 and a half months away from home, I was ready to see the parentals and be surrounded by all the accoutrements of home life; the cat, the sister, the saxophone etc. However, I had spent those 6 months living the life of my dreams.

Firstly in Australia, as one of many volunteers on a HUGE Humpback Whale project funded by the Oil and Gas industry big-wigs, I was living on a holiday resort with a pool and jacuzzi,  twice-weekly dinners at the surf club, up at dawn every day to watch giants of the ocean on their southerly migration past white sand beaches and sparkling surf...

Then in New Zealand, my Second Home, after a bit of a shaky start due to the inability of some PhD students that take advantage of wannabe Marine Biologists like myself and really expect far too much from volunteers who would (and frequently do) give anything to have a chance at the life that they have - but more of that another day, its a pet hate of mine! - I was living with the most incredible family I know (check them out at  http://www.blueocean.co.nz/ ), gained TWO new kiwi cousins, lived for a month in Tawharanui regional park (also known as paradise) and generally had an awesome time!

Finally 4 days in Sydney with a dear friend, being a complete tourist :)

I came home, to Snow, then the wettest April May and June ON RECORD!! The weather here, IN SUMMER, is no better than the weather in Tauranga, NZ, IN WINTER...

Not only that, but bugger all shifts at work, and so no money to enjoy the rubbish summer!

To be fair, I have a few things to look forward to, a music workshop, holibobs in Cornwall with lovely ladies from University and the start of my Masters Degree in Marine Biology at the University of Bangor. But seriously Earth, give us a nice hurricane in the Atlantic so we can have some Sunshine!

Why on Earth did I come home?