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!
