Renee Florent

Renee’s interest in science developed at an early aged she loved animals and was always intrigued with how they worked, always bringing home any injured ones she came across.

From the age of four she decided she wanted to be a vet and tailored her school life to achieve this goal. As she got older she developed a passion for everything marine and hence arrived in Launceston all the way from Coffs Harbour on the mid north coast of NSW at the beginning of 2000 and commenced a Bachelor of Applied Science majoring in Aquaculture throughout the degree she became interested in research and particularly seahorses and began working at Seahorse World as a tour guide and aquarium technician. As a result she undertook an honours research project examining swim bladder inflation in the juvenile pot-bellied seahorse. After working for 3 years with the adorable creature known and loved by everyone the pot-bellied seahorse, she needed a change of scenery. She couldn’t take dissecting anymore day-old seahorses.

Renee is currently in the third year of her PhD at the School of Aquaculture, Launceston, examining oral treatments for amoebic gill disease (AGD) in Atlantic salmon. AGD is a major disease within the salmon industry a major aquaculture industry in Tasmania. This project gives Renee the best of both worlds as she gets to look after and care for fish as well as spend time in the laboratory on scientific research.

"I find working in science extremely interesting, challenging and enjoyable, everyday is different. You get to meet a lot of interesting people and go to a lot of interesting places working in science."

Renee has had the opportunity to go to Cairns and Copenhagen to present some of her PhD research, and this year she is coordinating the Young Tassie Scientists roadshows.