Shenae Willis

I could never stop changing my mind about what I wanted to be when I grew up, and marine science is perfect for me because any given day I could be doing anything from going out on a boat with cameras, jumping in the water to do diving or snorkelling surveys, watching videos of fish, or any one of a million other things! I love that I can do such a wide variety of things, plus I get to travel while helping with research that I’m really excited about. I’ve volunteered surveying reefs in Fiji, catching tiny fish and running experiments with them in far north Queensland, and surveying humpback whale behaviour on whale watching tour boats. Now I’m learning about the different fish species in the colder, deeper waters south of Tasmania.

It can be really hard to know how to help look after our oceans if we don’t even know what is hiding under the water! I’m working on a project using videos to see what fish (and lots of other things!) we can find in one of Australia’s marine parks off the southern coast of Tasmania, where the deep water makes it hard for scientists to dive or see things in person. Using technology to monitor environments is a great way to find out more about hard-to-reach places.