 Victoria
Cole - Marine Biology Student
The dream to become a marine biologist has been with Vicky Cole
for as long as she can remember. Now she's nearly there, and excited
about it.. Not that there could ever have been any doubt that
she would make it: Anything to do with marine biology, Vicky has
been into it.
Although the BSc(Marine) wasn't available when she started, Vicky
worked toward her goal by doing advanced biology projects all
the way through her university career, as part of her BSc(Advanced).
In first year, she investigated coral nutrition and did volunteer
work for two honours students in marine biology. In second year,
she won the Mary Besly prize for the best invertebrate project
for her research on the relationship between species richness
and habitat in marine polychaete worms that she conducted with
Pat Hutchings at the Australian
Museum. "It was a great contact to get," says Vicky,
"and the opportunity to do my own research and think up a
project with my own mentor was excellent as well."
Since first year, Vicky has been going on the annual field trip to
Heron Island on the Great Barrier
Reef, run by the student Biological Society, BiolSoc.
"I think going to Heron Island gave me a little bit of a head start
in project design," she says, "and I also got to do volunteer
work for a postgraduate student who I met there."
In 2001, Vicky was the president of BiolSoc, a responsibility which
she enjoyed immensely. In 2002, she is enrolled in an honours year in
the Institute of Marine Ecology.
With all the research and field experience that Vicky has behind her,
she is full of confidence and anticipation when it comes to tackling
her honours project. Vicky's pathway through her BSc(Advanced) is a
perfect example of how a general degree can be tailored to major in
marine science.
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