Marine Biology
Marine Biology is a field that is very competitive with large numbers of graduates entering the sector every year, so work experience is a necessity. The permanent jobs that are on offer usually require postgraduate qualifications, and can be in the far-flung reaches of the world. Below you will find a variety of resources to help you find a job and continue your professional development.
There is the potential to move into an academic position, in which your time will be split between lecturing and research. This will likely require a postgraduate degree and possibly a Ph.D. The competition for these roles is fierce, so it is a good idea to start your career development early by planning your desired path.
Additional skills you may want to consider developing (if planning to go down this route) whilst in university are Scuba diving, GPS mapping and boat handling. Marine Biology also requires a solid understanding of Maths, English and computer technology, as analysing data and communicating it is one of the key tasks of modern Marine Biologists.
Other potential career paths include Education, Law, Journalism and filmmaking, and many other fields offer the opportunity to work with marine biology related topics.
Videos
- Marine Bio ocean channel covering marine life and related movies, documentaries, trailers and even lectures.
Information resources:
- Royal Society of Biology
- Marine Bio
- Marine Biology
- Prospects: Marine Biologist job profile
Places and Job Boards to find vacancies and volunteering opportunities:
In addition to the resources given here, you may want to consider Aquariums, consulting firms specialising in marine biology, environmental associations and Zoos.
- National Seal Rescue Centre - Gweek, Cornwall
- The Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science (Cefas) is a world leader in marine science and technology, providing innovative solutions for the aquatic environment, biodiversity and food security.
- Sherkin Island Marine Station - Southern Ireland, Co.Cork. Take on volunteers April to September: diving, otter, intertidal surveying.
- Marine Conservation Society.
The conservation volunteers, practical based conservation work, training courses and leadership courses throughout the UK and overseas (overseas volunteers must be over 18. Address: 36 St Mary's Street, Wallingford, Oxon, OX10 0EU
- New Scientist - Jobs section you can sign up for specific posts
- Nature Jobs - Science Recruitment site
- Jobs.ac.uk - International jobs in academic, science and research where you can sign up for a weekly email of relevant jobs.
- Marine Conservation Jobs
- Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition (ASOC)
- Conservation International
- The Nature Conservancy
- Society for Conservation Biology
Wildlife Trusts
- Environmental Science.org - Is a good resource if looking to work in the US, but jobs from around the world are also posted here. It also contains information on studying, internships and scholarship availability around the US.
- ASLO - Early Careers Resources for aquatic scientists
- Aquatic Network - Marine biologist jobs from around the world.
- Society of Environmental Journalists - for journalism related jobs.
- CMScoms.com - promotes the delivery of sustainability and environment management in the marine, coastal and water sectors This website offers mainly high level jobs, but internships and training schemes do pop up fairly regularly. It also offers a variety of events which may help in furthering your professional development.
- Wise Oceans - Wise Oceans is a specialist Marine Education and Conservation Company
Other paper based resources:
A huge list of academic journals to assist with research can be found here.
You may also want to consider putting yourself on the mailing list for both MARMAM and ECS talk, as both of these advertise events that you can go to, and continue your professional development.
Professional bodies:
Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom
Post Graduate Study and Professional Development
You can use the following links to search for courses:
A more comprehensive list of universities in the UK and abroad which offer postgraduate courses for further Marine Biology study can be found by clicking here.
You can also find more information regarding Postgraduate courses and funding in the Career Zone, or by visiting http://www.exeter.ac.uk/careers/pgstudy/.