Marine Biology

[sundaylunchforfour]

Hello Wise Mumsnetters

Any Marine Biologists out there?

I would love to know more about this as a career is it more lab/study based or is there lots of overseas travel. Not for me but for my child!

It would be amazing to get an idea of what the study and career path looks like and what sort of working experiences he could expect. It's seems so niche it's hard to find somebody to talk to about this sort of job.

Thank you in advance!!

Ever hopeful

Bump?

My son is doing a marine biology degree, I think that there are more marine biologists than jobs at the moment so you have to be pretty committed to make a career out of it.
My DS is doing the MSc with a view to Phd afterwards, with a lot of volunteering work in between.

Obviously overseas travel is slightly limited at the moment, but I would recommend starting diving courses as this seems to be an invaluable skill.

Will my DS actually get a job in the field? I hope so but I think that the odds will be stacked against him. Still, he is enjoying his degree and that is the most important thing for me.

Marine biology is a wide field, can you narrow it down? It can be brutal, requires high levels of qualifications and is very competitive to break into. Even at PhD level there is a big oversupply of qualified people depending on luck for a badly paid, unstable career.

If my child wanted to go into marine biology I would be telling them to study a highly technical degree which is transferable. A lot of people doing well in marine biology are from different but related fields because they're bringing skills most marine biologists don't have so they're sought after. Think computing, statistical analysis, modelling, data engineering, microscopy, fundamental biology, social media marketing and communications, remote sensing etc.

Thanks so much for this info everybody, I'm learning a lot!

What's the earning potential, I'm just thinking about the reality of repaying the university loan.

I like the idea about transferable degree as a backup.

I'll keep watching the thread.

One of my son's is marine conservationist. Jobs are practically nil. A lot of funding disappeared with Brexit.
I would try to gently steer away towards something like engineering or computer science, tbh.

Earning potential depends on the career path: civil service/statutory agencies, academia, consultancy, conservation charities will all have different scales but will generally be low comparable to other similarly qualified industries.

There is an organisation called whalefish who assist students into marine biology careers so worth checking out

I worked for a marine conservation organisation so know quite a few marine biologists.

They have good job satisfaction but are always struggling for cash. It's not a lucrative career. It they love their jobs and have usually lived in some pretty cool places along the way.

Your DC needs to be aware that's it a career you go into for love not money!

This is a fantastic response, thank you all very much!!

Lots to think about and lots to talk about with him.

I think in these days it is important to be realistic with expectations and job prospects, especially carrying in a large debt from the education fees.

I'll keep watching in case there are any more responses!

One married couple I know - both trained in Biology.

He trained in Plant Biology. She trained in Marine Biology.

He is now a professor, head of a Biology dept, side roles in charge of science museums, does TED talks, runs his own consultancy, etc.

She is now a physio, because it turns out there aren't actually any jobs in Marine Biology...

I am a marine ecologist. Feel free to pm me.

Of course there are jobs in marine biology and while you are never going to be mega rich the money isn't bad if you are in a proper job (rather than voluntourism type stuff). It is a broad field and a lot of people coming in have rather romantic notions about swimming around with whales - there are a few jobs like this but not many. You could be in a lab, analysing data on a comouter, or covered in mud on a boat. It is very competitive to get into so getting volunteer experience is very important. Increasingly people are finding they need a higher degree to get a job (MSc or PhD) - not because the job needs it but to put them ahead of the competition. I think about 4 out of 20 on my course are still in marine biology (that was a while ago though ). Societies like the Marine Biological Association of the UK can be useful to join for information and sometimes offer internships.

Please read up on how the student loan works. “Paying it off” isn’t really a thing! And it shouldn’t be a consideration for a job.

Yes, I was going to say that about the student loan, assuming the OP is in England at least. It's almost certain that very little of the student loan would be repayable by anyone who actually worked in marine biology, if they were lucky enough to get a job in that field.

I'm a scuba diver and a lot of my fellow divers have DC who are or have studied marine biology and agree with the notion that it's a love not money career.

You could have a look at the careers section of UKRI which includes the British Antarctic Survey, National Oceanographic Council? and possibly another water based research institute or two.

On the plus side, if you don't already dive, many universities have diving clubs where you can learn.

I would be cautious unless you have an ability to support them significantly.

Jobs in the field are vastly outnumbered by people coming through the degree courses so you need to be able to stand out.

Most of the time in order to make a career out of it you need significant further study (at least masters) and/or work experience.

In terms of work experience, there are lots of internships etc that are around but lots of this is unpaid. Its a catch 22 where there are lots of people willing to do the survey/research work for free or very low wage (eg room and board) or even sometimes pay to go on the expeditions, thus they then no longer hire at entry level positions, and expect people to have significant levels of experience thus people are forced into completing internships

The jobs are very competitive, and everyone i know that made a success of the course at dp's uni took many many unpaid jobs before being offered anything paid. Its not to say that no one got a job out of it but the success rate at dp's course was low, but the people who are a success absolutely love it!

Its worth thinking of what they invisage themselves doing, if they see themselves as in the field or more academia based.
The paid jobs also tend to be in analysing the data, supervision roles etc so the people actually out doing the research seeing the whales, counting the orca etc as they tend mostly to be the unpaid roles (which is what in my experience people want to be doing)

I might as well add some thoughts here. I don't know the paths of my colleagues, but I actually did a broader bsc that was heavily ecology fussed - but not just marine. I also did some modules on things like pollution and wider environmental issues. I then did a Msc which had some more vocational modules, such as GIS, environmental law etc. These vocational aspects I think are very very important. Especially law. Most the jobs out there in the UK to do with marine biology, ecology, conservation etc are grounded in the law. There are jobs in government advice, policy, regulation and therefore industry needs jobs too for planning applications (offshore renewables is a big industry) managing fisheries etc. I work very much in a laptop, reading reports and working with marine industries, advising on what is compatible with the law. Try and do a degree with a year in industry or get experience in the UK. Lots of people want to play with turtles abroad but UK marine wildlife and the law is different, and a good knowledge of what the UK actually needs is important. Jobs don't pay tons, it is for the love!

An overwhelming response with great feedback, thank you!

If I'm totally honest I think there is a lot of fantasy about sailing on the high seas whilst deep sea diving with the fish going on so I'm trying to get a behind the scenes reality check.

I think I'll help him look into back up ideas or guide him towards a degree course that gives him more options if this doesn't pan out.

He is very good at Science and Maths so we can explore more around this. I was hoping some sort of engineering degree might be something to look at.

Thanks again

Watch these MBA talks on 6th Feb, see photo below.

Have a look at degree courses with study/year abroad

It's a myth that you need to be a SCUBA diver to be a marine biologist.

Good luck

Check your email sundaylunchforfour, I've just mailed you.

Just from a different perspective I completed a degree in marine biology but work in Pharma now. I absolutely loved my course and not all of it was marine there was a lot of core modules such biochemistry, microbiology, ecology and statistics. These skills are transferable and I use them day to day.

“I think in these days it is important to be realistic with expectations and job prospects, especially carrying in a large debt from the education fees.”

If your DC doesn’t end up earning much, they may never have to pay a penny back.

Sorry just seen these replies! Thank you I'll check out the insta and also look at my messages.

I can't believe how many people have replied! It's very kind

Thanks again.

@Rosebud21

This looks fab, thanks!!