|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
||||||||||||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
|||||||||||||
|
Ove Hoegh-Guldberg
I have a BSc. (HONS) from University of Sydney and a PhD from UCLA. What are your areas of specialty? Physiology and ecology of reef-building corals. I am very interested in coral bleaching and the potential impacts of global climate change on coral reefs. This had led me into areas like how we might predict global warming may affect the world's coral reefs. What is your daily job like? I am a teacher and researcher. I spend my time either on campus as a professor or in the field doing research. The best part of my job is when I am doing research in the field. As part of this job, I have to live on Heron Island on the southern Great Barrier Reef for two months every year. It is beautiful tropical island that is simply zinging with marine life. When I am in the field - my job involves collecting corals and other organisms (we do that via SCUBA diving) and doing experiments, often with complex machines and instruments. These tasks, while challenging, are often very rewarding when you discover something new.
The research side of my job is the most exciting. Within that, it is the moments of discovery. That is the reward for the many hours of hard work! It is like climbing to the top of a huge mountain - lots of work but when you get there - wow! What is the most boring thing about your job? Administration. As Director of a large Centre at the University of Queensland, I am responsible for the well-being of more than 70 staff, postgraduate students and scientists. This is important but means lots of paperwork and meetings. However, we have a vibrant centre which has made many discoveries. We also have some of the best tropical marine research stations in the world. This makes the administration really worthwhile. Did you always know you wanted to be a marine biologist (or work around the ocean)? Did you start out wanting to do something else? When I was ten, I wanted to be a entomologist. However, I went snorkelling when I was 13. This changed my life forever. I went every weekend and most afternoons after school. It was so fantastic to swim in this strange underwater world. Someone told me when I was 15 that you could get jobs in which people would pay you to dive and study the sea. Since that day - I have been hooked. I started keeping the fish and invertebrates I collected in fish tanks. I was lucky enough to get a job during my last year in highschool as a diver and collector at a local oceanarium (Manly Marineland). This continued during university (supported my much of my costs during my university degree) The job also involved diving and hand feeding 3-4 m sharks (mostly Grey Nurse or Sand Tigers). The collecting and keeping aquaria was great part of the job - I really enjoyed learning about the life in the ocean and it fantastic creatures. Where did you grow up as a child? In Sydney, Australia. It was wonderful time - sunshine and a great coastline. How did you become interested in the oceans? Did you have a hero growing up that got you interested in the ocean? Who were your role models, then and now? My role models were originally people like Jacques Cousteau, and Ron and Valerie Taylor. When I started to grow up - I began to also admire researchers like Peter Sale and Tony Larkum at the University of Sydney (where I got my degree). I now admire people like Jared Diamond and David Suzuki. What is the coolest thing you have seen underwater? The coolest thing I have seen underwater ranges from a whale shark on the Great Barrier Reef to the Weddel Seals that I saw when I was a ice-diver on the IMAX film Antarctica. Scariest? Probably when I first started diving with a 4 m Tiger shark at the Oceanarium. In the first few days it scared me because it would come into feed from the diver but snap it jaws in all directions as it had no idea what was food and what was me. That was a little too thrilling! After 12 months, it became very tame and easy to handle. My heart used to race in those early days however. Funniest? The funniest thing I have seen is when I caught a turtle sleeping a cave and when I awoke it, it shot of with a start right into my dive buddy! No one was hurt but you should have seen my dive buddies face! What are you most looking forward to about this mission? Living underwater! I remember reading the National Geographic article about underwater habitats and the scientists living there. I thought that was the coolest thing ever! On the science side - I am really looking forward to being able to explore the deeper waters that we normally are limited to for very short periods of time. I expect that the tremendous Aquarius operation will open up a whole series of new questions and answers to the mysteries of the deep. What do you like to do that's not work-related, like hobbies (coin collecting, sky diving, gourmet chef, boating, raising a family, tennis - that sort of thing)? Painting, music, my kids and bush walking. What advice would you offer to a middle/high school student or undergraduate who wants to be a marine biologist?
|
|
|
|
|