Career prospects as a biologist

So, I was curious... I have 40 friends (old enough to have found their career but not yet career academics) who have degrees in biology in some form or other. Professionally, 21 of them don't have anything to do with biology at all. Of the 19 "biologists", 11 of them either do not make any money or are actually going into debt in order to do what they love. That's 27.5% of biology graduates who are still in the hole, digging, in the hope that they find a ladder.

The optimist says:-
An academic career in biology is a long slow process,  From my experience of knowing younger academics and dealing professionally with older ones, I would suggest that earnings snowball over time. It takes time for the investment of time to do a PhD to be paid back financially but I'm yet to know a Dr of anything that isn't well set by their 50s

 While the pessimist:
But you have to be a fool to do a PhD. Its is it not the 'marine' bit that is the problem rather than the 'biology' bit. I know people working for the NHS, Boots and GSK with biology degrees doing very well. Is it not the case that the 'marine biology' industry just doesn't have the financial clout of pharma/health/research?
There are some zoologists in here too but basically, there's no money (and consequently no jobs) in non-medical biology.

From the highest levels of the United Nations, politicians promote the Millenium goals, the Aichi decade for biodiversity but the money is always too little.   The reality of the planet as we approach 2020 is that regardless of the environmental issue of pollution, extinction and climate change, there are simply too few jobs to employ people who may be able to make a difference.  

INSTALLATION ART BY THE BAY @ KK 2015 - Intro

Tracc is participating in INSTALLATION ART BY THE BAY @ KK 2015. we are building an art installation to demonstrate in a fun interactive way that the oceans are being abused, overfished especially for large sharks and polluted by plastic, which kills turtles.  Our art when it comes together emphasizing that there are an estimated 5,000,000,000,000 (5 trillion)  pieces of plastic in the worlds oceans and many of these have come together to create huge plastic concentrations.  The largest plastic island in the pacific is 10x the size of Sabah.

Biggest hammerhead shark in Borneo -
Sign in Malay says don't eat my fin!

As part of our GEF/SGP coral reef conservation project we are involving the local community in larger - global - issues to help thm understand that the protection they give to their reefs is only a part of a movement to help reverse environmental damage.  These pictures are the start of the construction process for the "biggest shark in Borneo".  Please follow the progress of this shark through our various social media.

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simply search #tracc or #traccblog and let google do the work.

Dino and Shakirrah design the logo.

Khairul makes the head

Max and Miti Make the fin

Art requires serious concentration

Sign says Don't eat shark

International and local artists at work.

Yugen and lucas practice their skills.

Khairul makes the tail

Everyone had fun.

Making a shark makes a change from making a coral reef :-)

Joining TRACC as Education Intern

      I was about to complete my Master’s Degree and was hoping to take some time off from studies before continuing my PhD. Going for a working holiday was the plan, and I had been searching for a place where I can do something meaningful and have fun at the same time. It was then I came across TRACC webpage and found out that this marine conservation organization was doing education projects as well.

Lauren had been teaching Longgom kids for
 3 months and the kids loved her.

      TRACC have had an intern teaching kids in the village Longgom before. This time the housewives asked to have a Kelas Ibu-Ibu conducted so that the women, who mostly hadn’t much chance to complete their education and hadn’t any other way to learn as much as they like, could have someone to teach them English. I had been teaching English to adults and secondary school children for some time before I started my Master’s, so teaching the mothers in the village was not really a tough job. The difficult part was travelling through several hills on dirt road in a car I very much worry might break down anytime (Just kidding, of course =P).

      It was indeed inspiring to see the housewives being so passionate in improving themselves. The class started with 8 students, and at one time there were 12. Using materials provided, the ibu-ibu were taught how to converse in English in various daily situations. I realized many of them understood English quite well, and a few of them could actually speak English though not very fluently. What they needed was more scenario practices with simple sentences which they could use as a natural response when they’re spoken to in English. Aside from that, they needed to build confidence in speaking English. After all, no one speaks perfectly in any language, so who can laugh at them if their 3^rd or 4^th language isn’t perfect?

My most hard working students,
attending every class from the beginning till the end.

      But then, probably learning a language was not an easy task for all, and probably the villagers have started getting busy on their farms with the raining season approaching… not every student who at first signed up for the programme remained till the end until TRACC left Kudat. Regardless, I’ve tried to teach as much as I can. And to make sure they can continue learning even after we leave I’ve left some books and CDs for them to do self-studies.

      The mothers were glad that TRACC has sent people to the village to teach them English. I myself hope that they will keep on improving themselves – with better English they can actually sell their handicraft directly to tourists rather than handing it to a middle man – they can earn more and make their life easier. It could make great difference, especially to the single mothers.

Sometimes the children join in and learn alongside
their mom.  Can't be more welcomed, mothers are
always the best role model for the child =)

Emily with TRACC - Tropical Research And Conservation Center
— at Tip of Borneo

More info about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers 

The main website is at http://tracc-borneo.org
Check out our posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
on twitter tracc_borneo
on google + tracc

or simply #tracc or #traccblog on Google, Facebook, twitter or instagram

 

Management note:--- The education programme is important and we will restart it as soon as possible.

Sunset music festival coral planting exhibition

Happy with his coral biscuit

Our final coral planting exhibition for spring 2015 was held on the 6^th & 7^th of June, aiming to educate people visiting the sunset music festival on the occasion of the World Ocean Day and World Environment Day. The entire science team was up at the crack of dawn to prepare for all the coral planting work to be conducted that day. Kit accompanied by his younger brother Yong Sien packed all the coral planting essentials, I meanwhile conducted a fish market survey whilst Jason and Emily collected corals of opportunity ready for the days coral planting followed by a late night information stall at the music festival.

In the previous blog post I outlined the methodology for public coral planting, today I shall expand more into the booth and what we try and explain to people. Educating the general public is a large part of conservation, particularly environmental education for the new generations about the importance of being sustainable.  

The Science Team

Turtles

Jason Talking about Turtles

Here at Kudat three kinds of turtles used to be present in abundance, they are as follows; Hawksbill, Green and Olive Ridley. However to date all populations have been severely depleted due to historical egg poaching, with Olive Ridleys turtles likely locally extinct. Numbers of Greens are protected by the activities of community projects such as KTCS but there are still many threats facing these creatures.

Ocean plastic pollution is one of the main threats facing these beautiful creatures. We at TRACC have performed autopsies on turtles and very often, as reflected in the literature, find that blockages of the intestinal tract are the primary cause of death. It appears that plastic bags in the ocean resemble jellyfish are one of the most common causes of this threat.

So what can you do?

Firstly one thing that everyone can do is simply reduce the amount of plastic they use in their everyday life.  One of the easiest and most effective ways of doing this is simply not using carrier bags. Buy yourself a lifelong shopping bag and immediately help reduce your carbon footprint. The average active use of a carrier bag is under 30 seconds and yet it can take hundreds of years for this to biodegrade. Also buying in bulk can considerably reduce plastic in packaging terms, and also save you money! Lastly, the simplest of all, don’t litter!

Another threat that faces sea turtles is egg collection. Turtles are air breathers and need to come onto land to lay eggs. They lay on average 6 times a season and leave large and very evident tracks leading to their nests. Here in Malaysia the eggs are considered a delicacy, one single nest of turtle eggs can be equivalent of an entire months wages, so its no surprise that historical nest raids have dramatically reduced turtle numbers over the years. At the time of writing it is currently illegal, but with so many beaches its impossible for the police to enforce any kind of law regarding this matter. Here at TRACC, we have collected and hatched in excess of 3000 eggs since 2013. We try and put the message across that the maximum value of turtles, is in ecotourism for the community, rather than a one off payment for an individual.  

Shark fin soup

Shark bycatch / fisheries are another issue that we are trying to educate the public about. Sharks are scientifically defined as fish, however they belong to the subclass Elasmobranch, which also contains rays, skates and sawfish. All members of the subclass Elasmobranchii, in comparison to the majority of other fish subclasses, have long life histories (that is they take a long time to mature, gestated etc). This in turn means that sharks are more prone to being unsustainably fished. Shark surveys conducted across the world all point to significant global reductions in populations of sharks, See HERE for ours.

Shark fin soup is a causes of massive increases in shark fisheries. Shark fin soup is a luxury item in Chinese culture, and Malaysia has the second largest import of shark fins in Asia. To obtain maximum profits, it is common practice for sharks de-finning to take place on the vessel and their body to be thrown overboard (sometimes still alive). By doing so much more shark fin (the most profitable part of the shark) can be brought to market.

For more information about shark conservation click HERE

Jason explaining about dynamite fishing

Another threat which we are trying to mitigate is that of blast (aka dynamite) fishing. This sadly is exactly as it sounds. Its roots lie within the occupation of the Philippines by America. Historically WW2 grenades were thrown into the water, they would then explode, killing everything in its radius and fish would simply be collected.

Sound like a pretty easy way to fish? It is! Super effective as well as very time efficient. However these bombs also cause massive coral damage, no coral means no fish, therefore the few people who bomb fish are in effect, destroying their livelihood and also the livelihood of other artisanal net fishers for short term gain. For more information on blast fishing click HERE. 

Putting the biscuit back into water
asap to reduce stress on the coral

Here are some of the days coral planting pictures.

Again i'd like to say thank you to all those who participated and a HUGE thank you to my team of scientists; Kit, Jason and Emily for continually working with a positive, can-do attitude, even when working into the night. Great work guys.

Thanks also to the Small grants programme (SGP) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) administered by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). #thegef

Our best looking biscuit?

The future generation planting the future coral!

Mixing a thick paste of the
coral planting cement

You may also want to read about our coral planting for world ocean day or Growth of the branching corals in the coral nursery.  or Step reefs or Bottle reefs or Shark cave reefs or igloo reefs

More blogs about TRACC marine conservation centre

More info about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia
- Turtle Snorkellers     - Divers  

For more information, about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia - Turtle Snorkellers - Divers 
 
please check our website or e-mail info@tracc-borneo.org

The main website is at http://tracc-borneo.org
Check out our posts on our activities
on fb tracc.borneo
on twitter tracc_borneo
on google + tracc

or simply #tracc or #traccblog on Google, Facebook, twitter or instagram

Coral Planting Exhibition 31 May 2015

TRACC Coral Planting Exhibition 31^st May 2015

Emily teaching the next generation
about the threats facing our oceans.

With 75% of all coral reefs on our planet considered severely degraded, reefs are an ecosystem that need lots of positive human intervention.  There are many stressors facing coral reefs including climate change, ocean acidification, increasing amounts of persistent organic pollutants, overfishing, destructive fishing practices (including blast fishing and cyanide fishing) and coastal development. All of these, at least in some respects, are caused by human activity.

Coral reefs are the rainforests of the ocean, and, like the rainforests; they are shrinking at an alarming rate. They cover less than 2% of the oceans benthic environment but ¼ of all oceanic species depend on them. They are an important and fragile ecosystem which we as a species are having a negative effect on. It is for this reason why TRACC with support from the SGP/GEF/UNDP is holding a series of coral planting days open to the general public. Our aims are simple, to have the public actively involved with conservation, and, whilst they are doing so, educate them on the fragility of the ocean and how they can help. 

Visitors learning about coral planting and reef restoration

Todays exhibition was held on the 31^st of May 2015 and was second in our series of planned events for the Tip of Borneo. The team arose early in the morning to secure a booth on the beach. With thanks to the local police force we had a supply of electricity. Our booth (shown above and below) had many informative banners on coral planting, shark fin soup, ocean pollution and blast fishing as they are the main issues around this area. Here we presented what we know to be local threats affecting local environments and discussed it with our visitors. After showing the public about some of the threats facing their local environment, all were motivated to partake in some hands on conservation. At this stage we introduced them to our coral planting techniques.

What are Corals?

Large groups getting involved with the
important work of rebuilding coral reefs

Firstly to know about coral planting you need to know what corals are. Corals are animals like you or I. However, they grow like plants and also they get their energy from the sun.  They do this by having algae live inside them. The corals act as a landlord and the algae pay rent with food. This mutually beneficial relationship between two different organisms is known in the science community as a symbiotic relationship. Both corals and algae need to be in good health to produce a healthy reef. A healthy reef provides; hunting, grazing, breeding and mating grounds for ¼ of all oceanic species. Healthy reefs mean healthy oceans; this is why at TRACC we focus on these bio-diverse hotspots. 

Jason making artificial reef,
the foundations of coral planting.

What is Coral Planting?

As corals grow like plants, it is possible to plant coral. All you need is a piece of live coral and a hard surface for it to grow on. What we do at TRACC is collect corals from the reef that have broken off in storms or through anchor damage, these corals would normally die and so we call them corals of opportunity. We embed these corals of opportunity into cement. The cement then sets underwater and you then have a coral you now plant. We then use these embedded corals to add life to our artificial reefs, creating an artificial coral reef.

How did our event run?

Coral planting is hard work, as all who have volunteered at TRACC will know. [For more information on volunteering with TRACC click HERE]. It mainly consists of diving, collecting coral fragments,  making cement structures and lifting heavy cement blocks into place! To make this easily engaging for the public we had to do a little prep work.

Over the last four weeks, the entire TRACC science team has been preparing in Kudat for these upcoming events leading to World Environment Day and  World Ocean Day.  Firstly a large, stable underwater site had to be found, here we dropped our bottle reefs in a square fashion – these will make a large stable artificial reef which, after the event, will be where the corals are permanently planted. 

(Other reefs we made in Kudat 2014/15 within the proposed Tun Mustapha Park -->Here)

Keeping the corals in water
to minimize stress and
increase survival rates

Secondly we pre-made molds. These are small concrete disks, roughly the size of a coffee mug, with holes in (you can see them in the photo above). These provide the ‘plant pots’ for our live coral. The idea is that the small disks, which we have named biscuits, act as a base for the corals. The small holes in the disks have coral fragments put inside them and they are then cemented into place ready for planting.  

On the day of the event it was an early start for all. The team was split up into two group. One who set up our information booth, along with all the essentials for coral planting. The other team was in charge of collecting corals of opportunity. It is important to collect these on the day to minimize the stress facing the corals. The more stress the corals undergo the more they are likely to bleach and die.

Mixing the cement into a thick paste,
which is best for planting the corals

Picking which coral fragment
will grow well in her biscuit

All visitors who came were given a small cup sized container in which they mixed sand, cement and water so make a thick paste.  After this they would come to the area where the corals were being stored. Our staff would talk them through the biology of corals and help them choose suitable coral fragments. The public would then plant the coral fragments in the pre-made biscuits mentioned earlier, and help return these to the ocean ready for placement in our nursery the next day.

The finished product: a coral biscuit ready for
planting back in the ocean

In total, we planted three full boxes of coral fragments, a huge achievement in a days work. I’d like to thank all who participated in the days coral planting as well as my co-workers Kit, Jason and Emily - who have been working very hard to make these large events run as smoothly as possible.  Thanks also to the SGP/GEF/UNDP for assistance with funding these events.

More about engaging the community to protect reefs.


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To know more about our coral planting techniques and our upcoming events  please like us or follow us on Facebook or google+ or read our tweets :-)


The Volunteers blog  for accounts of our conservation efforts, reef construction and surveys.


More info about learning to dive or volunteering to help save the ocean with TRACC in Malaysia.

Marine science lesson at Santubong Nature Festival

Santubong mountain with its pristine rain forest
was the backdrop to our beach surveys.

TRACC was invited to the Santubong Nature Festival to help celebrate the great biodiversity and scenery.  Bec and Steve flew down to Kuching and stayed at the really nice Permai resort whcih has tree houses built at the level of the canopy.  There was lots of great terrestrial life seen and our task was to compete with the amazing snakes and insects.  There are quite a few dolphins in the bay and these can be seen regularly.

We took more than 30 people on a beach walk and looked at Sandy shore environments.  Ghost crabs, hermits, sand dollars and worms were all found.  We tried to explain about zonation and we created beach profiles with a simple survey teachnique to show that different species are common at differnet levels of the beach.