For my PhD I am working in the Bates lab at the University of Victoria, and I will be focusing on how multiple stressors interact (e.g., marine heatwaves, deoxygenation and human actions) and affect various aspects of coral and rocky reef communities.
For my Master's, I was a part of the Baum Lab at the University of Victoria and I examined the impacts of local and global disturbances on coral biodiversity
I had the opportunity to spend a month in Hermanus, South Africa as an intern with the South African Shark Conservancy.
Thoughout my undergraduate degree, I had the opportunity to be involved in many research projects though my courses and summer employment.
During my undergraduate degree, I was able to conduct two honours research projects, both of which were on bats.
My favorite part of my ecology degree is that every day in the field is unique and there is always an exception to every rule. You never know what you are going to find, how organisms will react or how environments will change, so it keeps you on your toes and allows you to be creative and reflective.
For those looking to pursue a degree in biology, my advice is don’t specialize too much. Take courses and do research that is in a broad range of topics. It is all applicable and I often see students who only look at one taxa or environment their whole degree end up very specialized and fail to see all the connections between other taxa and environments. Also, you don’t truly know if you like or hate something until you give it a try.