In the last few months, the three of us have been attending a residential science extension programme at the New Zealand Marine Study Centre.

We have been staying on Quarantine Island with 13 other students from around the country, and our mentors.

At the beginning of this programme, we were all put into groups and selected different projects to do, mentored by a Masters or PhD student at the University.  All three of us ended up with different projects. Our projects consisted of studying the biodiversity of the Otago Harbour, the preferred habitat of triplefins, and the effects of micro-plastics on Green Lipped Mussels. Our projects were aimed to help us make sense of the marine world and relate it back to our lives.

This opportunity provided us with a chance to increase our knowledge of our chosen topic, and to develop our presentation, sampling and analytical skills. We also gained the chance to work in the University labs and use specialist equipment that we otherwise would not have had access to.

We would encourage anyone else who is offered this opportunity, or one similar, to say yes straight away! We couldn’t have thought of a better way to spend our time on this program.