Cover Letter

A passion for the ocean from very early childhood fuelled my desire to pursue a career in the field of marine conservation and scientific research. Throughout my higher education, my passion and determination to contribute to such projects only grew with the aim to specialise in Marine megafauna and more specifically cetaceans.

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During my Bachelor's degree, I travelled to South Africa in order to collect my thesis data on local cetaceans in the area. I also travelled to Abaco, Bahamas in order to gain fieldwork experience and develop my own methods for a research project, undertake data collection and analyse said data. I was set to fly out to Tela, Honduras in the summer of  2020  to collect my Master's thesis data on the newest Marine Protected Area on the north coast, in partnership with  Operation Wallacea. However, due to  COVID-19, I adapted my thesis and completed my project through desk-based work managing to evaluate the area and develop future recommendations management and monitoring of the MPA. Throughout my studies I have also collected data within the Southwest UK on a regular basis and in all conditions. My studies have also allowed me to gain experience with writing factsheets and POSTnote's in order to translate and communicate complex science into understandable English for all ages.

I am a very diligent and highly motivated person in all aspects of my life and studies, all deadlines are met in time and to the best of my ability.  I have experience working effectively within a team from the age of 16 whilst volunteering at The Blue Planet Aquarium. I undertook research at the University of Bangor completing a Nuffield research project incorporating Marine Biology with 3D printing receiving a Gold STEM Crest award. I have also worked in numerous professional environments. My previous experience working with multiple teams throughout both my Bachelors and Master's degrees in a classroom setting and out in the field has given me invaluable knowledge and skills to use in every new opportunity.

I have volunteered at the ORCA Foundation in South Africa gaining experience collecting marine mammal population, distribution and behavioural data, contributing to the photo identification catalogue and aiding a necropsy of a mother and calf True’s beaked whale pair. I was also one of 24 Youth Advisory Council members around the world for World Oceans Project and am currently appointed as a Youth Leadership Council Member for EarthEcho International, in order to continue to learn and contribute change and research that is occurring worldwide. I also have basic proficiency with certain software such as Matlab, ArcGIS, NVivo, PMx and Minitab. I am currently training in R and am significantly more proficient with the Microsoft Office Suite.

During my Master’s degree at the University of Plymouth, I along with five fellow course mates developed our own Non-governmental organisation: The Cuttlefish Conservation Initiative (CCI). We pursued this passion project post-graduation and have recently received official charity registration status for the organisation based in Plymouth and the Southwest. I am currently working as the Research Coordinator for the Atlantic Whale and Dolphin Foundation based in Tenerife. I am leading the data collection of both rib and tourist boat sightings of the resident species Bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) and Short Finned Pilot whales (globicephala macrorhynchus) as well as collecting a dataset of migratory species. I co-lead the photo identification team along with another coordinator and work collectively across all data collection sections. I oversee data processing from volunteers at the organisation, am working on developing statistical analysis in ArcGIS and developing my Matlab and R skills and working on developing my skills in acoustic data collection and analysis. I am also developing a methodology for a new dataset through diving aiming to understand seagrass cover and fish species abundance and distribution around the coast.