Study marine science – there’s so much still to discover
Images of entire towns submerged in floodwater, Arctic sea ice habitats melting away and sea creatures tangled in plastic waste have created an urgent demand for more information about our oceans.
Some of the people tasked with providing these answers live locally and work and study at SAMS, where today’s students can become tomorrow’s leading ocean investigators. It is no exaggeration to say that more is known about space than our own ocean and that is one reason Jamie Rodgers decided to venture into marine science. The 23-year-old from Aberdeenshire has a five-year affiliation with SAMS UHI; he graduated with a BSc Hons in Marine Science and this year started a PhD at the Dunstaffnage institute. “After school I knew I wanted to study marine science,” said Jamie. “I really enjoyed science, particularly physics, and I had a particular interest in the Arctic, which is undergoing huge changes. “Marine science research is at a really interesting stage. There are still lots of key elements to discover and we now have many of the tools we need to make these discoveries. There’s something pioneering about marine science, as there’s so much we don’t know. “I started looking at marine science degrees but a lot of the courses were heavily focused on marine biology. The SAMS UHI course was the only one I found that offered a more general marine science option. There is marine biology, of course, but the variety of topics here is so diverse. In the end it was the only place I applied to.” During his four years as an undergraduate, Jamie experienced a range of fieldwork at sea and by the shore, and studied in the Arctic at the University in Svalbard (UNIS) for a year. A keen sailor, he became a member of the university’s Wind and Wave Club and in pursuing his passion for the outdoors, soon found like-minded adventurers among the close-knit student community. Jamie explained: “Because the student numbers here are relatively low, there is much more interaction between the students and lecturers, compared with other universities. There is more of a connection between staff and students and between undergraduate and postgraduate.”
As part of his PhD, Jamie will investigate how the mixing of warm and cold Arctic water affects the melting sea ice in the region. His studies have already taken him on a research ship to the Barents Sea. “My interest in environmental issues was a massive part of coming to SAMS UHI and I’d like to think I have a more educated and nuanced view of these issues now,” he said. “Global warming and climate change are such huge topics, so I’m now just trying to play my part in finding out more about a particular aspect of that change. There’s a lot still to do, but I’m thoroughly enjoying it!”