‘MY MISSION TO SAVE THE GREAT BARRIER REEF’ TO SAVE BARRIER REEF’
A TRIP WITH HER DAD LED EMMA CAMP TO DEVOTE HER LIFE TO PROTECTING CORAL
Emma Camp dived under the turquoise waters of the Caribbean as she remembered seeing her first coral reef. From that moment, she was hooked on the ocean and the mysterious ‘cities’ that exist under the waves.
“When I was eight or nine my parents took me to The Bahamas and Dad took me snorkelling,” says Emma, 34.
“I discovered this city of coral and fish that was buzzing with life. After that, I was in the ocean every day and I was fascinated because each time I saw something different under the water. I still feel that excitement when I dive. I never know what I’ll find.”
Today, Dr Emma Camp is a marine biologist and a world-leading expert in coral reefs. In 2020, she made TIME magazine’s Next Generation Leaders list, became a L’ORÉAL-UNESCO for Women in Science Fellow and received a Rolex Award for Enterprise in 2019.
Originally from the UK, five years ago she moved to Australia to become a researcher at the University of Technology Sydney.
Her work is helping to protect the Great Barrier Reef from the devastating effects of climate change.
Emma is based in Sydney, where she lives with husband, Rawiri, 35, and their son Tane, almost 2, but she travels to Queensland throughout the year. Here, she monitors
the health of the reef and oversees coral ‘nurseries’ where she grows new corals to put back onto the reef to help it survive.
“We use fragments of corals that naturally break off from the reef – it’s like taking a clipping from a plant. We put the fragments on a frame where they quickly grow and, when they’re big enough, we put them back on the reef,” explains Emma.
“A tiny piece of coral a tenth the size of your small fingernail can grow and join other corals to form something like the Great Barrier Reef that’s visible from space.”
As well as being passionate about coral, Emma is equally passionate about encouraging women to follow a career in science.
“I liked science at high school, but I was also sports mad and played basketball.
I got a scholarship to go to
college in the
US through my basketball and while I was there, in 2008,
I worked on a project in the Caribbean and realised how important coral reefs are,” says Emma.
“They cover less than one per cent of the ocean floor, but over 25 per cent of marine life lives on a reef at some point. Many compounds we rely on in modern medicines originate from coral reefs, and they also protect the land from erosion and storms.
“But when I was younger, I didn’t know what jobs
‘SCIENCE IS A REWARDING CAREER ... YOU CAN MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE’
existed in science. I thought a marine biologist was like being a dolphin trainer! But I soon worked out that science is a rewarding career – you can make a difference,” she says.
Moving to Australia to work on the Great Barrier Reef has been a dream come true for Emma and it has given her some lasting memories.
“Around the time
I went to the US, Mum passed away from breast cancer, so Dad and I are very close,” says Emma.
“In early 2020, just before the pandemic took hold, Dad flew to Australia to visit me and I took him diving on the Great Barrier Reef. All those years after he took me diving for the first time, we’d gone full circle. I was five months pregnant then, which made it even more special.”
Emma has also helped her husband discover the excitement of snorkelling and Tane had his first swimming lesson at 10 weeks old, making him a true water baby.
“When we met, my husband wasn’t a confident swimmer and we began practising snorkelling in our local pool,” says Emma.
“He’s now been to the Great Barrier Reef and seen dolphins, sharks and even a manta ray. He now loves the ocean almost as much as I do.”