Basically i am going into my 3rd year BSc (Hons) Marine & Freshwater Biology for 2010/2011 at Essex University and just to keep on top of things i am considering my options for when i finish

My wish is to work with coral reefs one way or another as it is where my passion lies and so firstly i am thinking is it worth doing a masters degree at Essex or should i go straight into a PhD in say coral reef ecology in Australia for example. Not saying that is exactly what i would do though would be most ideal for me, however if i chose to go about this...

what steps would anyone recommend in order for me to find/get onto a coral reef related PhD or masters course providing i meet the grades etc etc??

Awaiting your reply

Hi Dean,

I am in Australia. James Cook University (JCU) in Townsville (Queensland, Australia) would be the university to go to for anything to do with Coral Reefs and Marine Biology in warm water areas. UTAS (University of Tasmania) is good for Cool Marine but it sounds like you are thinking of tropical(?).

From what I understand and the general Australian Good University Guide's feedback, James Cook is outstanding for this and of course, is situated near the Great Barrier Reef which (apart from being a beautiful environment and amazing marine ecosystem) makes for an amazing place to study. Try going on to www.jcu.edu.au, (James Cook's website) and checking out what they have to offer under research for both Masters and Phd's.

Best of luck with your future studies and goals(up)

Wow!! I would love to be there, thanks for the prompt reply!

I have in fact been to the JCU website to the sections you pointed out but theres a few things i am not sure about.

Firstly (in your opinion), would it be worth doing a MFB masters first or going straight to a PhD or possibly do both in Australia?? =/

Secondly, for a PhD would i have to chose from a research title? I mean (having been told nothing about PhD's) is it not possible to say just end up with a PhD in coral reef ecology for instance?

Yours sincerly, Dean

Hi Dean,

I'm not sure that I can answer that one for you. For example- I think that you are asking whether to do a practical Masters with a coursework/research component OR a fully coursework component as opposed to a Phd. Is this right?

And the answer to that is probably to do with where your mid term and long term career/work goals are? A Phd is definitely going to be pretty much the highest research degree. So yes you can choose your topic-say researching the impact recreational and tourist boats have on certain types of life form in the reef (I'm just grabbing at random topics-that might be completely stupid-I'm no biologist!). So your phd would be between 3 to 5 years say (full time-give or take time for marking and corrections), spent in fully developing your study, collecting data, researching the literature and the evidence and then writing up your dissertation of around 65000 to 80000 words on this specific topic. You would then have a Phd-which you would probably say is in marine biology-would allude to your topic in future CV's-but the Phd also qualifies you as a scientist, formally trained in research and a bit of a specialist/expert in your thesis area. You could teach in the tertiary sector with this and go for academic work as well as lab work, etc (Not to say you are stuck with your thesis area and topic for the rest of your life but it will certainly help form your starting point and define your scope to others at least initially).

I think a practical course work masters tends to kit you out for jobs immediately in the field but they may be sort of related jobs rather than research jobs. For example if you wanted to go into reef management and tourist ecologies, etc and work for a government department-then the practical one would probably assist with this. Or if you were happy with the lab assistant type role or secondary teaching sector or private businesses who provide services-working for Marine and wildlife departments, etc.

However, if you wanted to be formally regarded as a serious research scientist-if not immediately but some time down the track, then you need to go the phd route eventually-at least this is my understanding of how it works.

(I am happy for anyone with more specific knowledge to help out here and make any corrections btw).

Sometimes if you have the stamina and the passion for research, going the phd route straight away makes really good sense but at other times, particularly if you are a little younger and know your area but not your topic, going the course work route, finding paid employment in an area you love and then just travelling, earning money, gaining fieldwork experience in your area, and doing some of the other things that are highly significant in life, before you set yourself up for the phd slog, is a good way to go. This is where what you decide is really dependent on you. On what you (not others) want and where your mid and long term goals lie. Finally, whatever you do, you can always change your mind-sometimes the only way we find out what we really want is by trying something out and finding out that this is not the right pathway for us at this point....