This blog post is extra special because this month, my biggest dream came true: I traveled to the Great Barrier Reef for the first time. In my coral reef ecosystems class, we are given the opportunity to spend a week at Heron Island Research Station, a very small island surrounded by the GBR. We were given the choice to conduct a field project on coral or fish, and as an aspiring coral ecologist, I of course, chose coral. The excursion was a dream! My project looked at the bleaching of Acropora coral along a 20 meter transect within the research zone of the island.

My team and I completed about 50 transects at varying distances from shore: 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, 180, 280 and 310 meters. I spent several hours reef walking to find Acropora and measure the size of the coral and the level of coral bleaching present. For my analysis, I plan to compare the data we collected with data from last year’s coral bleaching project (focusing on Acropora specifically). Additionally, even though we were testing on a reef flat, I think there is a comparison between the abundance and coral bleaching levels of Acropora found inshore and samples found further offshore. Learning how to write, conduct and analyze a project like this has been an insane experience and has taught me how to be a real scientist. It has also shown me how much I love this work, reminding me that I chose the right path.

On the excursion, I also did a ton of snorkeling! There is a shipwreck at the entrance to the island’s channel, so we often swim out to it to see the artificial coral growing, the massive groupers and parrotfish. There were sea turtles literally everywhere, so anytime we went out to snorkel, we were guaranteed to see them. I also got to snorkel with lots of stingrays, through heaps of jellyfish eggs and jellyfish, with lemon sharks, black-tipped sharks and white-tipped sharks, and thousands of butterfly and damselfish. I wish I could stay on the reefs forever because it is the most unreal experience getting to explore this incredible underwater world.

At one point, we had rain, and then the most perfect rainbow appeared, and it hit me how lucky I am. I was snorkeling with sea turtles, under a rainbow, with my friends, off of a remote island, on the Great Barrier Reef. I could not be more grateful for this world and this path I have chosen. This was the most gorgeous place I have ever been in my life, but rather than try to put it into words, I am just including lots of pictures. The trip was everything I could have asked for. I had the time of my life, but was also so immersed in my studies and doing significant work for my degree, so I was slightly stressed at times. I think I find that when you get something you want, or when you are so close to getting it, it is a bit intimidating.

Furthermore, this excursion was extra important for me because the professor is the founder of the C3 coral restoration team at UTS and the one who helped to coordinate my internship. She was not able to attend the excursion, so it was run by several of her associates and Ph.D. students. I was super excited for the chance to talk to these scientists about their roles, but also to prove to them that I would be a great candidate for an honors role next February. While there, I was able to speak with the head TA about my role in the coral lab and the work I will be doing on coral deoxygenation, expressing my nerves about taking on such a big role. She was reassuring and told me that passion for something can get you as far as you need to go.

I feel so lucky to have found what I want to do, and I know I have so much dedication and passion for the subject, so I cannot wait to see what kind of projects I get to be a part of in the next couple of years. There are also a couple of big side notes I wanted to include for this month’s post:

1. I have found an au pair family that I think I would be a great fit for. I might be headed to Western Australia for the next six months before returning to UTS for honors.
2. After coming back from Heron, I booked a liveaboard dive trip so I could dive the GBR, too. I am so stoked!
3. I officially applied for graduation in July, which is so crazy!

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Learn more about this blogger’s study abroad program: University of Technology Sydney