Question: hi debbie. how did you get into this job

Debbie Crockard answered on 24 Sep 2018:

Hi,

firstly sorry for the delay – i was on holiday last week! I always knew from a young age that i wanted to be a marine biologist, so i chose the school subjects that would let me do this – the sciences , but i was actually better at art and English so i had to work twice as hard at the sciences to pass them. I had thought that i wanted to study whales and dolphins when i was at school, then i decided i wanted to study sharks. But when i got to university i realised i really enjoyed learning about how humans interact with their environment and suddenly i was really interested in fishing and fisheries – an area i never even knew you could study.

I did my thesis on how fishing effects populations and then did a masters in fisheries ecology, my first couple of jobs were working for the university and then the job at the Marine Conservation Society came up – they were looking for a fisheries policy person and while i had the fisheries knowledge i didn’t know much about politics. But i applied anyway because i wanted to work for a charity to protect our seas, and they offered me the opportunity. So I had to learn about politics from scratch.but i now find it really interesting, I get to work on protecting our marine environment at the source by changing the laws.

I hope that answered your question?

Debbie