An Interview with Marine Biologist and Coral Reef Researcher, Khatija Alliji.
We caught up with Khatija, a scientist in the world of Marine Biology, and asked her for an insight into how she turned her passions into a profession.
In this interview we cover:
- A day in the life of a marine scientist
- Skills needed to do well in the industry
- Factors affecting the industry right now
- Advice on how to get ahead and how you can get involved
- Experiences that will live for a lifetime
Please briefly introduce yourself, Khatija and tell us how Marine Biology grabbed your interest.
Hello, my name is Khatija Alliji and I am a graduate from the University of Portsmouth, where I studied marine biology for my Bachelors degree. I then went on to study a masters at St Andrews University in Ecosystem based management of marine systems. Recently I have been working in the field for a NGO studying coral reefs.
I remember being absorbed by the underwater world from a young age and after watching a film about sharks, all I wanted to do was find out more. I soon realised how sharks were only a small part of the marine ecosystem and there were so many other fascinating creatures. This inspired me to take a gap year and go scuba diving in Madagascar. As soon as I went on my first snorkel I was hooked by the beautiful corals and fish. After this, I knew what I wanted to study.
Aside from academia, are there any intangible or ‘softer’ skills that you feel are important to succeed in your line of work?
Such as
- voluntary work
- client liaison (interpersonal skills)
- raising funds/grants (NERC)
- logistics and planning
- any other extra-curricular activities
I think all the skills listed above are necessary to be able to work in any discipline, but they are essential to be able to work as a marine biologist.
I would recommend volunteering as much as possible throughout your education as you gain invaluable skills, which increase your career prospects. It also allows you to network and start to gain experience within the industry helping you to direct your career.
Securing grant money is an important skill to have, however it does depend on the places that you are working for. Many research institutes will often already have funding available and specific staff members who apply for grants, so they will be able to coach you through the process.
Being approachable and open minded is something that is important. Often marine biologists have to work with a range of people including the general public, fishermen, politicians and other scientists. This can be a fantastic and rewarding experience but it can also be challenging.
This leads me to one of the skills that I think is most important when pursuing a career in science and that is persistence.
This is a key attribute [persistence] most scientists will look for especially when applying for a PhD or any other research role. Often, when working as a marine biologist, your views and ideas are often not accepted at first. This can be difficult to accept, but being able to remain optimistic can help to alter peoples views.
I would recommend learning how to use programmes such as R, matlab and SPSS. I also think ArcGIS is important as it is something that many employers will look for when thinking about potential candidates. As well as these skills I think a basic understanding of policy is important as it is often the missing link between science and the general public. This is intertwined with good communication skills, as this is one of the places many scientists fall down in communicating their research to others.
It is also great to have other skills such as diving and free diving skills, which enable you to collect your own data. These can be really great when working in the field.
What does a typical day or week look like for you? What are your main responsibilities?
A typical day for me, would be giving a lecture in the morning to our volunteers.
I would then go diving, which would involve either a fish pointy, manta dive, fun dive or a survey dive. Depending on the type of dive we were doing, I would have to collect all the data and write this up for our reports and database.
Later, I would work with the local children teaching them english and trying to learn Bhasa Indonesia. Sometimes we had arranged talks on the Liveaboards and this meant we would go to give presentations about marine conversation and the local community to them.
Environmental factors are becoming more and more important to the world, both in society and for businesses. How do you feel industry and society is adapting to these new issues?
Overall, I think that the response from most industries and the public is generally very positive. There are so many new movements, which are really exciting to be involved in. However, there are many industries that are fighting back.
I think that there are many companies that are aware of their environmental impacts and are actively doing something to try and reduce this.
I would like to see these companies being recognised for their hard work and people choosing them, rather than companies that do not consider the environment as an important factor in business.
Companies such as Adidas Parley: making trainers from ocean plastic and other fashion companies are following suit. Tesla are at the forefront of trying to find sustainable solutions. They are already selling electric cars and they have designed a battery for storing solar energy, which is awesome.
Companies like Sainsbury’s and Marks and Spencer’s have reshaped their business plans to incorporate sustainability.
I think by giving those companies, that address these issues, positive recognition we can easily reshape people’s views about how business and the environment can go hand in hand.
I also think that education is key in making this relationship work, as I understand that people often become detached from the environment.
I think, by running programmes for businesses, we can be really creative and achieve some great results.
I would love to see people taking an interest by choosing to buy products based on the companies environmental principles.
Do you have any advice for others looking to enter the industry? Is there anything (positive or negative) that you wish you’d known before?
My advice would be to try and focus on a particular field as it will help you specialise and improve your chances of being employed.
I would also recommend making the most of university and networking as much as you can during this time. Universities are a great way to meet lots of different people from different environments and backgrounds all in one place.
Make the most of your mentors and try and keep in contact with researchers who inspire you. These people are an amazing knowledge bank and can advise you on your future.
Networking can lead to other opportunities and will help you specialise quicker. Try and gain lots of experience and skills through different volunteer programmes throughout your education.
Is there much difference between University and in the field? Are there topics that you didn’t learn that are essential to the “real-world”?
I think that my undergraduate degree provided me with the basics for a career in the field. However, I think that it was essential for me to complete a masters as I gained skills that were really valuable when thinking about my future career.
I feel that the industry is always changing and it’s important to remain up-to-date with the newest trends and research. I am a member of the Marine Biological Association and the Royal Biological Society. They both provide me with important updates and events within my local area and they also offer grants and bursaries to help students.
We’re all about helping encourage and support people to follow the topics and interests they’re most passionate about. What do you hope to achieve in the near future?
I am currently working on educating people about marine issues and working with people to try and make simple changes that can impact the marine environment in a positive way.
This started with the education programme in Indonesia, where I was working with children and educating them about marine litter and coral reef health. One of my favourite moments was when we were sitting on the jetty with some of the children and one of them pointed at some rubbish and went and collected it.
This is something that will remain with me forever as it shows how education can really make a difference.
The programme is run by the volunteers and without their help we would be unable to achieve our main aims and if anyone would like to be involved they can contact me and I can give them the details.
The future of the industry is based on these grass-root initiatives.
I can see a complete change in the education system towards important issues such as recycling and sustainability. I have noticed how schools have started educating students at younger ages about the issues and this is great, as during my time at school these issues were not integrated into our education.
It’s really exciting that projects are interesting young people because they are the future young leaders and they can offer new insights and ideas.
Can people set up their own groups local to them to encourage people to discuss and innovate for the marine environment?
Yeah, they can definitely do this and you can be involved in different communities.
The Royal Biological Society and the Marine Biological Association are great societies to be involved in and they host events all around the country.
People can also organise beach clean ups or discussions within their local community to try and get people talking about the marine environment.
There are lots of bodies that are involved in working with the community such as Capturing Our Coast, which is a citizen science project that was created to get people interested in the marine environment and collect important data.
Finally, we love a motivational quote to keep us inspired and raring to go after our ambitions. What would your favourite be?
I probably have two:
“Shoot for the moon and if you miss you will still be among the stars.”
And one that one of my favourite authors, Roald Dahl, taught me:
“my candle burns at both ends, it will not last the night but oh my friends and oh my foes it gives a lovely light.”
We love featuring people who are going after their passions and life goals!
If you want to be featured or know someone who is inspiring others in their field we’d love to hear your story.
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