Profile

Photo:

Kes Scott-Somme

    • About Me:

      I love water and am always curious about the things that live there, I’m really passionate about protecting our world and making sure the people who come after me can enjoy it too. I love animals and especially fish, in fact one of my hobbies is fishkeeping and I have two fish tanks as well as a tortoise and some bunnies at my home in Plymouth.

    • Read more

      I love all the amazing life and interesting places our planet has to offer. I have done lots of volunteering, travelling and working lots of different jobs, in my quest to do what I can to protect and preserve the things that we share our home with. I love to read and learn new things, so I often listen to audio books while I am walking or in my garden. I like to be outside, but when it’s cold and rainy I spend time indoors, painting and drawing and making things. I drink a lot of tea, I like earl grey or herbal teas, I even grow my own plants to make different teas, like hibiscus and chamomile.

    • My Work:

      I work as a research assistant at the Marine Biological Association, we are collecting lots of marine life in the UK, identifying it and getting a genome sequence for it, this is to help conservation and research.

    • Read more

      I work mainly on the taxonomy side of the project. Taxonomy is all about identifying that you find, at the Marine Biological Association we are focused on marine life. As a research assistant I get to be involved in lots of different parts of this work, going out and collecting marine life using a lot of different survey techniques, from fish traps to diving surveys and collecting things in rockpools. Then we bring it back to the lab, get it under the microscope to identify it and then cut it up to get samples for use in the genome sequencing and barcoding work. We need to keep track of everything we’ve collected and have some nice big datasheets full of all the information from what we have collected.

    • My Typical Day:

      Our days can be different all the time! Usually I get up at 6.30 to feed all my pets and myself and then head to work for 9am. But sometimes we are out collecting animals and seaweed, so we could be on a boat, or down by the beach at any time of day or night, depending on when the tides are good. Other days we will be working in the lab, identifying all the life we have collected and processing it for the DNA work. We also need to write up all the data and work together with our colleagues, so some days we have meetings or work on the computer. Usually I will finish work at around 5.30pm.

    Candidate CV questions (extra)

    • Education:

      Chagford Primary School, Okehampton College, Sands School, Exeter College (short-time), Sparsholt College, Portsmouth University, University College London.

    • Qualifications:

      GCSEs – A-C, art, maths, science, english, history. Lambda gold medal for Drama. No A-levels/equivalent.
      Foundation degree marine ecology and conservation (accepted on CV).
      BSc Marine Biology.
      MSc Aquatic Science.

    • Work History:

      I’ve had a lot of jobs, and also done a lot of volunteering, I didn’t know what I wanted to do for a long time, but as you can see there is lots of volunteering in watery places.

      Part- time paid work –

      Chef/Waitress/Shop-keeper at the Courtyard Café, free-lance child-minder/nanny/carer, festival fire steward, waitress/barmaid at 22 Mill Street, lifeguard, model, free-lance cleaner, Cleaner at IN2U tattoo, shopkeeper at the Crocodile café, Horniman animal walk, nursery assistant, teaching assistant cover, bar/shop manager at Inkspot brewery, bar staff at the warehouse club, fish keeper at the zebra fish lab UCL

      Volunteer work/work experience –

      Archeleaon turtle conservation project (Greece), cook on yoga farm (Portugal), PA for the ice bear project (Devon), chameleon conservation and bird tours for the Gialova lagoon project, turtle conservation project (Costa Rica), farm worker (Nicaragua, Costa Rica), Dyfken boat care and tours (Brisbane maritime museum) Playa chila turtle conservation project (Mexico), aquarist- Bournemouth Oceanarium, Student rep Porcupine Marine Natural History Society, event staff at the Worlds Ocean Summit, youth group leader – RSPB,  cataloguing and caring for samples – Natural History Museum, fish surveys -ZSL Smelt conservation project, aquarist-Horniman Aquarium, founder UCL Conservation Society, founder PlasticFreeUCL,

      Full-time paid work-

      yard staff at Proper Job recycling centre, Call centre staff for sky insurance , nursery apprentice, Research assistant at the Thames Estuary Partnership (North Thames Fisheries Local Action Group), Aquatic science Research Assistant – WSP, Research assistant- Water team, Earthwatch Europe/Learning and Engagement coordinator – Learning team, Earthwatch Europe.

    • Current Job:

      Research Assistant, Darwin Tree of Life project, Marine Biological Association.

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        I had no idea

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        yes! More so in college which I got kicked out of for being too opinionated.

        Who is your favourite singer or band?

        Sam Welch

        What's your favourite food?

        Ramen, or steak and chips.

        If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!

        The space, time and resources to do whatever I wanted! - In this world that probably just means being rich.

        Tell us a joke.

        What do you call a fish with no eye? ... A fsh

News and Announcements

  • No news items to show

View older news items and announcements