I completed my BSc Zoology degree at the University of Bristol, graduating with first class honours in 2017. During my undergraduate programme I conducted a tropical biology field course project in Costa Rica, studying acoustic recognition in the blue jeans poison frog, Oophaga Pumilio. My final year project focussed on investigating the effect of larval rearing temperature on body size in the restricted rainforest sp. Drosophila birchii and identifying altitudinal clines in phenotypic plasticity. I went on to conduct a Masters by Research at the University of Bristol, under the supervision of Professors Innes Cuthill & Nick Scott-Samuel, investigating vision and camouflage. During this project we found that markings on the wings of Lepidoptera can be used to provide false depth cues (‘false holes’) to avian predators, reducing predation through camouflage. This research was published in Royal Society for Proceedings in Biology. 

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After my Masters and during COVID, I converted a campervan and travelled around Europe, gaining my scuba-diving qualifications. This newly discovered passion for marine biology led me to pursue a PhD with a marine biology focus. In 2021 I started my PhD at the University of Manchester; after a year of studying biomechanics and energetics in sea turtles, and as a result of my observations and contacts made during my PIP placement in Panama, I wrote a PhD proposal titled ‘Investigating the impacts of marine microplastic pollution in sea turtles”, which was accepted by the BBSRC. My supervisory team includes Professor Holly Shiels, Dr Cyrill Bussy & Dr Ian Kane. 

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So far, during my PhD, I have conducted field work in a range of environments: in Texas, looking at the biomechanics and energetics of locomotion in fresh-water turtles; in Valencia, Spain, investigating MP translocation in Mediterranean loggerhead sea turtles; and in Pacific Panama, investigating the impacts of MPs on reproduction in Olive Ridley turtles. We aim to provide novel insights into microplastic translocation and accumulation in these long-lived marine reptiles.