Awarded the Wellcome Trust Doctoral Scholarship to Cambridge University 2015
I took the national entrance exam for NZIBO in 2009 with little expectation of making it through. Being selected to take part in the tutorial programme, and subsequently in the practical training camp, played a huge part in building my confidence as a budding scientist, and allowed me to meet students from all over the country who share my passion for biology. These experiences cemented my interest in genetics and zoology, and in 2011 I found myself at the University of Otago, starting a Bachelor of Science with a double major in these two subjects.
The skills and knowledge I gained from participating in the NZIBO programme provided me with a huge advantage coming into university. A great deal of the first year university curriculum was covered during the programme (some of my courses even used the same textbook!), and I was able to approach labs with much more confidence because of the practical components of the training camp. I think the most important lesson I took from the NZIBO programme was how to direct my own learning, which was absolutely essential to keeping on top of university work.
Coming into Otago, I had known what subjects I wanted to do, but not exactly where they might lead me. During my studies I became more and more interested in the intersection between evolution and development – the field known as “evo-devo” – and I was able to put this interest into practise in my Honours year, completing a research project on the evolution of an important developmental protein family, the “Noggin” family, in arthropods. Something they don’t prepare you for in your undergraduate lectures is just how often you will contend with failure as soon as you step into a lab, and this was definitely a steep learning curve for me. However, I completed my Honours dissertation at the end of 2014 even more enthused, and have since been employed in my Honours lab as an associate research fellow, working part-time on finishing off the loose ends of my project.
In 2014 I applied to the Wellcome Trust 4 Year PhD in Developmental Mechanisms at Cambridge University; although I saw only a slim chance of my being accepted, my experiences over the past few years had shown me that it is always worth trying, if you are passionate about something. Because of this, I am now preparing to start a new chapter of my life in the UK, with a full scholarship to complete the PhD of my dreams at Cambridge University. I suppose my overall message to up-and-coming biologists would be to jump at opportunities that excite you (like the NZIBO programme, or that scholarship) and you might be surprised where you end up!
