LUMEN Winter 2019 - Flipbook - Page 19
“I’ve always been a big fan of students in all of
my start-ups, from the tiniest start-up to the
biggest multinational.
“If you give interns interesting problems and
enough guidance, they do amazing things,”
he said.
University of Adelaide alumna and marine
biologist Catherine Larkin is one such intern,
working with AusOcean on the shellfish reef
restoration project.
“What I love about interning with AusOcean is
the diversity of the work. Working and studying
in a multidisciplinary team of both engineers
and scientists has exposed me to the more
technical side of marine science which is new
and exciting and, completely outside my
undergraduate realm,” said Catherine.
“Understanding all aspects of marine science,
not just the ecological side is so important
because technology will continue to be a huge
driver in our advances and understandings of
the marine environment,” she said.
In the future, there are plans to roll out a
program to high schools to get students
involved in working with AusOcean technology
and running their own conservation projects.
A trial of this program was successfully
completed last year at Immanuel College.
Workshops are now underway to get more
schools involved.
“This would be a game changer. Each school
not only building one of our rig platforms, but
also engaging with their local community as to
what they do with it – do they do some estuary
monitoring, river monitoring or coastal
monitoring – what’s important in their
community?” Alan said.
Although only in its second year of operation,
it is fair to say that AusOcean has made an
impressive impact on ocean conservation.
“If AusOcean even achieves a fraction of its
mission, it will make a big difference," Alan said.
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Alan Noble
pictured with
AusOcean
monitoring
technology
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Alan Noble
ALUMNI MAGAZINE - WINTER 2019
17
