Leira Centeno Mejias

Since we arrived at Lizard Research Island, I already feel at home. The little island in the middle of the water reminded me of my small campus, where we know each other because of the small area between us. I enjoy the sunset and share time on the Island. Everyone’s interested in meeting you and learning about the project, not just to create bonding for work, but they like to know about the different interests in this field.

From my perspective as a water quality scientist, implementing coral reefs was another world. I know the Caribbean corals and that Australia had the biggest species, but I never realized there were over 410 species. I have never seen so many corals in one place.

This is the first course I can see the correlation of coral reef as an ecosystem; this is thanks to Nadler with her Chromis spp. fishes, and Morgan Pratchett. I loved the exercise and lectures with Morgan because he also tried to explain how to make the best methodology for your experiment and how the question can change the experiment methodology. This helps me understand why scientists use different methods for similar studies. Morgan gave a simple presentation about writing scientific papers and helped us understand how to manage the structure.

My professional development expanded as simple as coral identification, some boat duties in which I just said I’m not good at all, and tiny on fish identification. The most important professional network with other marine students, professors, and even the “coral guru.”

I could say that my advancement in practical skills could be a bit of freediving that I have never practiced. As an overthinker, I have not done more than I used to due to the constant learning of new things and everything I can think about to improve my project.

Another thing I learned is to collect fish from the wild, prepare the tank and even prepare the food. We also tattooed fish, which was an interesting way to see the difference in social behavior in small groups. Going out in bad weather is sometimes worth it. On June 10, we had terrible weather with a lot of wind, and we managed to capture 38 Chromis spp. I learned from this not to give up if the weather conditions are not perfect.

Every time I spend more time on the water, I remember why I chose marine science, and for the first time in my master I’m not feel let myself down. I must say I was on a treatment that caused me some memory loss, and I thought I couldn’t find myself until now. I just realized that my project has made me feel empty, and with just one week in here, everything makes sense.