Despite growing up miles from the coast, Brittany Williams developed a love for the ocean – and now she’s helping save baby oysters
Brittany went to school in Canberra – about 150km from the coast – but she loved the ocean and biology was her favourite subject, so she signed up for a science degree majoring in marine biology.
After graduating, she started looking into different universities for the next step in her study path. During this process, Brittany met Professor Sean Connell from The University of Adelaide, was impressed by his work and “decided to jump in the deep end”.
Reef music
It was at the end of her Honours degree in Adelaide that Brittany made the fascinating discovery that baby oysters would swim towards the “music” of the reef.
“These results showed me that using underwater sound could be an effective, affordabl way to help our global ecosystems recover,” she explains. “By playing ‘ocean music’ at restoration reefs, using underwater speakers, I’ve been helping baby oysters find these reefs.”
Oysters are important to our oceans, filtering water, reducing erosion, storing carbon and providing habitat and food to other marine life. Brittany is now completing a PhD at The University of Adelaide to further her work in this area. – Cassie Hart
Brittany’s Pathway
- Bachelor of Science (Marine Biology), Australian National University
- Advanced Open Water Diver Certificate, PADI
- Bachelor of Science (Honours) (Marine Biology), The University of Adelaide
- PhD (Marine Biology), The University of Adelaide
This article was brought to you in partnership with The University of Adelaide and was originally published in Careers with STEM: Technology.
READ MORE:
