Catherine Gemmell

"I feel the personality types that I matched with are a pretty accurate reflection of my personality, especially for my work! The first one that came up was 'Influencer' and it made me think straight away of a Social Media Influencer. I actually use social media, especially Twitter (although I did record my first TikTok yesterday with my plushy shark) a lot for my job to increase awareness of marine conservation stories and to help connect different people to the sea. The specific qualities under the personality type 'Influencer' do make sense as I have to be able to turn sometimes complex issues or information into bitesize and easy to understand chunks to either fit in character restrictions online or when speaking to different audiences in person or through video and audio channels. The second one was 'Innovator' and this definitely recognizes my love of brainstorming and coming up with creative ideas. This might be how to run a certain campaign, thinking outside of the box for new partnerships or how tell our story in a different way to engage more people in what the Marine Conservation Society does.The third and last direct match was 'Manager' and although I do not manage any staff in my role a lot of the qualities of this personality type are extremely useful when looking after volunteers or working on projects with other people. Being able to adapt quickly and easily is very useful when sometimes projects have to move very quickly or sometimes change completely! Being organised is also a big part of my role. There are so many different parts to it that I have to be organised to make sure all my projects and work areas get my attention when they need it as well as all the people and organisations I work with on a daily basis. The types that 'almost' fit me include 'Campaigner', 'Coach' and 'Communicator' which I feel also fits my job role very well! From supporting campaigns to training volunteers to taking part in media interviews, these qualities are also extremely important to have to help deliver my job."

"As Scotland Conservation Officer for the Marine Conservation Society my main role is to reduce the amount of marine litter in Scotland's seas and turning up on beaches around the coast. To help achieve this I work with different people on different projects but it all starts with a project called Beachwatch!So Beachwatch is the MCS Citizen/Community Science project where volunteers sign up to help clean local beaches of litter and at the same time fill in a survey form counting all the different types of litter that they find over a 100m stretch of shoreline. The data is then uploaded by our volunteers to our website so we can see trends over time in how much litter is turning up on beaches and what types. This then becomes a very strong evidence base for all the campaigns that I work on. The more data we have the more evidence we have so part of my job is to help encourage as many volunteers as possible to get involved with the project. This part of my job is brilliant fun as I get to spend a lot of time on the beach and meeting new people!When I am not on the beach I am usually working on a project or campaign with other members of staff at MCS or in other organisations across Scotland. We use the the data collected by our volunteers to see what items or groups of litter we need to run a campaign on. For example we saw a big rise in the amount of drinks bottles and cans so I worked with another charity called APRS to run a campaign to bring in a Scottish Deposit Return Scheme where all drinks would have a deposit of 20p to be paid and then refunded when it was returned for recycling. These campaigns are a great way for me to get creative, from helping a local school create a giant jellyfish out of plastic bottles to running a social media campaign where users reported any 'wild bottles' that they spotted to help raise awareness of the campaign. The last main area of my work and what the other two sections lead up to is changing policy - basically trying to changes rules or laws that will help stop the amount of litter entering the ocean. As part of this work I have to do research, meet with politicians and government officials as well as experts and scientists to make sure that the law or rule we want changed or introduced is going to do the best job on protecting the sea. This has been a really interesting part with highlight being handing the First Minister a model turtle at a Scottish Government Marine Conservation Conference for a photoshoot!"

"I am definitely a #NoRightPath example! I have always loved the Ocean and my first volunteering job was at the Scottish Dolphin Centre on the Moray Firth coastline. However I loved History at school and preferred Physics and Chemistry to Biology so I assumed that the only career I could have would be a Marine Biologist and wouldn't be able to do it as I did not choose Biology as a subject. I was therefore all set to do Ancient History at the University of Edinburgh when I went on a free visit to Aberdeen University and saw a stand for a degree in Marine and Coastal Resource Management - and I had a complete light bulb moment! Here was a subject that led to lots of different jobs and not just Marine Biology - so all my plans quickly changed and instead of Edinburgh I was off to Aberdeen!My part time job at Uni was working as a Cast Member for the Disney Store and although it might seem a strange connection it was here that I learnt how much I loved working with people, especially younger people, and led me area of environmental education and science communication.My first job after University was therefore a Field Studies Instructor for an outdoor adventure company down in Dorset. I did everything from taking 9-10 year olds out rock pooling and fossil hunting to helping 16-18 year olds with their geography field work. Scotland then called me home and my next job was as a Visitor Services Presenter at an aquarium which then quickly led to a management role so I gained a lot of experience of working with staff and how to help people progress in their own jobs. I also learnt a lot of amazing facts about the creatures that live in our ocean showing that it was okay that I didn't study marine biology, because I had a passion for it and enjoyed communicating what I learnt I could keep learning new things on the job.It was during my time at the aquarium that I started volunteering with the Marine Conservation Society as a Sea Champion volunteer. I was trained on how to do the Beachwatch cleans and surveys, how to deliver turtle workshops in schools and help run stands at events. When the job of Scotland Conservation Officer came up the Volunteer Manager encouraged me to apply for it. I didn't think I had a chance but I went for it and guess what? Here I am five years later still absolutely loving it and very much still learning on the job every day."

"One of my hobbies that links me directly to the sea is Scuba Diving and Snorkelling. I learnt to dive with the Aberdeen University Sub Aqua Club and have had so many brilliant underwater adventures since my first chilly dive off the North East coast! Although it has been a while since putting on my drysuit I still try and get out for a snorkel when I can - Scotlands underwater world is absolutely magical and if you haven't experience yet - please do! I think you will be amazed at the amount of life you can see - even just in a rock pool.I still volunteer when I can which I really enjoy, it lets my brain enjoy focusing on something different and it always leads me to trying new things and meeting interesting people. I also love to read, I read every day and especially enjoy fiction, in particular fantasy as it lets me escape from the world completely and lets my imagination run wild!"

"So normally I would either be on the beach, in a meeting or in our Edinburgh based office however at the moment we are all working from home. So a typical day for me now is working form my laptop on my make shift ironing board desk! However the work is still the same. I am still meeting with organisations over video call or the phone, recording videos instead of delivering lessons and my social media work has increased dramatically!Being adaptable in this job is so important as last minute opportunities can come up all the time. One part of the job I didn't expect was the amount of media work I would be involved in. Over the years I have now been interviewed for programmes like the BBC One Show, BBC Breakfast, Sky News and lots of radio shows too! Recently I have taken part in a lot of podcasts and online lessons which has involved a few celebrities which is a great experience!Specific projects I am working on at the moment are getting ready for the Great British Beach Clean which happens every September and where we need as many volunteers helping collect data as possible as it is that data set we use for our annual report and use to help build our campaigns. I am doing some work with other organisations, for example the Scottish Youth Parliament, on their #ReducePollution campaign as well as involving them in the planning of our online AGM this year to ensure the event is accessible and relevant for young people to attend. Policy wise I am looking at cigarette filters - cigarette butts are currently one of the most commonly littered items on beaches around Scotland and are the number one on the global top 10 beach litter items! I am therefore working with other organisations on what laws could we change to stop the amount being dropped and entering our marine environment.So the days are always varied which keeps it interesting and allows my creativity to keep flowing even when some campaigns can take years to finally achieve there outcome. For example the Deposit Return Scheme campaign I was involved in took over 5 years to achieve! But by breaking it down into smaller mini campaigns and ideas it all helps take steps towards the final goal of getting new laws to protect our ocean."

"After my standards grades I gained the following highers in 5th and 6th year in school:MathsEnglishPhysicsChemistryHistoryPhilosophyMusicPsychologyI also completed an Advanced Higher in History.At the University of Aberdeen I gained a Bachelor of Science degree with a 2:1."