My time at the Australian Museum, what it was like and how I've grown

In October 2023, Justine Charles joined the Marine Invertebrates Department for work experience. This is how she spent her week.

As a kid I was convinced that I would grow up and become a world-famous marine biologist, but the problem was that I really had no idea what marine biologists even did. My careers advisor told me I needed to gain some work experience, so my dad suggested I get in touch with the Marine Invertebrates Department at the Australian Museum Research Institute, where an old friend of his, Professor Shane Ahyong, is the head. Shane introduced me to Dr Claire Rowe, the Marine Invertebrates Collection Manager, who would host me for a week of work experience at the Museum.

When I arrived at the Museum, I was anxious to see what my week would be like, and what kind of people I'd be working with. Much to my joy, everyone was wonderfully nice, from Claire, who I’d never met in person, to the volunteers and everyone in between. Everyday there was a small morning tea where I was able to talk to some of the team that I didn’t see otherwise and hear their stories. I did, however, have some degree of impatience that meant every day I would sip my tea before it was cool enough to drink. My tongue was burnt for the whole week!

On my first day, Claire gave me a tour of the marine invertebrates research collection within the Museum. I never knew they could be so diverse and stored in so many different ways. It was explained to me that because there is such a vast number of specimens, storage space and keeping up-to-date with the taxonomy (scientific classification) is one of the many challenges that is faced by the Museum. I still enjoy telling people that the specimens are all stored in a building called the Spirit House, because of its somewhat double meaning name.

My roles at the Museum included sorting through jars of specimens, identifying them, and separating them into their own jars, topping up the ethanol in specimen jars stored in the Spirit House, and putting specimens into more appropriately sized containers. During all the work I was doing with the specimens I had the opportunity to look at them under a microscope, an experience that was incredibly valuable and fun. One of the creatures I was looking at was an amphipod, it is a very small crustacean that looks a little like a shrimp. However, at one point I came across a different type of amphipod, something called a Hyperiidea. It was fascinating to see the diversity of animals even within their orders. During the week, I was also able to listen to a number of seminars by university students involved with the Australian Museum, which were on a whole range of topics and very fascinating.

Overall, my time at the Australian Museum was a wonderful experience that helped me to both gain the knowledge that I need to decide my future and grow courage and confidence in myself.

Because of the opportunity that I was given through work experience, I learnt about what was really out in the world, how the world works and how it could be changed for the better.