For months, Juliette’s PhD research existed mostly on paper. Then she got on a boat. Her first field trip brought low tides, unpredictable weather, disappearing dolphins and plenty of lessons in adapting when research plans meet reality. Somewhere between the seagrass, common dolphins, fur seal and her elusive study species, something exciting happened: she came home with her first dataset, and her PhD research finally felt real.

Scientific diving combines the magic of being underwater with the challenge of collecting meaningful ecological data. From learning to dive on the Great Barrier Reef to coral surveys in the Philippines and fieldwork for my Honours project in Sydney, diving has become central to my journey as a marine scientist. It can be exhausting, highly regulated and paperwork-heavy, but few things compare with gathering the data that ultimately drive ecological research and conservation.

Academia runs on writing, but finding time to write is hard. Between teaching, supervision, and admin, writing often gets pushed aside. This piece shares what happened when the BEAM and MAVE labs ran a focused writing retreat, and why a simple mix of clear goals, writing sprints, shared meals, and accountability helped turn writing from a solitary task into a collective habit

Koalas are widely seen as a species in crisis, yet in South Australia’s Mount Lofty Ranges their numbers have grown so rapidly that they are damaging the forests they depend on. Using citizen-science data and demographic modelling, we project that this population will continue growth without intervention. We show that targeted, non-lethal fertility control of adult females can stabilise populations at lower cost while avoiding ecological damage and animal welfare concerns.