Microscopic-magic

[Image of Martina Doblin, Biological Oceanographer, appears on screen]

Narrator: The work carried out on Martina’s voyagers on Southern Surveyor led to a better understanding of the ways different microbes respond to different nutrients.

[Image changes to show scientific marine equipment being hauled in by machinery on the Southern Surveyor]

It was, she says, “quite a big thing that we pulled off”.

[Image changes to show Martina bottling collected samples]

Aside from her research trips the transit voyager’s overseen by Martina hold, perhaps, some of her most enthusiastic memories for her time on the ship.

[Image changes to show a shot of the Southern Surveyor on the water]

“I’ve been able to train several female biological oceanographers, which has been really satisfying,

[Image changes to show a photograph of Martina and colleagues]

partly because it’s still a pretty male orientated profession”, she says. “For young female scientists in particular it’s a very empowering thing to be able to do experiments on a big ship,

[Image changes to show different female crew members doing experiments]

to work at sea and use the equipment. It can be very life changing”.

[Image changes to show text: Available from CSIRO Publishing and bookstores October 2015 above the CSIRO Publishing logo and alongside the title page of a book entitled Southern Surveyor, Stories from onboard Australia’s Ocean Research Vessel, Michel Veitch]