Seafaring superstars: careers at sea

[Image appears of Martina Doblin walking towards the camera through a warehouse and then smiling at the camera and text appears: Martina Doblin, Biological Oceanographer]

Martina Doblin: My name’s Martina Doblin. I’m a Biological Oceanographer.

[Image changes to show Martina standing on the deck of a ship and then the image changes to show Martina talking to the camera]

When I was younger I remember feeling a little ill at ease at the beach, being a bit self-conscious but I was most comfortable exploring rock pools and being curious and as I gazed out into the ocean I thought “Wow, I could potentially explore this place” and now that’s what I do in my job.

[Image changes to show the RV Investigator on the ocean]

I’m the third of four children and three of us have gone into the sciences.

[Image changes to show Martina and her sister smiling at the camera and then the image changes to show two people putting on gloves and then the image changes to show Martina working in a lab]

My identical twin and I, we had a choice between medical science and environmental science and we both chose environmental science. So, she’s a camp biologist and I’m a marine biologist.

[Music plays and image changes to show Martina talking to the camera]

My research involves looking at tiny microscopic organisms called microbes.

[Image changes to show Martina working with equipment and then the image changes to show microbes under microscope slides]

They form 90% of biomass of life in the oceans.

[Images move through of microbes in a petri dish, and microbes under microscope slides]

They were the first organisms on the planet and they’ll be the last.

[Image changes to show Martina talking to the camera]

If there were no microbes on the planet, there would be no people.

[Music plays and images move through of a male on the deck of a ship, a view from the ship’s window, a gull soaring over the ocean, and Martina rugged up in a scarf, hat and thick parka]

When I was studying in Hobart I had the opportunity to volunteer and go on a voyage to Antarctica.

[Images move through of Martina talking to the camera, an icy landscape, Martina and a male rugged up and working in the snow, and Martina working with a hand held drilling rig in the snow]

I was really moved by seeing this pristine part of the planet, experiencing ice and snow and cold and yeah it changed me.

[Image changes to show Martina talking to the camera]

I came back and the world looked slightly different then. And for me, I had resolved that I had chosen the right career path.

[Image changes to show a view of the RV Investigator on the ocean and then the image changes to show Martina and a male working at a computer and then the camera zooms in on the screen]

I’ve worked on the Investigator a few times now, one as the Chief Scientist, and for me it sort of took oceanography to a whole new level.

[Images move through of a male in the bridge, students looking through microscopes, people sorting specimens into containers, and then a close-up of the specimens in the containers]

The ship has so much equipment and sophisticated technology on board that it’s really brought us to this whole new age of oceanography.

[Image changes to show Martina talking to the camera and then images move through of Martina getting food, ice-cream in a bowl, and Martina sitting with colleagues and talking and laughing]

Our big motivator on board is the meal breaks, partly because the food is so good but also it’s an opportunity to catch up with people and to be social and I would say that ice cream and coffee are the two essential food groups that we consume.

[Image changes to show Martina talking to the camera and then images move through of Martina and her colleagues setting up the rosette sampler]

One of the central themes of my research has been to find out while the ocean warms what the impact will be on microbes.

[Images move through of the rosette sampler being deployed from the ship and plunging beneath the surface of the ocean]

Each morning we get up before dawn, we load our rosette samplers, we lower it into the ocean and we collect sea water containing millions of microbes per millimetre.

[Images move through of the rosette sampler underwater, a male looking at a computer screen, and the rosette sampler being hauled back on to the deck again]

When that water comes back on deck there’s a great sense of excitement, what’s in it, what’s it going to reveal to us.

[Image changes to show liquid being taken up from a beaker into a pipette and then the camera zooms out to show a female moving the pipette of liquid into another glass container]

So, when we’re on board we’ll collect as much data and as many samples as we possibly can.

[Image changes to show the liquid moving through a series of glass pipes and then the image shows Martina looking at the glass pipes]

There’s so much more to discover.

[Image changes to show the colleagues standing around looking at samples inside a fridge and the image shows the fridge door being shut and the colleagues all cheering]

Each voyage represents a new opportunity to do that. Science is complete.

[Images move through of Martina and her colleagues sitting around a table in conversation]

Voyages take years in the planning. They’re very significant when they start rolling and we’re underway, millions of dollars, hours of time invested.

[Image changes to show Martina talking to the camera]

And so it’s a big deal when we’re out at sea and the Chief Scientist helps bring it home, helps make sure that the scientists leave the ship getting the data that they need to solve those big questions.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos, Ian Jameson, Doug Thost and Peter Ralph, With thanks to, Martina Doblina, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere - Engineering and Technology Group]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]

[Image appears of Sheri Newman putting on a stethoscope and text appears: Sheri Newman, Ship’s Doctor]

Sheri Newman: I’m Sheri Newman and I’ve been a ship’s doctor on the Investigator.

[Camera zooms in on the stethoscope around her neck and then the image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

When I was younger I always wanted to be a doctor but even before that I knew I wanted to be a surgeon.

[Image changes to show Sheri dressed in scrubs picking up her phone]

There’s certainly a vanishingly few women in the surgical fields.

[Image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

Going through the training is particularly intense, brutal even.

[Image changes to show Sheri with colleagues dressed up in scrubs for theatre and then the image changes to show them at a bench working]

The hours you have to put in and the mental fatigue, the physical fatigue.

[Image changes to show Sheri turning to look at the camera]

It can be quite a difficult and challenging career to pick.

[Image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

While I was in the training programme in Darwin I decided that I hadn’t had enough adventure in my life at that point.

[Image changes to show a person walking towards the Wilkins Aerodrome in Antarctica and then the image changes to show Sheri next to an ambulance in Antarctica]

So, I took a year off and went to Antarctica as a medical officer on one of the Antarctic stations.

[Image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

That experience was quite incredible.

[Images move through to show Sheri standing next to the Antarctic Circle sign, a sea lion laying on the snow, an iceberg, Sheri in the snow smiling at the camera, and then Sheri attending to a patient ]

As a person, to get the opportunity to go down to such a place that’s so isolated and so untouched, and secondly to be in such an environment where your role is so varied.

[Image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

You have to be the, you know, the doctor, the dentist, the physiotherapist, the mental health counsellor, and of course all the science roles as well. It’s a huge responsibility and of course one that I relished.

[Images move through of Sheri standing outside the Casey station sign, Sheri with ice in pans, Sheri rugged up in a furry hooded parka, a hospital bed and Sheri talking to the camera]

While I was down there I decided to rethink my future and I realised that surgery wasn’t going to provide as many opportunities or be as fulfilling as I thought it would be and I decided then and there that I was going to choose wilderness type medicine and make that my career.

[Images move through of the RV Investigator, Sheri walking towards the ship, Sheri walking up the gang plank on to the ship, Sheri walking into her office on ship, and a hospital bed]

So, thereafter I embarked on this career as a rural generalist and once gaining experience from that I had the opportunity to be a ship’s doctor which was just the perfect stepping stone into remote solo work.

[Image changes to show Sheri standing in a corridor talking to the camera and pointing at the two rooms]

On the Investigator the doctor has two areas. The first part is the consultation room and the second part is the treatment room.

[Image shows Sheri entering the consultation room and explaining what is in there]

Being the doctor on the Investigator I’m responsible for the health care of the crew and of course the science team. So, this is the consultation room where I just sit and see patients.

[Image shows Sheri taking a grab bag from a drawer and displaying it to the camera]

The patient’s chair is bolted down for safety at sea and here’s a little seasickness grab bag that I had from the last time I was on the ship. I’ve got tablets, drugs, injections, gloves, everything you could need to really manage seasickness in someone’s cabin.

[Images move through of Sheri walking out of the room and into the treatment room, Sheri putting a sheet on the bed in the room, Sheri showing the equipment and supplies]

The challenges in this role are having to be prepared for the worst case scenario with a trauma or a drowning or some terrible medical incident versus your day to day availability in the clinic for just the usual, you know, sort of aches and pains and someone to chat to.

[Image changes to show a medical log on the desk and then the image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

And so at all times you have to be ready for the worst but you’re really there as an insurance policy.

[Image changes to show Sheri showing the surgery bay and displaying the equipment in it and talking to the camera]

So, this is effectively a surgery bay. If I had to do a procedure it will be in here. I’ve got everything I could possibly need, obviously the operating table, the anaesthetic machine, and an x-ray reader and so on. So, I guess as the ship’s doctor on board this vessel, if I had to do any sort of procedure I’d be doing everything, putting the patient to sleep, doing the procedure, waking them up and then recovering them.

[Image changes to show Sheri talking to the camera]

I’ve been a ship’s doctor on a number of other vessels and by far this particular expedition was top of the pops.
[Image changes to show the RV Investigator in the ocean near an iceberg]

The facilities on board are first class.

[Images move through to show Sheri on the deck of the ship smiling, Sheri talking to the camera, a view through the bridge window, a profile of Sheri’s face, the bridge of the ship, and Sheri talking]

Being around the science crew, seeing what they were doing, being involved in what they were doing, going down south, you’ve got you know fabulous vistas, icebergs popping up, the whales and dolphins, and the opportunity to go back to Antarctica, albeit not landing, but just being back in that environment was truly special.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos & Footage, Sheri Newman, With thanks to, Sheri Newman, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere, Engineering and Technology Group, Aspen Medical]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]

[Image appears of Tara Martin on the ship’s deck leaning on the rail and looking out and then the image changes to show a profile view of Tara looking over the ocean and text appears: Tara Martin, Marine Geophysicist]

Tara Martin: I’m Tara Martin and I’m a Marine Geophysicist.

[Image changes to show the RV Investigator at dock and then the image changes to show a facing view of the bridge of the ship]

Australia has the third largest ocean zone in the world and we’ve only mapped about 25% of it. We know more about the surface of the moon than we do about the sea floor.

[Image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

So, my role involves every time we go to sea, we try to map a little bit more.

[Image changes to show Tara looking out over the sea from the deck of the ship and then the image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

When I was in high school I was going to be an interior designer.

[Image changes to show Tara walking on the deck of the ship]

Science, it was something you did in school. It didn’t have real world applications so far as I knew. So, when I left high school I went straight into a chef’s apprenticeship.

[Image changes to show Tara leaning over the side of the ship with her hair blowing in the wind and then image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

It wasn’t until I was much older that I started to think about potential changes of career and realised that science was the direction I wanted to take.

[Images move through of the operations room, colleagues in conversation around computer screens, Tara nodding, and Tara talking to the camera]

Jumping straight into a geophysics degree without having done maths and physics in high school was a bit of a learning curve. I didn’t actually know what physics was. So, I worked hard, I worked really, really, hard.

[Image changes to show a group of penguins standing on an ice shelf and then the image changes to show Tara rugged up and smiling at the camera against an snow covered landscape]

My first voyage to sea was on a multinational expedition that went down to Antarctica.

[Image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

That was a really fascinating experience, a group of people pulling together for a common cause, and amazing scenery as well.

[Image changes to show an icy landscape]

I just fell in love.

[Image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

Life at sea hasn’t always been as female friendly as it is now.

[Images move through of a series of winches on the ship, a piece of marine science equipment attached to the winch, colleagues on the deck, and Tara talking to the camera]

Over the course of a 20 year career I’ve certainly experienced moments where I’ve not been allowed to do the work that my male colleagues were on the back deck doing because I was a woman.

[Image changes to show the Investigator moving through the ocean]

Things have changed. Working at sea isn’t for everyone. It has its downsides.

[Image changes to show Tara working on a computer and then the camera zooms out to show Tara and her colleague looking at data on the computer screens]

We work 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for up to 60 days at a time. Sometimes you’re sleep deprived. Sometimes the weather’s heavy. It can be physically uncomfortable.

[Images move through of a towed camera being deployed, a small fish swimming, a fish being held in the hands, a red coloured fish on a bench, and a large piece of bone being held by a female]

And then you get the exciting days as well where we put towed cameras down and we see all kinds of amazing footage, or a new species of fish gets identified or we make some exciting new science discovery and those are the moments you go to sea for.

[Image changes to show a group of colleagues talking and laughing and then the image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

A typical day on board for me usually involves waking up and bumbling myself straight into the gym before I’m awake enough to realise what I’ve done.

[Image changes to show Tara running on a treadmill and then the image changes to show Tara walking into the operations room]

I like to get a bit of a run in, go and have breakfast, and then go down and start the day in the operations room.

[Image shows Tara sitting down at a desk in the operations room and describing the diagram on the computer screen]

This is colour coded according to depth. So, reddish yellow and blue is deep. And what we’re looking at here is a little chunk of the Continental Shelf of Antarctica. We’re seeing a lot of information about the geology of the area, or what we call the geomorphology of the area and how that’s been formed.

[Image changes to show a facing view of Tara sitting at the desk and then the image changes to show various sea floor maps on the computer screen she is working on]

In the operations room we’re monitoring up to seven different instruments. We’re not just mapping the sea floor.

[Image changes to show three colleagues in conversation and then the image changes to show Tara talking to the camera while sitting at a desk]

These instruments look all the way from the top of the sea water to the bottom, the sea floor, under the sea floor, and they’re looking at the gravity and magnetic fields for the area as well.

Every single one of these screens tells us something about the environment around us.

[Image changes to show a view of the sun coming from behind a cloud from the deck of the ship and then the image changes to show Tara and a colleague on the deck of the ship looking out]

I get immense satisfaction in my job. It’s not a normal job. I like that. Our jobs link us back to the explorers. We so often see things that no one’s seen before.

[Image changes to show Tara talking to the camera]

We’re working with new types of science that no one’s created before. So, it’s great, we are at the cutting edge.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos, Tara Martin and Sheri Newman, With thanks to, Tara Martin, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere, Engineering and Technology Group]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]

[Image appears of a profile view of Tegan Sime and then the camera zooms out to show Tegan on the deck of a ship looking out over a harbour and text appears: Operations Officer]

Tegan Sime: My name is Tegan Sime. I’m an Operations Officer on the research vessel, Investigator.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

I feel like I’ve never really followed the same path as everybody else.

[Image changes to show the Investigator moving through the ocean and then the image changes to show Tegan on the bridge looking through binoculars]

You know, I finished Year 12, I didn’t know what I wanted to do.

[Image changes to show Tegan stepping out on to the deck of the ship]

I started volunteering at a sailing school and just learning how to sail. It was something completely different to me.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a tall ship in the harbour and then the image changes to show Tegan inside the kitchen of the ship]

I actually applied to do a voyage on the Young Endeavour and that was my first taste of tall ship sailing and it was just so much fun. I just loved it.

[Images move through of Tegan holding on to a rope, the ship heeling over in the water, and then Tegan talking to the camera]

The adrenaline of working on a tall ship, it’s the excitement. It’s also the beauty, you know, being out in the middle of the ocean on a quiet, creaky ship you know that was designed hundreds of years ago.

[Image changes to show the deck of the tall ship]

There’s just a certain romance to it too I guess.

[Image changes to show a view of the ship in the water and then the image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

When I was 23 I decided to go to university but to get there I had to do Year 12 again because I hadn’t done very well the first time around.

[Image changes to show Tegan walking on the deck of a ship and then looking out over the water]

So, I got my Year 12 certificate again and that allowed me to apply to do marine biology at UNSW.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera and then the image changes to show the Southern Surveyor at dock and then the image changes to show the ship on the ocean]

During my marine biology degree I had great opportunity to go out on the Southern Surveyor which was CSIRO’s last research vessel and that’s where I got all of the data for my Honours project.

[Images move through of Tegan rugged up with a scarf covering her nose, and then Tegan coming out of a manhole]
I’ve always been drawn to roles that have been in more extreme environments, been more challenging.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

Sometimes it’s not that comfortable, it’s not that glamourous but it’s, there’s adventure, there’s excitement.

[Image changes to show a diagram of the Investigator on a computer screen and then images move through of Tegan smiling, Tegan with her crew members, and Tegan talking on the phone]

My role on board the Investigator ties in a lot of my skills that I’ve developed over the years.

[Images move through of Tegan and her colleagues looking at a computer screen, Tegan talking, marine science equipment being deployed, a male at the bridge, and a sampler being hauled up]

The job of an operations officer is to be the key liaison between the crew of the ship and the science team and we bring them all together to work to achieve all the scientific objectives during the voyage.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

There is no typical day at sea.

[Image changes to show employees at the bridge and then the image changes to show Tegan looking down and then the camera zooms in on the computer screen she is looking at]

Every day is a little bit different but I’ll tend to start my day by making my way to the bridge and having a chat with the officer of the watch just to see what activities we’ve completed over night.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a large jellyfish type creature in a foil tray and then the image changes to show a spider type sea creature]

Even though I’m in a support role now I still get to participate in all of the work that we do at sea and I’m still part of all the amazing discoveries.

[Images move through of the employees working on specimens in fast motion inside the ship, and then tubs of specimens being carried on the deck of the ship]

You know, we get some great people on board, up to you know 30, 35 scientists and it’s always incredible to be out there when these discoveries are being made.

[Image changes to show a male holding up a type of sea creature and the camera zooms in on the creature in the male’s hands]

Male: So, that I’ve never seen before in my life and that’s going to be hours of fun there.

[Image changes to show an aerial view looking down on the Investigator]

Tegan Sime: I had an amazing experience for my birthday this year.

[Image changes to show Tegan smiling at the camera]

I was down near the ice edge in the Antarctic.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera and then images move through of the aurora lighting up the sky and then Tegan talking to the camera again]

I woke up at about 3.00 am and it was pitch black outside but I just peeked through my curtains and I could see the aurora lighting up the sky and I raced up to the bridge and there were a couple of people up there that were taking photos and taking footage and they all started singing happy birthday to me under the aurora and it was a really special experience.

[Image changes to show the Investigator and the camera pans around to show a view of the ocean]

When you’re out in the middle of the ocean you’re completely self-sufficient.

[Image changes to show Tegan and a colleague walking on the deck of a ship and then the image changes to show Tegan and a colleague working on equipment on deck]

You know, you’re pretty remote but that’s when it becomes really important that you work as a team and that’s where a lot of the satisfaction comes from.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking and then the camera zooms out to show Tegan talking to a group of colleagues sitting on couches]

So it’s a trials and testing voyage. We’re going to be doing some acoustic calibrations.

[Image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

As a voyage manager I think I play a pretty key role in the mood of the people on board the ship.

[Image changes to show Tegan and colleagues sitting at a meal table eating and talking]

I guess I’m a bit of an amateur counsellor and I try to just help people get through the tough times when we’re out there.

[Image changes to show Tegan descending a set of stairs and then the image changes to show Tegan looking out over the ocean]

I think that if I’d gone straight to uni I probably wouldn’t have done so well.

[Camera zooms out to show Tegan looking out from the deck of a ship and then the image changes to show Tegan talking to the camera]

I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I don’t think being a late bloomer is necessarily a bad thing. I think I’ve maybe just taken my time to really figure out what it is that I wanted to do and I’m there now. I’ve got a great job, a great career, and yeah, I love it.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos & Footage, Tegan Sime, Young Endeavour Youth Scheme, Lucy Potts, James Porteus, Edwina Hollander, Aurora by Frederique Olivier, Australian Antarctic Division, With thanks to, Tegan Sime, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere, Engineering and Technology Group]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]

[Image appears of Madeleine Habib smiling at the camera with a harbour in the background and text appears: Madeleine Habib, Ship’s Captain]

Madeleine Habib: I’m Madeleine Habib.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

I’m a Ship’s Captain and I was the former captain of Southern Surveyor, CSIRO’s research vessel.

[Image changes to show Madeleine looking out over the harbour and the camera zooms in on her profile]

I’ve always been drawn to a kind of maritime environment but I didn’t actually go sailing until I was 22.

[Image changes to show a rear view of Madeleine looking out over the harbour and then the image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

I went with my stepfather just on a social sailing trip in the Whitsundays and I was enchanted. Suddenly I’d found this kind of mix of physical and mental challenge and I felt really confident that that was what I wanted to pursue.

[Image changes to show Madeleine steering a yacht and then the image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

In my first few years at sea I was working mostly on yachts and traditional boats and everybody just assumed that I was the cook and I really, I did resent that. I felt like it shouldn’t just be assumed that because I was a young woman on a boat that that was the only role that was open to me.

[Camera zooms in on Madeleine talking to the camera]

So, when I returned to Australia and I’d managed to scrape together enough qualifying sea service I went for my first Captain’s License.

[Image changes to show Madeleine in the bridge of the ship and then Madeleine smiling in the ship’s bridge]

Women currently represent less than 1% of the total number of seafarers in Australia and when you look at deck officers and captains that number is even smaller.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

I wanted to be taken seriously in the maritime industry.

[Image changes to show Madeleine looking at a book about the Southern Surveyor ship and then the image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

One of the fondest memories I have of working on the Southern Surveyor was as captain leaving the port of Hobart.

[Image changes to show the side of the Southern Surveyor ship at dock and the camera zooms in on the name painted on the ship’s side]

For me it felt like such a landmark occasion to be the captain of a ship leaving from my home port.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera and then the image changes to show the Southern Surveyor moving out to sea]

Even having my husband on the dock waving goodbye as I pulled away from the shore and drove out down the Derwent, it felt like a really special moment in my seafaring career.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a diagram of the Investigator on a computer screen]

The Investigator is much larger than the Southern Surveyor.

[Image changes to show Madeleine and another male walking through the Investigator and looking around it]

She’s an impressive ship and she has a wonderful crew and one day I would really like to be part of that. Looking around the Investigator.

[Image changes to show Madeleine and the male in the bridge of the ship in conversation and then the camera zooms in on a computer screen they are looking at]

I’m really impressed at the layout of the vessel and the obvious consideration and consultation that’s gone in to making sure that this ship really is appropriate for marine science.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a Greenpeace ship on the ocean]

I am drawn to working on ships that have a purpose, whether it’s scientific research, supply vessels going to Antarctica, Greenpeace ships.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

I’ve worked on a medical ship in Papua New Guinea. I want my work to have purpose.

[Image changes to show a view of the ocean and then the image changes to show Madeleine inside the bridge of the ship and then the image changes to show the ship on the ocean]

Being a captain, it’s not always easy and there are times when you are literally making decisions that affect the survival of the people on board the vessel.

[Image changes to show Madeleine on the deck of a ship looking down at migrants in a lifeboat and then the image changes to show the Madeleine talking to the migrants on the deck of the ship]

I’ve been working in migrant rescue in the Mediterranean and there you’re not only caring for the safety of the people that you have on board as your crew, you can be responsible for up to 500 people who have been rescued.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

To young women I would like to say that life at sea is worth considering. It is a viable career.

[Image changes to show Madeleine and a male on a boat on the ocean with an iceberg in the background and then the camera zooms in on Madeleine smiling]

There are a lot of options out there and one of those options might be working on a marine research vessel.

[Images move through to show Madeleine looking down, Madeleine steering the ship, Madeleine smiling at the camera, and Madeleine and crew members smiling at the camera]

I’ve certainly enjoyed a very rewarding career at sea and I think it’s really important to believe in your own potential and to only be limited by your imagination.

[Image changes to show Madeleine talking to the camera]

Don’t let other people or other ideas impose limitations on what you’re capable of doing.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos, Medicins San Frontieres, Bruce Miller, Colin Cosier, Edwina Hollander, David Killick, Greenpeace, With thanks to, Madeleine Habib, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere, Engineering and Technology Group]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]

[Image appears of Toni Moate standing in front of the Investigator and smiling at the camera and text appears: Toni Moate, Director - Marine National Facility]

Toni Moate: I’m Toni Moate. I was in charge of building Australia’s research ship Investigator.

[Images move through of Toni Moate sitting at a desk looking at Investigator out of the window, Toni Moate’s name underneath a small gold Investigator model on a door, and Toni talking to the camera]

From leaving school at 15 and then doing a lot of part-time study it is always incredible to me that I ended up being so involved in building a research ship.

[Image changes to show Toni sitting in her office and the camera zooms in on Toni’s hand on a computer mouse and then the camera zooms out to show Toni working at her desk]

I left school at the end of Year 10 and at that stage I had never even left the state and I went into the Public Service and was hoping that I might be someone’s secretary one day.

[Image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

So, I had a pretty limited view of what life might look like.

[Image changes to show Toni looking out her office window at the Investigator ship and then the image shows Toni looking at a diagram of the Investigator and the camera pans along the diagram]

When I’m in my office and I see Investigator sitting out the window I just feel incredible pride that that was a project that I was so heavily involved in.

[Image shows Toni looking at the diagram again and then the camera zooms in on the diagram and then the image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

I feel like she’s still mine because I was in the bows of the ship when they were putting the engines in and I walked all over that ship when it was being built and so when I go on I feel like I’m, like I’m walking around my house.

[Image changes to show Toni climbing stairs on the ship and then walking along the deck and opening a door and then going into the bridge area and then the image changes to show Toni talking]

Like many women when I was first offered the opportunity to be in charge of the project I really didn’t think I had the skill set that was going to let me do a successful job and it took them three times asking me to lead the project to build the ship before I finally said yes.

[Image changes to show fast motion footage of the Investigator being constructed]

Building the Investigator was a massive project. It was five years, $120 million, 3 million man hours and it was amazing because we didn’t have an injury in the ship yard during that time.

[Image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

Being in the ship yard was a completely different experience to anything that you can imagine.

[Image changes to show Toni in the ship yard wearing a hard hat and smiling at the camera and then images move through of people in conversation, the steel being cut, and colleagues in the ship yard]

The scale of the yard is massive, just the workforce, the size of the ship, cutting the steel, all the activity is unbelievable and it’s in the sweltering heat of the Singapore summer.

[Image changes to show Toni and a team of workers posing for a photo in front of the partially finished Investigator and then the image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

Very male dominated, and sometimes some really tense discussions around the contract as well.

[Image changes to show fast motion footage of the Investigator in construction and then the image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

The ship yard didn’t stop which meant that we couldn’t stop and they worked six days a week and I remember being at the Huonville Show making a decision on a contract around the winches while I watched the dog jumping with the family. And so, it was pretty intense and there was no let up for a really long time.

[Music plays and the image changes to show Toni at the ship’s launch ceremony and then the image changes to show a sign on the side of the ship “Investigator, May her future be safe and prosperous”]

[Images move through of Toni talking, a photo of Toni and her daughters at the beginning of the ship build, and then a photo of Toni and her daughters at the completion of the ship build]

My daughters were five and eight when I started the project and when the ship came down the Derwent they were ten and 13.

[Image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

Twenty trips to Singapore, that meant that I was away a lot but they feel as proud of that ship as I do and when they see it they feel like it’s part of who we are as a family.

[Image changes to show Toni pouring a cup of tea and sipping it and then holding the cup and warming her hands around it while she looks out over the harbour at the Investigator in the dock]

I think my daughters took away from watching me being involved in that project a lot of life lessons. I think that they learnt that hard work pays off. I think they learnt that you need to push yourself out of your comfort zone.

[Image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

And I think that they also take out of that that women can actually do a lot more than they think they can do.

[Images move through of fast motion footage of the Investigator in construction, being towed out into the water, Toni smiling in front of the ship, and then Toni on board the Investigator]

Investigator needed to be a ship that was for all things to all people because we’ve got one blue water research ship to do everything in Australia.

[Image changes to show Toni talking to the camera and then images move through of photographers photographing the ship, the ship at dock, an audience applauding, and the Investigator at dock]

So, the work about getting the team together, of all those scientists so that they could contribute to the build, feed in their ideas, and then to see them at Welcome to Port when the ship was welcomed to Hobart, and they saw how big it was.

[Camera pans down the side of the ship to Toni and another female standing at a podium in front of the ship on the shore and the image shows the two females hugging and smiling]

And then to hear their stories when they’ve been able to go out and do their science on board the ship has been amazing.

[Image changes to show Toni walking into a room and looking at marine samples in jars and the camera zooms in on the samples]

My current role is Director of National Collections and Marine Infrastructure.

[Image changes to show Toni and a colleague looking at marine samples in jars and the camera zooms in on the jars and then zooms out to show Toni and her colleague in conversation]

That means I look after the ship. We’ve also got six national collections and they’re a picture of the biological specimens across Australia and they’re going to help us manage our natural environment into the future.

[Images move through of a female taking a stingray from a large plastic tub, Toni looking at two different types of stingrays on a lab bench, and then Toni’s face as she looks]

The things I get to hear about on a day to day basis, sex determination in lizards, flesh eating nematodes in Queensland, I never imagined I’d be talking about things like that when I did commerce.

[Image changes to show marine samples in jars and then the image changes to show Toni talking to the camera]

When I’m in my office and I hear the stories come through about where the ship is and what she’s doing it’s so incredibly satisfying to know that we set out to deliver a ship for Australian researchers to solve big questions and that’s exactly what she’s doing.

[Music plays and text appears: Marine National Facility]

[Credits appear: Produced by Ella Kennedy, Camera and Editing by Lara Van Raay, Additional Photos, Toni Moate, With thanks to, Toni Moate, National Fish Collection Staff, The MNF Ship Operations Group, The Crew of the RV Investigator, Oceans & Atmosphere, Engineering and Technology Group, Macq 01 Hotel]

[CSIRO logo and text appears: CSIRO, Australia’s innovation catalyst]