| Neil Hallam is an honorary member of the staff in the Department of Biological Sciences at Monash University, Victoria. |  |
| Neil Hallam is an honorary member of the staff in the Department of Biological Sciences at Monash University, Victoria. | |
In which area or areas of science do you work?
I work in plant diversity and marine biology.
When did you first become interested in this career?
As a boy with a mask and snorkel.
What education and training do you have to have for your job?
It took my six years to get the necessary qualifications - a Bachelor of Science and PhD. I also spent 5 years in UK research laboratories.
How has your career progressed?
I have been working in this area for over 20 years. This has included working in the research laboratories at Agricultural Science, Oxford University, the unit of Developmental Botany, University of Cambridge and then at Monash University firstly as a lecturer, then senior lecturer, and now Associate Professor.
During that time I have done archeological research in Egypt (on plant remains in a tomb) and spent time on Macquarie and Heard Island in Antarctica as a marine biologist. Conferences have taken me to Asia, UK and Russia.
My research has included some interesting areas such as the sex life of seaweeds, the origins of the Mahogany Ship and the viability of ancient seeds.
What are the tasks that you do in a typical day?
Teaching, research on projects with graduates and BSc Honours students, lots of administration, sometines giving prizes at speech nights etc, visiting schools on careers days.
What skills do you use in your job?
Coming up with new ideas out of my own head, talking to people, advising them, driving complex scientific equipment such as electron microscopes, interacting with young people.
What do you enjoy least about your job?
The excessive administrative load, lack of time to do the interesting things.
What are some alternative jobs that you would be qualified for?
CSIRO/Department of Agriculture, Research scientist.
What are some of the advantages to working in this field?
Field work - getting away from the phone, email and the office.
How has your work contributed to science?
Understanding the way that weed killers enter plants, work on the reproductive biology on the seaweeds that are used for the production of Alginates, Antarctic research.
My work has contributed indirectly in the overall understanding about how science works. I have contributed to a large number of radio and television programmes and the print media.
Where do you see yourself in 5 years time?
Retired in private consultancy.
Find out more about Neil's work in Marine Botany
If you wish to ask Neil for additional information, you can email UniServe Science and we will contact Neil for you. Make sure you include Neil's name and occupation in the Subject line.
Find out more about Marine Botany and alginates.
Research at the Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Marine Studies at the University of Queensland.
Algae from the Department of Botany, Smithsonian Institute
Introduction to Marine Botany at Hopkins Marine Station of Stanford University
| For further information contact Hazel Jones |
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