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The University of Southampton
Ocean and Earth Science, National Oceanography Centre Southampton

Careers with Marine Biology

A degree from the University of Southampton in Marine Biology will provide you with skills that will prepare you for a variety of exciting and diverse careers.

Potential career opportunities for graduates of Marine Biology, or Oceanography include employment within government or agencies - working in science administration and policy implementation at the Chief Scientists Group or within the Marine Fisheries Agency, to name just two.

The Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) is a major employer of marine scientists in the UK and funds much of the work undertaken at NOCS. It also supports many PhD students within UK universities.

Nature conservation bodies, such as English Nature, Scottish Heritage and the Marine Conservation Society employ a wide variety of marine scientists. Other opportunities include working in nature conservation or commercial consultancy – there are a wide variety of commercial consultancy organisations who offer opportunities for Marine Biology with Oceanography graduates to work in a range of areas providing data and advice to companies operating in coastal and oceanic environments.

Many publishers whose publications cover natural science subjects employ graduates as commissioning editors and in a variety of other jobs that need degree level scientific knowledge. Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund also employ trained marine scientists in a variety of roles.

Photo of Lucy Wells
After a year in the tourism industry in the Turks and Caicos Islands, I was headhunted by the Department of Environmental and Coastal Resources to manage the artificial reef projects in place, to salvage threatened corals in the area.
Lucy Wells , BSc Marine Biology
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