Ella Starkey

I have always had a passion and a love for the ocean, since rock pooling as a kid around the UK to snorkelling no matter the temperature. This was certainly helped with my yearly trip to the Isles of Scilly in Cornwall where I’d be encouraged to go explore. Throughout my later years I made decisions to continue working and being involved in marine life, by working in aquariums, travelling to far parts of the world to get a glimpse of any exotic life and gaining PADI qualifications, which I am now a confident Divemaster. 

I chose to do BSc marine biology for my undergraduate degree at Newcastle University where I was able to explore the theory behind my passions and interests, further increasing my enthusiasm. After this I shipped myself off to the Seychelles for six months to work on a base for research and teaching. My role would involve me becoming a confident leader in the field when taking expeditions of volunteers out on surveys and educating on turtle and lemon sharks. It was one of the most incredible experiences living on a remote island base with no running hot water and solar energy where the lights would cut around 8pm most nights. Now as a Marine Biologist with OSC i contribute to exciting offshore and research projects, as well as reporting and literature reviews when in the office

In my spare time I like to enjoy being in the water, whether just swimming, snorkelling, diving, or surfing. Anything in the water I’ll be up for up.