Finding your feet in the marine science world can be confusing, challenging and sometimes daunting, Gen Bergemann talks us through her experiences in study, volunteering and finding her feet.

This week we chat with the wonderful Kirsty Magson who spends her days swimming with whale sharks, helping rescue turtles, restoring coral and educating people about the ocean.

Though volunteer work is often hotly debated in many professions (should people do paid-level work for free?), as a marine scientist, I have personally found volunteer work to be super important and rewarding - throughout my degree, I volunteered for countless companies and labs and wouldn’t take any of it back. If you haven’t thought about volunteering, or are tossing up whether or not you should take a volunteering position because it doesn’t seem worth it, here are five reasons why you should say yes…