Marine Science

Have a look at Prospects and targetjobs to find out what roles in this sector involve and how to get into them. These are some of the job profiles available:  

• Marine biologist

• Marine scientist

• Oceanographer

• Environmental education officer

• flexibility to deal with possible short-term work contracts and working in other countries.

• adaptability to face tough living conditions and all types of weather

• observation skills for studying sea life for long periods of time

• accuracy and attention to detail, for recording observations and results

• excellent problem-solving skills

• practical skills, such as diving, boat driving and first aid

• research skills for collecting and analysing data

• excellent teamwork skills, whether working as part of a research team in a laboratory or an expedition team at sea

• enthusiasm and commitment to marine biology

• excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, for working with teams and reporting findings

• good computer literacy

• experience of computational and mathematical modelling

• data analysis skills

Starting salaries for graduate jobs in this sector can vary depending on the position.

To get an idea of typical starting salaries use the following resources: 

• our Discover your Earning Potential Pathway offers access to The Pay Index. This shows you how salaries vary across different roles, industries and locations 
• job profiles, such as those listed on Prospects or targetjobs 
• vacancy sites such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn 

For information about how to negotiate a salary, visit Handling job offers. 

• Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed. 
• Use LinkedIn’s Alumni tool to find out what Newcastle graduates are doing now. You could ask to connect with them, to gain advice and insights into their career. See Newcastle Alumni on LinkedIn to help you get started or watch our quick tutorial on Getting inspiration from others [3:13].  
• Attend alumni events, such as Newcastle Develop, to hear directly from our graduates.  
• Sign up for mentoring support with Graduate Mentor and The 1 Hour Project. These aim to match students with industry professionals who can provide invaluable insights. Register to be connected for a one-hour meeting. 
• Attend recruitment events and  employer and sector insights. Hear about graduate jobs, placement schemes, build your network and ask questions.   

Searching for reviews online can be a useful way to get an idea of what to expect from certain roles or employers. Reviews are written by employees with different opinions about what makes a good employer.  

Use the following review sites for inspiration and insight into the recruitment process: 

• RateMyPlacement  placement year reviews written by students.  
• The Job Crowd – graduate job reviews  
• Glassdoor – company reviews from employees 

Read career guides for this sector, such as:

• Institute of Marine Science, Engineering and Technology: Careers with Marine Mammals - includes the different fields and roles marine scientists and biologists can work in, case studies of inspirational people working across a wide variety of professions in the marine sector, and the essential skills required to become a marine mammal professional.

• Sea Grant Marine Careers for range of marine career areas

• So you want to become a Marine Biologist? | National Marine Aquarium

Use online magazines and journals to follow news from your industry. Reading about trends and developments is important for applications and interviews. 

Examples include: 

• Marine Science (blog.gov.uk)
• Marine Biology News - ScienceDaily
• Marine biology news, articles and features | New Scientist
• ASOC News - Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition
• Conservation International
• Oceans | Environment | The Guardian
• Marine biology - BBC News

Attend events to hear directly from professionals in the industry. Examples include:

• MBA | AGM and Annual Science Talk. This is the AGM (annual general meeting) of the marine biological association. It could be a good way to network and discover opportunities and experiences. You do have to be a member of the association to attend these meetings.
• MBA | Scientific Talks. Many of these scientific talks are free and could be a great way to learn more about a specific area. It could also be an opportunity to network or ask questions

See also our recruitment events and employer & sector insights.  

Use social media to find industry insights  

Join sector-specific groups on LinkedIn to keep up to date. Posts often include news, events and opportunities. You can also find useful insights on careers on TikTok. Treat these with caution, as not all content may be accurate. 

Find out more about  how to use social media for your career. 

Consider joining a relevant professional body/industry network  

Professional bodies often: 

• run networking events  
• have specialist groups you could join 
• post vacancies on behalf of their members 
• have member directories, useful for speculative applications 

Key organisations include: 

• Marine Biological Association | Marine Biology UK

• Home - Maritime Archaeology Trust

• IMarEST: Institute of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology

• ASOC - Antarctic and Southern Ocean Coalition

Finding professional bodies worldwide

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of professional bodies. Find them under ‘Professional and Personal Networking’ on each individual country guide.

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for internships and placements in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Internships, placements & shadowing - links to vacancy sites 
• Global work experience - for internships or placements abroad 

Search the following external sites:

• Volunteering & Work Experience - National Marine Aquarium. Opportunities for volunteer diving, husbandry, placed with the ocean discovery rangers. There are also placement and work experience opportunities.
• BIAZA - British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums | BIAZA ‌
• Sea Watch Foundation » Work Experience volunteer work experience of up to 2 weeks. Applications open in January for work experience between April and October
• Marine Conservation Society - voluntary projects
• Marine Conservation Research
• Marine Scotland Science - may offer work experience to undergraduate and postgraduate students
• Job opportunities | BIAZA – search for both volunteering and work experience opportunities in aquariums. You may also be able to find placements in the work experience section. Gives details of different zoos and aquariums in the country.

Expeditions you have to pay for:

• Global Vision International - includes marine conservation and wildlife research projects
• Operation Wallacea - opportunities for undergraduate research assistants and dissertation projects
• Gapforce - expeditions and conservation projects

The Careers Service runs flexible term-time and summer internships with local employers and on campus. NCL internships are aimed at all students, from any stage:

• Search for these under Vacancies on MyCareer. Type in ‘NCL internship’ into the text search box.
• You can find these advertised throughout the academic year. Full-time summer opportunities are advertised from around March. 

Access GoinGlobal for internships in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find:  

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   

Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.  

If you’re looking for inspiration, try searching our NU Work Experience Directory. You can see where our students have had internships and placements in the last five years. To see all results in a search category, keep the search field blank. 

The resources in this section advertise both graduate jobs and graduate schemes. See our graduate jobs page to understand the difference between them. 

Graduate schemes are very uncommon in marine science, with graduate jobs being more common.

Graduate jobs tend to be immediate start positions which can be available all year round. You are more likely to apply for these towards the end of your studies. 

Vacancy sites

Use our resources to get started: 

• MyCareer - search for graduate schemes and graduate jobs in the North East, UK and overseas. Register/log in to access vacancies and sign up for personalised email alerts  
• Graduate Jobs – lists graduate vacancy sites 

Search the external sites below:

Vacancy sites for marine science

• Marine conservation jobs
• IMarEST - marine jobs
• Marine Conservation Society (mcsuk.org)
• MarineBio Conservation Society
• Wise Oceans includes internships and voluntary opportunities in marine conservation in the UK and overseas. There is also a jobs board for paid jobs.
• Job opportunities | BIAZA
• Marine conservation jobs
• Marine Biologist - British Antarctic Survey (bas.ac.uk)
• Communications and Management for Sustainability (CMS) news and jobs in marine, coastal and water sectors
• Marine Biologist / Zoological Field Assistant - British Antarctic Survey (bas.ac.uk)

Worldwide vacancy sites  

 See International jobs for details of overseas vacancy sites. 

 Access GoinGlobal for job adverts in over 120 global locations, updated daily. Search for opportunities in the local language, as well as in English. You can also use their country guides to find: 

• additional vacancy websites  
• CV, application and interview advice   
• Advice on living and working in different countries and cities around the world.  

Start by identifying organisations you are interested in. Our guide to finding organisations below can help. Then use the following steps to approach them speculatively about possible opportunities: 

1. Identify a contact name to address your cover letter to. Call or email to find out who handles recruitment within the organisation. Or, find a key contact in the department you want to work in. 
2. Send them a tailored CV and cover letter. Express your enthusiasm for the sector. Show that you have researched the company. 
3. Follow up your speculative application with a phone call, or email, around a week later. This shows you are serious and motivated.
4. If your application was unsuccessful, ask for feedback or advice, and keep trying! 

You can use this approach at any point in the year. We recommend that you: 

• start your research as early as possible to gather relevant contacts 
• contact organisations around three months before you want the opportunity to begin 

• Find organisations on MyCareer. Select ‘search' then 'organisations’. 
• Use the business directories and databases on our Researching employers page. 
• Search for companies on LinkedIn. The Find Alumni tool shows you where Newcastle graduates are currently working. 
• Browse our Work Experience and Graduate Employment directories. See where our students and graduates have had work experience, or been employed. 

Use the resources below to find organisations in the North East, UK and worldwide. 

• Professional body websites sometimes include member directories, which are helpful for finding employers. 
• IMarEst: Marine Directory - list of partner organisations in the UK and overseas. Includes private companies, educational institutions and non-governmental organisations (NGOs). You could try contacting them to see if they have any work experience opportunities. Such as conservation research expeditions.
• Communications and Management for Sustainability (CMS). - news and jobs in marine, coastal and water sectors
• BIAZA - British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums | BIAZA ‌

Search GoinGlobal’s employer directory for company information in 196 countries. Their country guides list professional bodies around the world.  

GoinGlobal’s country guides include details of recruitment agencies in specific countries. They are listed under the following headings:  

• Staffing agencies and temporary help firms  
• Executive recruiters and search firms  

Recruitment agencies may not operate in the same way in different countries. In the UK agencies are free for job seekers, but this may not be the case elsewhere. Explore the terms and conditions of an agency before signing up to use them.