Meet Georgia Samuels

Georgia is a research associate with Plant & Food Research. The team and projects she is involved with are looking at understanding fish development and behaviour to develop aquaculture systems that mirror the natural environment and keep the fish as healthy as possible. Georgia considers herself fortunate to be involved in a diverse range of projects and get to work in a variety of different areas. Sometimes this may be in the office working with a wide range of data from breeding programmes or training machine learning models. Other times she will be working in the field capturing images and videos or sampling growth of fish populations.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

“ The variation in my day-to-day work life! No two days are the same, there is always something new and exciting happening. The work we do and the projects we have going all have such great potential to take the New Zealand aquaculture industry to the next level. Additionally, everyone supports each other in and out of work, and while we all have our differences it really is a family. ”

How did you come to be involved in aquaculture?

“ I grew up spending nearly every weekend in the Marlborough Sounds with my family out on the water fishing. I always loved everything about the ocean and thought fish were just the best thing ever! At 6 years old I was already telling my family I wanted to be a marine biologist and was going to work with dolphins.

Towards my final years of school, thanks to some teachers and family friends, I was introduced to aquaculture and the programs offered at NMIT. I left college a year early and completed a Diploma in aquaculture and followed this up with a Bachelor degree. During this time, I worked as a technician at Plant & Food Research over the summer breaks. Upon graduating, I made the move to Tasmania to join the salmon industry for a few years before homesickness brought me home and I was fortunate enough to land a job back at Plant & Food Research! ”

Why do you think WoAA is important?

“ Aquaculture, not just in New Zealand but around the globe, has historically been a male-dominated industry. Nowadays, with the industry growing more every year, there are so many more women working in aquaculture than you could imagine. Women can be found in all areas - offices, laboratories, and in the field, doing everything the men can do (and maybe even better? 😉). It is important to have a platform like WoAA to help encourage more women into not just aquaculture, but science, and allow them to have a space to connect with like-minded people to talk about the issues of being a woman in what has always been seen as such a male dominated industry. ”

What is something you are passionate about?

“ All things fish (obviously!), Star Wars, art, music, a good glass of wine, and family <3 ”

What is your favourite seafood?

“ Hard question, I would never turn down a good seafood meal! Fish, mussels, scallops, prawns… Give me it all! 😊 ”

What do you like to do in your spare time?

“ I am a creative soul and love anything art / music, particularly painting. I enjoy pottering about in the Marlborough Sounds around our family Bach. And to fit in with my career choice, I am obsessed with all things fish! I cannot pass up an opportunity to get my hands dirty on the boat, hauling up fish of all kinds. ”

Do you have any advice or support for women working in or looking to work in aquaculture in Aotearoa?

“ You can do it! There is so much more to aquaculture than anyone outside the industry would think. Do your research, be curious, ask the hard questions, and don’t be afraid to take risks. The industry is growing and constantly needing to adapt with new aquatic threats and issues like climate change knocking on our doorstep. We are all learning new things everyday and are doing it together. ”