If you want to know more about the day-to-day life of a Museum Curator, Dylan gives us a peek into his world.
He’s a Marine Scientist and he works as a Curator of Fish at the National Museum located in Cape Town. He shared a little of his work day with us, so we could learn more about his career.
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We asked him how he got into his line of work, and Dylan told us his passion developed during his undergrad years at varisty. “My interest in Marine Biology was sparked during frequent field trips to the coast as part of my Zoology course.”
Dylan completed his BSc degree and subsequently his honours and MSc in Zoology. He was fortunate enough to also undergo specialist training in marine invertebrate taxonomy and systematics at the Natural History Museum in London. He says, “One of the best parts of my career is getting out into the field and collecting or observing organisms in their natural habitats.”
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A marine zoologist studies animals that live in the water, and as Curator, Dylan has the opportunity to lend his curiosity about marine life to the advancement and knowledge of the science of taxonomy and the museum he works for.
For Dylan, there’s no such thing as a typical day and that’s what he loves that about his job: “My days are filled with meetings, writing research papers, funding proposals, and looking down my microscope trying to identify tiny organisms from the ocean.”
But that’s not all: “I may also be involved in planning and delivering Museum Exhibitions and educational public programmes, training interns and students, and attend conferences – often as a speaker.”
Dylan’s advice to aspiring Marine Taxonomistsis this “You must obviously be hardworking. You need to have a passion for marine life and an interest in nature and the discovery and generation of new knowledge. Those who have a working knowledge of stats, able to work with large datasets, are able to work accurately and meticulously with biological specimens and are comfortable with public speaking, should do well.”
He says it’ll also be beneficial to complete a Class VI diving certificate for doing shallow water work, and to have a good grip on project management “as you’re juggling different research projects and helping several students at once. And of course, you should also be willing to spend long periods away from home on field trips or at sea on research vessels to collect organisms for studying.”
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Tip: The Department of Science and Technology offers paid internships at Iziko, where interns gain valuable work experience and skills with Iziko in their chosen field, which may put them in a better position to gain future employment.
If you’d like to be featured in this Instagram series, send a mail to editor@careers24.com, telling us about yourself and your awesome job, and we’ll be in touch!
