Getting to the bottom of a fishy tale

All in a day's work: Dr Pauline King, co-ordinator Diploma in Applied Aquatic Sciences, Galway Mayo IT

I'd go for a walk on the shore in the morning, if I hadn't been up until 2 a.m. reading about the long-spined field scorpion. By 9.30 a.m. I'm lecturing on the management of aquatic resources. My diploma students come from all backgrounds and have only a love of science in common.

I grew up surrounded by water, on the island of Inisboffin. I feel a great affinity with the sea and the seashore. When I was growing up, we used the bounty of the sea in everything from cooking to fertiliser. I have a profound respect for the ocean, instilled in me by my mother. We lost four members of our extended family to the sea. Our mother watched us like hawks as we combed the shoreline for shells as children.

As well as lecturing, I'm also involved in research at GMIT. I'm surrounded by authorities in different areas of marine science, from genetics to crustaceans. I'm always bumping into other marine researchers in the corridors of GMIT and discussing projects and ways that we might help each other. The students often get involved too. It's great fun if you're curious about fish. All of our projects overlap.

I take any chance I can to bring my work home to Inisboffin with me, although I now live in Galway city. When I left the island for boarding school at the age of 11 I missed the contact with the sea. I used to mind the tadpoles in the biology lab and my determination to study aquatic science grew. I went on to study for a degree in zoology and did my PhD in the fish biology of Galway Bay. Later, I got the funding to research my native shoreline of Inisboffin, back where I combed for shells as a child.

I returned again to my island with research funding from GMIT, to plumb the depths of our Brackish water lake. Working with TCD, we discovered a very rare plant there. I have lots of connections with Inisboffin, both academic and social. I return when I can to visit my mother and listen to my brother and sister play traditional music in the pub.

After morning lectures, I meet with my two PhD students to check on their progress with blue whiting and megrim. Through our studies we are providing as much information as we can to the Marine Institute, so that local fishery companies can avail of our learning about sustainable fishery management. We select our research projects according to local needs. The more we know about a fish species, the less likely we are to damage its life cycles or environments through overfishing. The marine students are contributing while they learn - to the local economy and ecology. That gives me great satisfaction.

I have lunch with the head of the School of Life Sciences to plan the way forward for our department. We have amassed so much expertise here, we now want to establish ourselves internationally. We need funding to develop GMIT's presence in the world aquatic science research community. Next year, we are enrolling for our first BSc in Applied Aquatic Ecology. Now our diploma students won't have to leave the institute to get their degree.

After lunch, I talk lobster husbandry with an agriculture student. I take another lecture in the afternoon, on the subject of the management and development of aquatic resources.

I try to grab an hour in the research lab before I go home. Research is always at the back of my mind and I'm glad to get back to it. Each new aspect of the west coast that we can discover contributes to sustainable stock management. It's a long coastline; we have a lot to learn.

In conversation with Louise Holden