Emma Jackson : Season 2, Episode 4

CQUniversity Podcast - Greatvine

This week we chat with CQUni's Dr Emma Jackson who is researching seagrass restoration in the Gladstone region. Emma shares about growing up in Blackburn in Lancashire England where her childhood dream was to be a tree surgeon until a trip to Australia in her late teens put her on a path to study marine biology. You'll hear how she enrolled in the University of Stirling in Scotland where she learnt to dive in a very thick wetsuit and later did her Masters and a PhD in seagrasses as an important habitat for fisheries. Emma shares about packing up the family in 2013 and heading to Queensland for a position with CQUni where she discovered the perfect location to research seagrass restoration - Gladstone. She talks about seagrasses being the 'Kidneys of the Great Barrier Reef' and their importance to coastal communities. Emma also gives us an insight into her passion for sailing and her recent purchase of an old wooden sailing boat which has received a few odd looks from the locals.