Graduate Profile: John Paul Collins

I studied a BSc (Environmental Science) with majors in Land and Water Management and Botany. I did an Honours project in Botany on the water use and root architecture of olive trees.

What attracted me to the course was the strong science base and the ability to specialise in different areas of natural science that I was interested in. The first three years of the course had a strong theory base then in Honours it became more practical and we could diversify into our own area of interest.

I enjoyed the practical aspects of the course – particularly the field trips and excursions and the laboratory sessions. Major highlights for me included helping out PhD students with their fieldwork and also getting to help a fellow Honours student with her fieldwork up in the Pilbara on a mine site.

Managing my own project during Honours and the writing skills I have gained have been particularly useful to me in my career, along with learning how to deal with a problem in a methodical manner and to make a decision armed with all the relevant knowledge.

I gained employment immediately after finishing my Honours degree. I entered the graduate recruitment programme of the Department of Agriculture and Food and for three years have worked as a Research Officer on reclaiming agricultural land affected by salinity and gaining some productive use from it.