I come from a small town, Alotau, situated on the most eastern part of Papua New Guinea. Being a maritime province, access to the coast, beaches and islands was easy. My father was a prominent fisheries officer, so had access to boats which we often hired to go picnicking, camping, and holidaying on the islands. Most weekends were spent on the beach with my family. A typical day would be picnicking, swimming, fishing, diving and having fun on the beach. My parent’s love for the ocean was instilled throughout my childhood that in grade 5 I decided I wanted to be a marine biologist. I wanted to follow in my father’s career path in fisheries and marine biology but focus on research since my father’s career was focused on fisheries management.