Young Leaders Update: Riley in the Richmond River region
At OzFish, we’re dedicated to equipping the next generation of leaders in sustainable fishing and fish habitat restoration.
Our Young Leaders program is designed to empower passionate individuals, providing them with the skills, knowledge, and experiences needed to drive innovation and ensure a sustainable future for our waterways.
One of our program participants, Riley Marcon, is currently interning in the Richmond River region under the mentorship of Zoe White.
Riley, a local of Lennox Head and an Environmental Science student at Southern Cross University, is passionate about nature and the ocean. Through this internship, he’s been gaining hands-on experience and contributing to various projects that align with his aspirations of making a positive impact on our waterways.
In the following article, Riley shares his experiences and reflections on his journey so far, giving us insight into the life of a young leader at OzFish.
Words by Riley Marcon
“Working with OzFish has been a great experience for me so far; challenging at times, but I’ve really felt supported to learn and contribute.”
I’ve enjoyed getting to spend time around and learn from local, like-minded, environmental-conscious people. Feeling good about what I’m doing, making a positive difference.
Whether it’s rec fishers, OzFish staff, or some of the experts, I’ve got to talk to and learn from some really interesting people.
One example of this was at the Pollution Solution Day, where I helped out with the friendly volunteers to clean up around the West Ballina Boat Harbour.
I met some interesting people and was shocked when we sorted through all the rubbish from one hour of colleting from the river banks. All the different kinds of waste, like cigarette butts, fishing lines, rope and plastic, of course.
At the salt marsh clean-up in Yamba at Melaleuca Drive, I had an equally rewarding and shocking experience. This time again I met some legend rec fishos from the area who really cared about cleaning up their waterways and giving their fish a helping hand. Instead of fishing lines and plastic, this time we found massive collections (740kg) of dumped waste, such as timber, tiles and old crab traps.
Save our Saltmarsh Project
Being a part of the Save our Saltmarsh fieldwork project has been great in learning more about monitoring projects, the importance of saltmarsh and the factors affecting it. All the friendly volunteers helped me in getting to work on my identification skills and overall knowledge.
As part of this project, I’ve also made an ID key for the commonly found flora species in saltmarshes. This was challenging, but has really given me an in-depth analysis of the interaction and diversity of saltmarsh environments.
Improving
Learning some of the ins and outs of the company has been a learning process. However, I feel like I’m getting better and faster as the internship goes on, and that progress is a good feeling.
Some of the things I’ve learnt and had to get better at are emailing and making phone calls, multitasking and working through a job list, working on the social media side of things and working on grant applications.
For me, it can feel frustrating to ask Zoe for regular assistance because I’m new to the job and need to be pointed in the right direction. However, she is always extremely patient and gives clear instructions, so I never feel silly.
Fieldwork/office work balance
Sitting still in an office for long periods doesn’t tend to be my strong point. Therefore, I’ve found I enjoy this balance, particularly when what I’m doing in the office makes a lot of sense and is gratifying because of the context of fieldwork.
I love being in the field the most, but it is nice to make plans, be in the field, and then follow them through afterwards. Sharing what we did and documenting everything properly. I’ve also enjoyed having a little bit of flexibility for starting times so I can still go surfing and enjoy my morning.
I’m looking forward to being out in the field and getting better at the things I struggle with. Feeling progress and getting more confident at what I’m doing.
