Todd Byrne

About Todd

My name is Todd Byrne, I am originally from County Wicklow, Ireland. I am a third year student in the Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, studying applied freshwater and marine biology. However, my passion for the ocean has always been much stronger, but I also have the greatest respect for the complexity and importance of our freshwater ecosystems. I first became infatuated with the earths oceans when I was a child watching Jaws or Sir David Attenborough’s ‘Blue Planet’, the fear, power and curiosity I had of the great white sharks and the teaming diversity of the worlds oceans which was portrayed by Attenborough sparked my interest immediately.

A few years down the line, my parents brought me and my siblings to Australia. We visited Australia Zoo, famously known for the crocodile hunter, Steve Irwin, who had always been an inspiration to me. I was able to see dolphins and a diverse abundance of shark species for the first time in my life. Near the end of the holiday we flew out to Lady Elliot Island off the east coast of Australia, where we met a marine biologist who worked solely on studying the diversity and promoting the conservation of the Great Barrier Reef. He brought us snorkelling on the reef and after that experience I knew what I wanted to do. This dream stayed with me all the way through secondary school and I was then lucky enough to be able to study this field and soon pursue a prosperous career.

This semester, as part of our credits, third year students are required to complete two months of work experience. However, I had heard of Marine Dynamics over a year before and I was just waiting until I received my second year results so that I could apply. I was so driven to be accepted to the Marine Dynamics Intern Program as their goal of working tourism, conservation and research in tandem seemed unique. I am currently in my second week of the program and I can say nothing less than it has inspired me by the enthusiasm and expertise of the team and has driven my passion down paths I may never have explored.

I hope for the future to work heavily in research, however, not with the charismatic species like the white sharks which I had always been passionate, but to try and study to benefit the overlooked or insufficiently researched species which are undoubtedly vital to the worlds marine ecosystems, and in years to come try help in the mission to bring balance to the oceans once again.