The Real World

Under the microscope 

PhD student Julia Lee used to call herself a real ‘townie’. “I was born and bred in the city, but I love working in the dairy industry. It’s great to be able to get outdoors."

“People laughed at me when I got a job at DairyNZ six years ago as a lab technician, as I knew nothing at all about cows, let alone the dairy industry.” 

Today, Julia is a PhD student at DairyNZ. In nine months time she’ll finish her research, graduate as a doctor and finally be able to call herself a scientist. 

“To be a scientist you generally need to have completed a PhD, which takes about four years of study on top of an under-graduate degree.”

Julia gets to do lots of interesting stuff in her job. Like finding out when grass is ‘just right’. This is important work, as farmers depend on good quality grass to feed their cows.

“I have learnt some really cool techniques  in the lab – like the ones on CSI.”

Julia says the best part of her job is the variety.

“You’re not doing one thing all the time. And it’s really exciting when you discover something that nobody else knows.

“Every day is different – I could be on-farm in the mud collecting samples, processing samples in the lab or sitting at my desk writing up my findings. Sometimes I am even lucky enough to travel overseas. I get to travel to Australia often, as I am doing my PhD through the University of Tasmania and present my research at conferences.

“A lot of scientists get stuck in the lab all day, but in the dairy industry you’re outside a lot and working with animals."

Doing research that you know is one day going to help improve farm systems for New Zealand dairy farmers is about a million times better than getting paid $7 an hour to deliver pamphlets, Julia tells us.

Her advice for someone wanting to have a career as a scientist is to find an area of science you are interested in.

“Work hard in the science subjects at school and get as much job experience as you can. People will recognise your skills.”