Careers: Cryopreservation

What does Serian like best about being a scientist?

Transcript

Serian Adams (Cawthron Institute) I did a postgraduate diploma in marine science and then I went on and did a PhD in marine science. And when I did my PhD, I used to come up here and do work with these guys on shellfish cryopreservation. So that’s kind of how I got into it.

I run the cryopreservation programme that we have at Cawthron. So my job is to develop cryopreservation protocols for freezing the sperm, eggs and larvae of New Zealand’s commercially important shellfish. Mussels, oysters and pauas are the main things that I work on.

The best part about being a scientist is that you’re finding things out, and that quite often the results that you expect aren’t what you get. So you are always getting something different to what you expect, and usually you throw up more questions than what you answer with everything that you do. So it’s always interesting work and no day is really ever the same. That’s what I enjoy about.