Julian Seager

An interest in plants and an eagerness to increase his employability led Julian Seager (Ngāti Ranginui) to a double major in Science at the University of Waikato.

“Ecology and Biodiversity covers plant and ecology and gives me field-based experience. Whereas Molecular and Cellular Biology covers more of the lab-based skills and techniques,” Julian says.

With a love for the outdoors, Julian says a second-year forest survey trip that included species richness counts and environmental measurements was a highlight.

“Being out in the field exploring our native bush was probably the most fun I’ve ever had in a paper.

“I’ve been able to focus on what I’m really interested in - I’ve been able to adapt my papers each year and this means I’m not stuck doing something I don’t enjoy.”

Julian recently completed a Summer Research Scholarship project looking at antibiotic resistance in Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

“It’s an awesome opportunity to get a taste of what working in a research lab environment is like and helped to decide if I should continue on with postgraduate studies.”