Meet Tijen

From the landlocked north-west suburbs of Melbourne to regional Queensland, Tijen Anderson’s life is far different from that of her school mates back home. The Marine Biologist at the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority (Reef Authority) is the subject of envy for hardworking students across the discipline; in a field many people dream of travelling across the world to work and study in.

Tijen said she always felt drawn to the perpetually sunny, slow, and easy lifestyle of Queensland, but never pictured Townsville as her home base.

“I never really enjoyed the cool climate of Melbourne,” Tijen said.

“My dad always said to me you’ve got to realise it’s not just living this sunny lifestyle; you’ve got to work in the heat.

“I thought to myself, I reckon I could do that.”

For Tijen, the word ‘beach’ was synonymous only with surfing, until the avid free diver discovered her passion for the Reef.

“It wasn’t until the middle of my final year in high school that I decided I wanted to work with wildlife.

“I didn’t have a passion in any one area, which led me to do my undergraduate studies in biological sciences.

Tijen recalls one of her last subjects involved a highly anticipated field trip to the Reef - a 24-hour bus ride from Melbourne. The group of excited La Trobe University students were on their way to five nights on a world-famous island in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park World Heritage Area.

It was the moment that shifted the trajectory of Tijen’s life forever.

“We got to Heron Island – and that’s when I was like ‘holy moly’, this is what I want to do, this is crazy,” she said.

It was that ‘aha’ moment you’ll hear many in the industry describe, which inspires a career dedicated to protecting and preserving Australia’s iconic World Heritage area.

“Working towards protecting and conserving the Reef, is so rewarding.

“Everyone around you is quite passionate, so it’s nice to be in a working environment like that.”

A qualified divemaster and Reef Restoration Foundation volunteer, Tijen said her position as a Reef Health Project Officer at the Reef Authority is a perfect fit.

“The work we do is super interesting and while I never thought I would be a career ‘office girl’ I still must pinch myself to remind me how lucky I am to be on the Great Barrier Reef!

“My team and I monitor environmental conditions including sea surface temperatures, cyclones, and weather patterns in the high-risk summertime period. It involves seeing how coral reefs are faring in response to these events through in-water surveys and observations through Eye on The Reef, and I then put together weekly reef health updates with data from those environmental conditions and surveys.

“This leads to deploying people to specific and important areas to see how the Reef is responding to these changes in the environment, and with the Reef as large as Italy, we have such a large area to cover.”

Nothing happens in isolation, and Tijen reminds us it’s the Reef Authority partners who are her ‘left hand’ in helping to make change.

“It’s so important to have all our stakeholders and Marine Park users out there including Crown of Thorns Starfish Control Program operators, Tourism Reef Protection Initiative partners, including Traditional Owner partners to understand what is happening out there on the Reef as it’s such a large area to cover.”

It’s thanks to these collaborations, that the Reef Authority management of the Great Barrier Reef is world leading.

With a future looking towards a fulfilling and rewarding career in Marine Management, Tijen never predicted how her life would change after visiting the Reef.

And for graduates struggling to find work, Tijen’s advice is:

“Just don’t give up!”

The Reef Authority regularly publishes non-ongoing and contract roles on the online register which can be accessed here: 2024 - Expression of Interest - Vacancy Details – Aurion