Class on the reefs and finding my future at UTS

Riley VanCardo

Autumn 2025 Study Abroad student from the University of Missouri

Columbia, Missouri

This past week, I had the opportunity to travel to Heron Island for my Coral Reef Ecosystems class. I had been anticipating this trip all semester because we were given the chance to spend a week at Heron Island Research Station to conduct a coral or fish survey project. My time on the island was easily the most fulfilling and amazing experience, not just at UTS, but in my whole college experience.

I am an international student from Missouri, USA with the goal of studying coral reefs. This proves to be quite difficult when you are from a land-locked state. UTS offered a program through my school, and after seeing the opportunities and classes available in marine science, I saw this study abroad experience as a chance to pursue a passion that my home country couldn’t. Coral Reef Ecosystems focuses on the taxonomical makeup of coral and fish, understanding climate stressors related to coral physiology, and management practices involved in coral rehabilitation efforts. The class has exceeded my expectations in providing me with real experiences and striking my spark and wanted to take my passion further.

At Heron Island, I was lucky enough to get to work on a coral bleaching project! We measured out several transects of different distances offshore from Research Beach to identify Acropora species, measure the size of the coral, and use a color watch to specify its bleaching levels. The aim of our project is to compare the abundance and bleaching levels of Acropora onshore to offshore and against data from last year. We also are considering natural events like recent cyclones that may have affected coral growth/regrowth. I got the chance to do what felt like real science, not in a lab setting, but actually in the field collecting data. This is one of the first times I felt like what I was doing at school was actually shaping my passion and motivation to learn.

I also experienced what it is like to work at a research station. The day-to-day life on a field station at Heron included getting up with sun for a morning snorkel before breakfast. I got to snorkel with lots of different sharks, the most amazing fish, lots of rays, and too many sea turtles to count. After breakfast we started our field work (depending on the tide) or had time to work on data planning and other work. For my project we did a couple hours of reef walking each day. I would never complain if this was my real job because having a reef flat as your office might be one of the coolest things in the world. We spent all day working in the field, working on data, researching, snorkeling, talking with friends, and eating lots of muffins. At night, we all would regroup and have a lecture or debrief about our day. Sometimes I had to remind myself that this was class; it just didn’t seem real.

I want to study the coral reefs and this class has only motivated me to pursue this path. In the buildup of traveling to Heron Island, I have spoken with lots of professors and have organized an opportunity to work on the coral lab. I am super excited to get to work closely with coral ecologists and marine biologists so I can learn about the work they are doing and find inspiration for my future. I do not know for sure if I will have the opportunity to complete an honors year at UTS, but I am determined to continue my degree further after this year.

As an international student there are challenges to navigating a future abroad, but I think UTS has shown me how much I can achieve when I have enough support and interest in my studies. This class and trip have shaped my future, so I will be sticking around Australia a little longer in hopes of finding an opportunity to get involved in coral reef restoration.