Josie Mason

I'm an environmental ecologist, optimist and creative problem solver, with 7 years of tertiary scientific study and over 4 years of relevant work experience. I possess a comprehensive understanding of aquatic ecosystems (freshwater, estuarine and marine) built upon a broad environmental foundation. Today, I'm working as an Environmental Scientist for the New South Wales State Government, Australia, with a focus on estuarine water quality and ecology.

In 2027, I aim to relocate to Canada with my Canadian partner. Here, I seek to combine my technical field and scientific abilities to contribute to sustainable management of earth's incredible natural environments. Additionally, I would greatly value this opportunity to further develop my leadership skills.

Environmental Scientist (Estuaries & Catchments team) at Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment & Water | New South Wales Government (2024-08 – Present)

• Plan, lead and complete 4–6-day fieldtrips for routine, monthly water quality monitoring of estuarine waterbodies via boat or canoe along the entirety of New South Wales Coast. Monitoring tools include EXO YSI sondes, water sampling for various analytes and drone piloting.
• Data analysis and reporting of projects related to the 2018-2028 Marine Estate Management Strategy
• Assist with site assessment for a Blue Carbon Restoration site (water quality, hydrology and ecology surveys)
• Assist with freshwater macroinvertebrate sampling
• Support technicians with laboratory analysis of samples (chlorophyll-a and TSS), equipment calibration (EXO YSI sondes) and other technical maintenance and tasks
• Team representative in the Wellbeing Committee

Research Assistant at Auckland University Institute of Marine Science (2023-02 – 2024-04)

• Assisting with ecological sub-tidal (via SCUBA) and intertidal surveys of species number and coverage via quadrat and transect
• Data management and reporting

Marine Science Educator at Goat Island Marine Discovery Centre | Auckland University Institute of Marine Science (2023-07 – 2024-02)

• Plan, lead and manage small to large group marine education programs for a variety of age groups and customers
• Provide presentations and lead laboratory and field-based education activities
• Open and close the Discovery Centre, animal husbandry, tank maintenance, cash up and security

Marine & Coastal Lead Technician (Water Quality & Ecology Team) at Hawkes Bay Regional Council (2021-10 – 2022-03)

• Deliver the Subtidal Habitat Exploration pilot-program: Utilised a Blue ROV2 to evaluate the state of benthic habitat between 5-35m depth within three potential kelp forest and mussel bed restoration sites. Here I recorded footage of previously inaccessible areas, identifying species present and substrate characteristics which I provided in a database later used to determine restoration feasibility
• Conduct bi-monthly water quality monitoring of routine coastal and marine sites (State of the Environment reporting)
• Manage database and provide cleaned data for the scientists in a timely manner

Project Support Officer at Hawkes Bay Regional Council (2021-05 – 2021-07)

Assist scientists with the Taharua catchment study: Nitrogen levels in a particular tributary were significantly greater than the upstream and downstream catchment average, but the contribution of localised agriculture was unknown. I extracted data from the nutrient budgets and compliance reporting from four farms over the last 20 years and compared with the catchment monitoring data. This allowed me to identify one farm that continued to demonstrate high nitrogen losses relative to its area, which initially avoided detection due to the farm reducing in size.

I presented these findings to the freshwater science and consents team which utilised this information for management action.

Water Quality & Ecology Student at Hawkes Bay Regional Council (2020-11 – 2021-04)

• Assist with the delivery of a range of highly varied, fieldwork intensive environmental and ecological monitoring programs: Ecosystem Health, State of the Environment reporting and Recreational Water Quality.
• Use a variety of measurement instruments and survey techniques to assess the state of hundreds of freshwater and estuarine sites.

Microbiology Laboratory Technician at Analytica Laboratory Services (2019-07 – 2020-11)

• Key Technical Personal certified, responsible for detecting and enumerating bacteria via membrane filtration, heterotrophic plate counts, most probable number analysis.
• Efficient and accurate completion of highly controlled, time-pressured analysis and reporting
• Equipment calibration, consumable sterility checks and microscopy tasks.

Master of Marine Science in Marine Science – University of Auckland (2024)

Postgraduate Diploma in Science in Science – University of Auckland (2023)

Bachelor of Science in Ecology & Biodiversity, Marine Biology and Environmental Science – Victoria University of Wellington (2019)