It is regularly somewhat of a shock to me to realise I am no longer an "early-career scientist". At some point in the last couple of years, completely without noticing, and even using the most generous definition of ECR, I somehow slipped into the "mid-career" category. Whilst this gives rise to an unnecessary amount of life contemplation, the positive side is that it means I've got a bit of a life story. And I was honoured to be invited to share the story so far as a keynote speaker at the Society for Marine Mammalogy's UK & Ireland Regional Student Chapter (SMM UKSRC) Annual Conference last week. Ironically, the Student Chapter is actually part of my life story already. Back as an undergrad and marine mammal newbie, I was fortunate enough to spend some time up at the University of Aberdeen's Lighthouse Field Station. The students there were preparing to host the conference in a few months and encouraged me to come back for it, promising an experi...