I am not entirely sure yet what I want to do with my life. I know I want to work with aquatic organisms and the aquatic environment, I know I want to see the beauty of world and I know I want to contribute something positive to society. I haven’t thought yet of how I’ll make an impact, but in my field of interests, it’s either scientific research to improve our knowledge of the world and its functioning, or some kind of action, business related or NGO, to improve the way we interact with the environment, to the benefit of less fortunate people.

Chris Walker, professor of business at Bangor University, came in recently to talk to us about the steps in creating a business. It’s always seemed funny to me that people would study business. How do you come up with an idea and create a business if you have no other knowledge or expertise you can base your business on than business itself? To me it’s never made sense. A business should come from deep knowledge of a particular field which blooms into an idea rather than pure business knowledge applied secondarily to a field. But I suppose the best businesses come from a combination of the two.

Chris Walker explained to us in a set of lectures the process of creating a business and writing a detailed business plan. Although I do not necessarily have an innate passion for business, it was a welcome introduction to something us biology students are often oblivious to and which could significantly benefit our field. Indeed, what could drastically influence the course of events, in our era, in terms of climate change, is for biology students to be able to apply their knowledge to practical solutions rather than furthering pure science and contributing to increasing levels of theoretical knowledge. There is an urgent need for biology graduates to apply their knowledge in radical new business ideas.

More than anything, I think Chris walker’s persona and charisma were most enjoyable and greatly benefitted the lectures. He was able to generate enthusiasm and demonstrate the necessity for business creation in sciences, as well as the huge diversity of potential businesses. He also highlighted some of the key issues in creating a successful business and potential solutions.

Overal, I must say I have benefitted from these sessions and look forward to his “Dragon’s den” event in March.