Mckinley Vollebregt was offered the Nga Mahi-a-Ringa Putaiao Scholarship to attend Otago University as a secondary school student for one week, from 17-22 January.
The ‘Hands-On Programme’ aimed to inspire senior secondary school students and provide insight into what it would be like to study at the university.
Vollebregt says the experience has cemented her plans to pursue her passion of science at a tertiary level.
The Year 13 student attended a variety of classes including a marine science group that ventured out towards the Otago Peninsula.
“We were on board a boat – the Polaris II – where we collected, counted and recorded different species of plankton,” Vollebregt said.
"Later that day we dissected several sharks in the Portobello Marine Laboratory which were used in a forensic science experiment that measured different rates of decomposition."
The science-rich week ended with an interesting lecture titled ‘Why I can’t remember this’ by psychologist Harlene Hayne who talked about memory development during infancy and early childhood.
