Studying biology as a Christian

Hi, I’m Cara Parrett. I was born, raised and educated in South Africa – a land of endless biological delights, from the baboons on my University campus, to plant communities who need fire in their life cycle; and a hugely diverse mix of environments to explore, from deserts to forested mountains, warm coral reefs to cold kelp forests. It was a dream for an outdoorsy animal lover like me. I grew up with a really firm idea that I wanted to explore and protect wild spaces and wild places. So I always knew the sciences, and particularly biology, were going to be in my future. For me, studying biology at school helped me to fulfil my dreams of studying marine biology at the University of Cape Town and working in wildlife conservation.

Now, your child’s dreams may look very different to mine. Perhaps they have a passion for medical sciences, agriculture, psychology, genetics, nutrition, sport science or landscape architecture – each of which are rooted in elements of biological sciences. Or perhaps they don’t really have a sense of what they would like to do once they leave school. Wherever they have got to in thinking about their future, I think biology GCSE is an exciting option to consider, both as people who are part of a biological world, and also as people of faith.