Vicki completed her BSc (Hons) degree in Marine and Environmental Biology at the University of St Andrews in 2005, where she studied the effects that Acoustic Deterrent Devices (ADDs) had on the distribution of harbour porpoises in the Sound of Mull.

She returned home to Shetland to start work with Shetland Islands Council as a graduate placement in Environmental Health and, in April 2006, she took up the position of assistant environmental health officer.

She began her current job as Knowledge Transfer Partnership associate at the NAFC Marine Centre in March 2007.  Knowledge Transfer Partnerships are Europe's leading programme designed to help businesses improve their competitiveness and productivity in the marketplace through the better use of knowledge, technology and skills from academic institutes and organisations. 

She is working on behalf of Hjaltland Seafarms in partnership with the NAFC Marine Centre to manage a project to develop a new commercially farmed salmon diet specifically formulated for Shetland waters that will be more digestible under local environmental parameters than the current suite of diets available.

A final report on the findings of the project will be available in September 2008.