A CAREER in hydrology was never part of Margaret Tabutoa’s original plan.
Yet today, as the only woman serving in the hydrology division of the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS), she has become a trailblazer in a profession where women remain few.
Originally from Levuka, Ovalau, with family links to Vanuavatu in Lau, Margaret grew up in Suva and attended Suva Grammar School before pursuing a Trade Diploma in Telecommunication and Networking Engineering.
Engineering itself appealed to her because it was a field dominated by men.
“I wanted to study engineering because there were very few females in the engineering field,” she said, crediting her parents for encouraging her to pursue a challenging career path.
After spending three years searching for work, she joined the Fiji Meteorological Service in 2018 as a technical assistant officer in the Department of Hydrology. Looking back, she believes the opportunity came at exactly the right time.
“I’d like to thank God for this job because He was the main reason I came into this organisation,” she said.
What began as an unfamiliar profession soon became a passion.
Seven years with the Western Division helped shape her expertise before she was transferred to Suva last August and promoted to Technical Officer II Hydrology.
Today, she helps oversee streamflow measurements and water-level monitoring across the Central Division, supporting a network of 13 monitoring stations while planning for future expansion.
Although the technical work is rewarding, Margaret said working as the only woman in the division has brought its own challenges.
“When I first joined, there were only two females in hydrology. Now it’s just me,” she said.
Among her proudest moments has been working alongside colleagues to organise World Meteorological Day activities and raising public awareness about the importance of hydrology throughout Fiji.
She hopes her journey will encourage more young women to enter engineering and hydrology.
“Hydrology offers a great experience, and internationally it’s a highly demanding profession,” she said.
“We need both men and women working together. It’s teamwork.”
Margaret firmly believes that breaking barriers is less about making history and more about opening doors for the next generation of women to step confidently into fields once considered beyond their reach.
