Duration of Internship: November 2023 – August 2023

Qualifications
B.Sc. Marine Biology, University of Plymouth (2021 – 2025)

Beth completed a 6 month internship at MER, during her placement year for her Marine Biology degree at the University of Plymouth. She was grateful to spend several months with the team, assisting and learning about many of the ongoing projects, as well as have the opportunity to write proposals for future projects. Over the duration of her internship, Beth had the chance to develop key industry skills, and grow to enjoy working outwith her comfort zone. Beth worked in particular on the Blue Raman project, learning and identifying key habitats and species of importance, while strengthening her ID skills. She also worked closely with other interns on the marine litter project, creating videos to communicate the project to the public, and also in the data collection itself in the form of beach litter collection and sorting according to the EU joint list categories.

Beth was also involved in many field projects, such as undertaking environmental baseline surveys in Latsi in preparation for the port expansion. She also aided in the collection of water samples from fish farms, followed by measuring the chlorophyll content back at the lab. Beth also worked on long term projects, such as seagrass monitoring around a port that is currently being expanded. This is done to assess the ongoing environmental impacts of the construction, and additionally assess sediment levels in the water column.

Some of Beth’s internship highlights include: scientific diving field work, drone test flights for the IRSAI project and attending conferences with the team at MER. After her placement, Beth headed home to work as a diver in the Shetland Islands.

She states: “I really appreciated getting involved with a wide range of projects. Seeing and working on different stages of many projects gave me a different perspective of how scientific research is carried out. This internship allowed me to grow as a scientist and an academic, but also pushed my comfort zone and personal growth.”