Duration of Internship: January 2025 – June2025

Qualifications

BSc Wildlife Conservation (2021) – Bangor University, UK

MSc MARRES – Ocean Science, Conservation & Innovation (2025) – Université Côte d’Azur, France

Katerina completed a six-month internship at MER as part of her master’s degree, where she carried out their thesis research on the socio-cultural implications of marine protection with a focus on fisheries. Her work examined the ongoing plans to establish an “Other Effective Area-Based Conservation Measure” (OECM) in the Akrotiri Peninsula, co-managed by local small-scale and recreational fishers alongside fisheries managers. As part of this research, Katerina helped organized workshops, conducted questionnaires and interviews with fishers and sector experts, and developed a framework of proposed sustainability measures to inform future management.

In addition to her thesis, Katerina gained practical experience in ecological monitoring and laboratory techniques. This included documenting marine litter to assess coastal pollution, conducting snorkel-based observations of stingrays (Dasyatis spp.) to record abundance and behaviour, and using drones for sea-turtle monitoring. In the laboratory, she analysed sediment composition through granulometry and measured organic matter to evaluate coastal ecosystem health.

This internship provided Katerina with interdisciplinary skills including marine ecology, governance, and socio-cultural research, while contributing to the design of future co-managed marine conservation initiatives.

“From surveying rays to picking and sorting beach litter, and spending hours chatting with local fishers, my time with MER has been a mix of field, lab, and office work. I got to see both the science and the people side of marine conservation and it helped me take my first steps in my career. I’m also grateful to the MER team for their support during my Master’s Thesis (where I got away with trying out every idea I could think of!) making the process so much more rewarding in the end. Wishing everyone at MER all the best, and I really hope our paths cross again soon!” – Katerina