Category Archives: Mining, Environment and Natural Resources

Graduate Flood Risk Officer – Devon County Council

Employer Feedback, Geography, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I had three main responsibilities. My first role was to update the on-line content and redesign the flood risk management website. The new website needed to be more accessible and user-friendly. I also updated the Asset Register by collecting data from the relevant organisations and learning how to use new software to map the data. My other responsibility was to ensure the flood incident database was up to date including the major flooding events in 2012.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My main role was to produce guidance on the Government’s funding schemes and became the main point of contact for giving advice on them.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to lighten my colleagues’ workloads and take on the sole responsibility for the website and asset register so they could work on other projects.

“Steph has developed really well and has always been keen to get involved and take on new elements of the role, even leading on some” – Line Manager

Stephanie Jones

Exe Estuary Officer – Devon County Council

Biosciences, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My key objective was to ensure the delivery of several outputs relating to the EU-funded Living with a Changing Coast project. This involved: writing and overseeing the production of a 14-page magazine; organising an event for key project stakeholders; working with partner and external organisations to write, design and oversee the production of interpretation panels for the Exe Estuary; overseeing the delivery of two project-critical reports; writing and overseeing the production of an information leaflet focusing on the heritage of the area, and how the coastlines have changed over time. Additionally, I was responsible for ensuring that critical elements of the Partnership’s work was delivered while there was no permanent Officer in place, ensuring that partners, stakeholders and members of the public had a point of contact; that issues requiring immediate or short-term responses were addressed; that the Partnership remained active in national or international legislative projects that affected the area (e.g. Marine Protected Area and European Marine Site designation); and that ongoing concerns such as the website and community clean up events did not experience any break in continuity.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

Contributing to a European project with only a day or so to familiarise myself with its goals, objectives and internal idiosyncrasies.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I think the largest impact I had was being able to step into the breach in terms of the LiCCo deliverables, following the resignation of the previous Exe Estuary Officer. I do not think these outputs would have been delivered without an intern.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

I worked very much in isolation for the majority of the project (i.e. little managerial/supervisory support). I sought help and advice from other partner organisations to get round this.

Sustainability Intern – South West Water

Employer Feedback, Geography, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

The main role during the internship was to produce a professional report to be uploaded into the documents library on the Exmoor Mires website. The Exmoor Mires project implements sustainable peat land restoration by blocking ditches to store more water and carbon and reduce water flow. The project brief was to undertake a sustainability audit of the project, comparing the carbon stored by the restoration work with the carbon released from running the project (transport for staff and volunteers, contractors, office energy use). I was responsible for collecting data on each of the sections of identified potential release of greenhouse gasses and calculating their carbon emission equivalent. This was the first carbon audit to be conducted of the project and will be used subsequently as supporting evidence of the project applying to be credited with the Peatland Code status, which assures that restoration provides climate change mitigation. I also conducted a separate energy audit for the Exmoor Society to provide some baseline information of predicted energy costs and consumption.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My biggest achievement over the course of the internship was producing a professional report, and completing a large project in the short space of time of 3 weeks.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I completed a project that lightened the workload of the rest of the project staff…. It was identified as a gap of information which could be filled by a report using the skills I had gained from the Green Steps training program.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

One problem that I encountered was collecting some of the information, especially from the contractors…I learnt that to get information needed, sometimes you must breakdown the questions and explain things more clearly, to make it easier and less time consuming for people to respond.

“We were very pleased with Anna and her skills and commitment. We would have liked her for longer than 3 weeks” – Line Manager

Environmental Performance Intern – Regen SW

Mining, Environment and Natural Resources, Politics and International Relations,

UoE internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My role was to assist with collecting and analysing data for the Annual Survey of heat and electricity installations in the South West. This involved using both primary and secondary sources, and comparing the results with the 2020 renewable targets.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

My data collection, numerical analysis and communication skills all improved.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I enabled the production of the key analytical publication to the time and budget. I helped to inform the sector of progress in the South West and promote the South West as an exemplar region in the UK.

Research Support Officer – Environment & Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter

Biosciences, Computer Science, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I was assigned a single large research project, which loosely interlinked with a broader initiative being built and managed by four other GBP interns, however I was very much trusted to work independently. The outline of the idea – which involved prototyping new environmental monitoring methods to be used by the Institute as well as agencies like the Environment Agency – was presented to me by my supervisor, and I was essentially just told to try and make the project work and get a full working example system up and running which we could showcase to potential stakeholders. This meant a large amount of self-teaching of new practical skills – especially computer engineering at all levels – in order to make progress with the project.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I rapidly taught myself a variety of new programming languages as well as some moderately complex electronics, which given my background as an evolutionary biologist / ecologist was very much out of my comfort zone.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I extensively explored the potential of the new hardware we were experimenting with, and certainly stirred up interest in potential collaborators such as the Environment Agency, however I was not able to complete the project to anything like the level we initially envisaged, and have had to leave the work half-way through completion.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

The core problem was trying to do what amounts to electrical and software engineering in an institute which is both very young and has no background in this work. As such, there was not the necessary space and equipment necessary for this type of creative prototyping, where rapid access to components was available in order to test what would work and could then be ordered in bulk. Unfortunately despite my best efforts, setting up something of that ilk was outside the control of a temporary intern.

Mining Engineer Intern – Freda Rebecca Gold Mine

Mining and Minerals Engineering, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I spent 1 month travelling between the different departments in the mine to get an overview of how the departments work with each other to create a smooth operation.

The internship itinerary included working with the following departments:
– Geology
– Rock Mechanics
– Ventilation
– Mine Planning
– Surveying
– Mining Methods
– Development
– Production
– Explosives and Rock Fragmentation
– Tramming & Hauling
– Ground Control
– Services and Major Production
– Mechanical, Electrical and Instrumentation
– Introduction to Processing and Allied Activities

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt a lot about how a real mining operation runs, and gained an appreciation of how much work goes in to making it successful.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

The company now has a tie with the faculty of Camborne School of Mines, University of Exeter (CSM). This will mean that the company has more access to graduates coming out of a top institution in the field of mining engineering.

I also wrote reports for the departments displaying what I had learnt from them and outlining any improvements that I thought could be implemented to improve the operation.

Junior Vacation Geologist – Independence Group

Geology, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My role included interpreting and analysing the geometallurgy within the site and writing a 70 page report to evaluate my work whilst with them and to affirm my understating of the VMS deposit found within the site. This was my main and only task whilst on site with a large data set to keep me occupied. Many hypotheses were made and a lot of statistical analysis was undergone, with each finding with their own evaluative conclusion.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I recognised the difference in alteration assemblages across the ore lenses and spatial distribution of elements across the body through analysing my data. I also learnt the many colloquial terms used within the mining industry to fully comprehend what was being said.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My project was a continuation from a PhD student who’s aim was to understand the mineral associations with the textures found. I have been informed that they will continue the project I have worked on and that it will ultimately be used to predict the amount of deleterious minerals coming through the mill.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

At first the chemistry was pretty overwhelming but with the help of a very kind colleague, we managed to solve the equations necessary to estimate the bulk sulphide composition.

Project Co-ordinator – Camborne School of Mines

Energy Engineering, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

During my internship I assisted with planning applications, undertook research tasks and updated the website’s renewable energy section. I also fulfilled an administrative role in sending emails and making phone calls.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I improved the quality of my written reports and gained confidence in my abilities.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I worked with colleagues on planning applications, therefore lightening their workload.
I was also able to suggest new renewable energy income streams.

Student Field Geologist – Novo Resources

Geology, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources

SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

My main role was to collect geological information, combining my field observations and maps in order to work out the environment of deposition, and samples which were collected for assay.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

There is sometimes a lot of apprehension when you’re about to undertake work in remote areas for extended periods of time and I certainly felt nervous in the days running up to being deployed. During this placement I learnt a lot about working in the outback in Western Australia, including first aid in the field, how to collect and label rock samples, and I learnt a lot about the social and economic aspects of mining, which are all skills I can easily transfer to future projects I may work on.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I worked on an ore-genesis model for the company. They already had a good idea of its formation, but by using the laboratory equipment at CSM I was able to provide strong evidence to support the company’s theory.

Did you encounter any problems during the course of your internship and if so, how did you overcome them?

We had a couple of punctures so I have improved my tyre changing skills…

Environmental Management Intern – Good Energy

Geography, Mining, Environment and Natural Resources,

Universtiy of Exeter Internships, UoE Internships, SCP, SBP, GBP, A2I

What were your main duties and responsibilities during the course of your internship?

I spent six weeks collating, collecting, analysing and reporting on the environmental impacts of Good Energy’s office and operations. I created a baseline for collecting environmental data and established procedures for measuring and reporting on environmental data. I also wrote a report on Good Energy Operations and recommended a variety of different policies and procedures that would be required for the company to reach ISO14001 status.

During my time in this internship I also took part in other office activities such as the ‘People and Culture Well-being Day’ where I collected data on staff travel habits and produced a database and a map of employee locations.

What would you say was your biggest achievement over the course of your internship?

I learnt more about Microsoft Excel in the six weeks at Good Energy than I have in the rest of my life!

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

My project enabled the Office and Environment Manager to make significant progress on the company’s path to getting ISO14001 accreditation.