All posts by Joanna Louise McCreedie

Research Assistant – University of Exeter

Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Health Care, Science, Science, Sport and Health Sciences, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

Full Frame Shot of Abstract Pattern

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

I was tasked with exploring a model of single hair follicle dynamics with focus on hair growth and its primary factors. This role had a number of central goals:

– To verify previous results in the MATLAB software package Matcont, seeking accuracy and precise conclusions.

– To write code that enables results to be easily repeatable.

– To further explore the model parameters and develop insight into how they relate to future refinement of the model, and what it reveals about hair follicle dynamics

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

I greatly developed my familiarity with MATLAB – something I’ve only really used at a surface level before. Spending extensive time debugging code written by myself and others has helped me to improve my ability to write functional scripts. I also gained a greater insight into the day-to-day reality of research. I am now more familiar with the process of learning and building towards a defined, specific output. With this has come a greater appreciation for the unpredictable ebb and flow of progress when trying to breakthrough a barrier in understanding.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I hope that my verification of past results is a useful resource, one that strengthens confidence in the assumptions upon which the model is founded. With this done, in a repeatable piece of code, it supports further divergence from the prototypic case to a more advance and detailed model (or a model with a different focus). New results regarding the parameters of the model provide a more complete picture of how the model may react to change/stimulus. With these in hand, conclusions can be drawn about which parameters are key influences, those in which change elicits dramatic variation in model dynamics.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, focus on goals and outcomes, degree specific – coding for dynamic modelling

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Perseverance, logical thinking, independence

Fingle Wood Research Intern – University of Exeter CLES

Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Geology, Science, Science, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

I was working with mapping software delineating catchment boundaries, sdding pour points to tributaries and analysing the results of various imagery of Fingle wood to determine the type of vegetation that is and has been growing over the Fingle Woods area.

Also, I was spent a day ground-truthing the areas which were under analysis soon to cross reference. On this day I would check probes in the area and calibrate where necessary to ensure accurate data capture.

At the end of the project having finished Fingle Woods to a stage completion was able to work on another project involving urban flooding and cities holding water and avoiding runoff. This project was focussed on the area of Taunton.

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

Having been able to get a reasonable understanding of the GIS technology and also an idea of what is involved with the progression through the environmental sector. What it takes to be an environmental consultant today. Working with complex data projects in the direction of water improvement.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to complete the project to a reasonable standard that could be handed over for further manipulation by another GIS operative or researcher. I was able to problem solve and come up with possible solutions to current problems on GIS software. Also, brainstorming on anomalous probe results that show inconsistencies between live and compiled data.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, ability to work underpressure, decision making

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Confidence, motivation, creative thinking

Junior Account Executive – Lolly Ltd

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Business and Management

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

Account handling and digital media. I was involved with handling clients’ social media, including twitter, linked In, Instagram and Facebook using Hootsuite, and their personal websites (writing news articles for clients’ websites and press releases for upcoming events). I also researched into what firms similar to our clients do, and how we can adopt this to suit our clients.

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

The best thing about this internship was it gave me a much clearer vision of what kind of career I would like. It really opened my eyes to a different side of the business world, and I am so glad I took a risk and went for a slightly more unusual placement. My biggest achievement was becoming a lot more confident when conversing with clients. I learnt a lot about the industry and procedures.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I lightened the workload of my colleagues through planning social media posts ahead of time, drafting news articles and using Photoshop to make images more usable.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Customer service, strategic management, IT

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, perseverance, independence

 

Programme Assistant – Orchestras for All

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Advertising, Marketing and PR, Business and Management, English

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

Throughout my internship, I undertook many roles the main one being social media updates and reports through two summer course days. The first day, I undertook admin roles to organise music and surveys for the course. The second and third days I undertook numerous roles, mainly social media updates as the summer courses took place these days but also welcoming guests, staying on top of the schedule and dealing with the individual needs of the children. Lastly, I wrote a social media report for the 2017/18 financial year and analysed data from various sites to compile this. Furthermore, I updated the company’s social media policy and completed various admin tasks.

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

I learnt lots of vocabulary that charities use to determine funding and marketing which made me a lot more aware of the industry.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Mainly, I brought an extra pair of hands that was able to complete tasks the staff did not have time to do which meant their workload was lightened and could focus on integral tasks.

 What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Negotiation, assessing and managing risk, degree specific – writing coherent reports

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Motivation, personal awareness, creative thinking

Research Assistant – Coldhabour Mill Trust Ltd

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Education, Teaching and Research, Environmental Work, Geography, Science, Science

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

My responsibilities were to research the mill pond on the site to support a 1.8M renovation project and grant bids. The main details they wanted to know about the pond was, when it was built, how it was built and how it was used. To conduct this research I worked both at Coldharbour and visited local archives.

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

I was able to conduct research outside of a university classroom, and had the opportunity to go to archives and see the source material myself.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I was able to find out when the pond was roughly built, and also provide a list of areas of future research so the next researcher would have a starting point. Despite the fact I found little evidence, what I did find was actually rather fundamental to the grant bids.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, ability to work under pressure, focus on goals and outcomes

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Motivation, cultural awareness, independence

Work experience – Animal Plant Health Agency

Access to Internships (A2I), Biosciences, Science, Science

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

I shadowed various employees within their microbiology laboratory at Starcross, Exeter to gain a better idea of what their job roles required and the daily running of the business. I had the opportunity to watch multiple post mortems on various animals performed by vets and also got to observe the identification of various bacteria’s using different equipment. Health and safety was important for this role so each day I would ensure I was wearing correct PPE and following the specific protocols for each laboratory room, as each room had different requirements depending on the samples they were handling.

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

It gave me a chance to network with employers with employers if the industry and gain a better understanding of what the job role would entail.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Organisation, assessing and managing risk, time and workload management

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, confidence

 

Assistant Games Manager – SportInspired

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Education, Education, Teaching and Research, Leisure, Sport and Tourism, Psychology, Sport and Health Sciences

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

  • Supporting with the organisation of SportInspired Games programmes
  • Carrying out and compiling research on community need in the areas in which SportInspired Work
  • Exploring new business opportunities for SportInspired by researching and identifying potential partners
  • Administrative tasks such as putting together and printing essential documents for SportInspired Games
  • Supporting internship recruitment programme
  • Supporting the Event Director to run the SportInspired Games festivals

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

I learnt lots of information regarding children wellbeing and mental health which as worrying as it was, was informative and gave me reassurance that what I want to do with my life is still the same.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I gave them an insight into their well-being programme from a psychology perspective. I also, using my knowledge of statistics from my course, was able to provide the company with a free, more detailed and efficient way to analyse their data which saves them time and money needed for a data analysis software.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Teamwork and collaboration, research, degree specific

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Cultural awareness, logical thinking, creative thinking

Publishing Intern – Impress Books

Access to Internships (A2I), Administration, Classics and Ancient History, English, Libraries and Heritage, Philosophy

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

During my month as an intern at Impress Books I was mainly in charge of the Impress Prize, this meant that I had to check that the applications and payments were properly received as well as read through the manuscripts to evaluate them in order to choose a winner. I also took care of the company’s social media, organises a book giveaway and blog tour as well as the amazon orders. I helped with the interior design of a to-be-published book.

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

I have gained the confidence to evaluate manuscripts in Prize submissions.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I have considerably lightened the workload of my superior by taking care of the Impress Prize, Amazon orders and social media.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Communication, problem solving, leadership

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, creative thinking, professionalism

Research Support Intern – University of Exeter CLES

Business and Management, Education, Teaching and Research, Geography, Geology, Psychology, Science, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

My main role was recruiting and meeting with participants to take some data from them, and showing them how to use an app, as well getting feedback from them in a follow-up meeting a month later. I also collated this data, and helped to contribute to a research paper by analysing some qualitative responses and adding the introduction section. Moreover, I promoted the research at various events including the Staff Wellbeing Day.

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

I think my biggest achievement was being able run a small research collection study quite independently – I was daunted before starting it about the task at hand so have proved to myself it is possible.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I think it lightened the load of other members of the department who are more senior, as they had numerous projects, teaching etc. going on.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Ability to work under pressure, organisation, IT

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, motivation, logical thinking

Student Researcher – Training Tutors to Teach Distributed and Emergent Forms of Leadership – University of Exeter

Administration, Business and Management, Education, Education, Teaching and Research, English, Human Resources, Recruitment and Training, Student Campus Partnership (SCP)

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

  • Conducted literature searches using agreed key words and search strategies.
  • Contributed to a review of the literature on group work and leadership of student groups in higher education.
  • Designed survey instruments.
  • Field work conducting interviews with a wide range of students and some members of staff using surveys.
  • Contributed to writing a report on the review of literature and analysis of group work data from questionnaires and focus groups.

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

Managing the internship successfully whilst also maintaining focus on my studies.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

Started and completed work and tasks that my line manager does not always have time for in his work day. He now has a basis to continue from.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Problem solving, time and workload management, research

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Initiative, independence, professionalism