Student Intern – University of Exeter CLES

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

Looking through historical sea fisheries data and extract statistics surrounding Cornwall. These documents included annual reports dating back to 1886. I catalogued these statistics into several spreadsheets according to their category (e.g. fish landings). I was also responsible for taking notes and being involved with a 3 day workshop about historic marine ecosystem services. This workshop was arranged for several academics in interdisciplinary fields of research to brainstorm ideas for starting a paper about the historical and cultural use of marine ecosystem services.

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

I made new professional relationships while at the workshop. The workshop also gave me an insight into how to brainstorm relevant ideas for your research topic.

What benefits did your internship bring to your employer?

I managed to catalogue data between the years 1886 and 1946, which hopefully will relieve some of the workload from other interns and my line manager.

What skills were you able to develop through the internship?

Time and workload management, IT, marine biology – conservation management

What attributes were you able to develop through the internship?

Commercial awareness, confidence, logical thinking