Duration of Internship: April 2021 – August 2021
Funded by ERASMUS+
Qualifications
B.Sc. Marine Biology and Oceanography, University of Plymouth (2018 – 2022)
Kyra completed a 4-month internship with MER after taking a year out of her undergraduate degree to gain industrial experience. Taking part in a wide range of different projects ran by MER was the main drawing factor for Kyra when choosing an internship, so she was thrilled to be offered many opportunities to broaden her field experience. These projects included the monitoring of artificial reef structures to assess biodiversity and biological productivity, and RELIONMED LIFE+ project, alongside assisting projects with external researchers to complete habitat mapping around Cyprus. Kyra had many opportunities to enhance her laboratory skills in macrofaunal sorting, identifying the fish commonly found around Cyprus, and measuring seagrass shoot morphometrics.
Kyra’s main focus throughout her internship at MER was planning a future MER project and her own thesis data collection looking at transplantation techniques and monitoring efforts for the transplantation of Posidonia oceanica. Working alongside the MER team she helped to plan the experimental design and oversee the transplantation process, alongside designing and implementing monitoring efforts.
She stated: “Completing an internship with MER gives you key fieldwork and lab skills as a result of assisting on a wide variety of projects and experiencing how a research center works, as well as gaining some experience throughout the consultancy sector. For someone like me who wasn’t sure which area of marine biology to specialize in, this internship has really allowed me to narrow down my options going into a career in marine biology”.