Research Internship Testimonial | Merle Heß | University Innsbruck

As I am about to finish my bachelor, I wanted to gain some additional experience to help me decide for a master. I am really interested in ecology and climate change. In Gibraltar I had the possibility to follow these interests and at the same time discover a new ecosystem. Moreover, I like the fact that the University is small so you have a create working environment and everything is more personnel.

During my internship I joined three different research projects. On the one side I worked on a coral health project. This project included a heat wave experiment on the coral Astroides calycularis and their nursery. I used the programme “PhotoQuad” to determine the living and dead parts of the corals. On the other side I joined two different projects with dolphins. We conducted several land-based surveys on the west, the south and the east side of Gibraltar detecting the species of the dolphins, their distribution and behaviour. Additionally, I joined a few boat surveys and gained some experience in doing photo-ID. Moreover, I took part in some boat surveys where we recorded the whistles of the common dolphins with a hydrophone. For the analysing of this data, we used the programme “Ravenpro”.

I learned how to use different programmes to analyse various types of data like pictures and audio files. For example, I experienced how to use the programme “Discovery” to differentiate individuals in a group of dolphins by photo-ID. Moreover, I improved my observing skills during the land-based surveys and on the boat and learned how to recognize the different species and behaviour of the dolphins. By doing the coral nursery I experienced how much care is related to an experiment with animals in the lab. “I also gained an insight into the considerations that need to be taken into account before and while doing a research project”.

First of all, I am definitely planning on doing a master after I have finished my bachelor in biology. The internship confirmed my interest in climate change and sustainability but also helped me to realise that I can imagine linking these two topics not only to ecology but also to microbiology. I am encouraged to try out different research work focusing on environmental health.