Internship in Cyprus

Ieva Čaraitė

A philosopher St. Augustine once said: „The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page“. I always keep this quote in mind and try to utilise opportunities to travel abroad and learn as much as possible. Following my graduation, I got an opportunity to carry out an internship at Marine and Environmental Research Lab in Cyprus. This place suited my interests thus without any hesitation I was ready to get there.

I was a part of MER team for 4 months and I got involved in many activities. My thesis was based on macrofauna and macrophytes effect to biogeochemistry so I expressed entusiasm and interest in local marine species of flora and fauna that I encountered. My best time in Cyprus was during field expeditions which lasted for two weeks in Natura 2000 marine sites (Cape Greco and Nisia). I participated in the underwater surveys and had a chance to inspect the biota closely and in their natural environment. I also appreciated the fact that I had a chance to meet many scientists from all over the world e.g. Israel, Spain, Australia, England that happened to visit MER`s facilities during my internship.

I feel that my internship experiece with MER has helped to clarify my career objectives and now I aim to continue my studies and carry out an MSc programme related to marine biology.