Praktika Jūrų apsaugos institute „Archipelagos“ Graikijoje

As a recent graduate from Vilnius University, Faculty of Natural Sciences, I decided to get practical experience abroad and started looking for an internship. I got accepted as a terrestrial researcher in Archipelagos, Institute of Marine Conservation which was based in Samos island in Greece.

During my internship I was doing various tasks and were able to participate in many different projects including chameleon distribution, habitat and vegetation preference surveys, bird monitoring in environmentally protected areas, monitoring the regeneration of burned forest, preparing short lessons and workshops about nature and environment for kids and so on. I was responsible for Golden jackal diet preference surveys and Golden jackal population size and distribution in the Eastern part of Samos surveys.

Due to the isolated location of research base during free time we were planning and organizing our own social events like quizzes, board game evenings, themed parties, movie nights and so forth. Because of that, I was improving not only my analytical skills required for work but creativity skills as well.

I am very happy that I had an opportunity to participate in Erasmus+ traineeship program. I gained a lot of experience which strongly improved my professional competencies as a biologist/ecologist. In addition, I met many wonderful and interesting people from all over the world, improved my English, got to know Greece culture better and had a once in the lifetime chance to experience life in isolated rural island of Samos.

Laura Jurkeviciute