To apply, email your CV (resume) and your letter of interest by close of business Thursday 29th February 2024 to luisa.lopez@iwdg.ie
The internship runs from May to September 2024 and interns are requested to stay for a minimum of 10 weeks to gain enough experience. When submitting your application please include your preferred start and end dates.
Intern Duties
Surveying for Shannon Dolphins
Join surveys on board the IWDG’s RIB, Muc Mhara, to record sightings, capture photo data, record behaviour, group size, and environmental conditions. Assist coming in and out of port. Download and sort data captured during the survey. Interns will also join a week-long survey onboard the IWDG’s research vessel, Celtic Mist where the whole Shannon Dolphin range will be surveyed involving similar duties as RIB surveys with the addition of assisting with running the boat with other crew members.
Data will also be captured from land during monthly watches from several headlands. Two interns will conduct 6-hour surveys, on a 30-minute watch rotation.
Photo ID & Data Handling
Interns will process the photo id data they collect in the field, including matching photographed animals to the known catalogue of animals in the population. Other duties include double-checking processed trips for quality control, collating images into catalogues and adding data collected to databases.
Education & Outreach
The Shannon Dolphin centre offers free tours to the public. Interns will be trained on the collection of artifacts in the centre and how to give a tour to the public. Other E&O duties include writing social media posts and a blog about a specific survey or task during the season.
Miscellaneous
Ad hoc tasks may come up during an intern’s time with the project. These may include assisting the SDP Officer with occasional postmortems, sampling of stranded cetaceans, responding to local strandings, deploying or recovering acoustic devices and bird surveys.
Requirements
Applicants must have completed a BSc. in STEM, particularly biology, ecology, or marine science program.
Applicants should also have a strong work ethic and the ability to work well with others, this is especially important as interns will have to work in close quarters at sea.
Advantageous Experience or Skills
- Previous data collection or handling experience in any research setting
- Experience at sea
- Education and outreach experience
- Knowledge of marine mammals
- Small power boat handling
- Photography
- Driver’s License: Several of the headlands for watches are not within walking distance of the office therefore, some intern positions require a full, clean driver’s license, valid in the Republic of Ireland, and applicants who are over 26 years of age, to be covered under our motor insurance policy
Expenses and housing
This is an unpaid internship. Successful applicants are responsible for their living expenses. However, the IWDG will help organise accommodation. Rent and expenses for the 2023 season were ~ €400 per month.
There will be no fee for Celtic Mist surveys, your food onboard will be covered. Any food purchased while on land will be at the intern’s own expense.