Marine Ecology

Internship details

Gain practical marine ecology experience and inform local conservation and environmental management activities by interning remotely from home.

This is a remote internship you can undertake from home. Click here to view the in-country version of this internship if you would prefer to intern abroad.

Marine Ecology remote internships out of Greece are hosted by a highly respected non-profit NGO that uses scientific research to inform marine conservation work in the area. Remote interns aid the NGO by helping to analyze and interpret environmental data, which is being collected during surveys conducted in the spring, summer and autumn of 2024. Interns can assist research in a number of areas, including:

Assessing blue carbon in seagrass meadows

Blue carbon is the amount of carbon that’s sequestered in a marine environment. Seagrass is one of the biggest sources of carbon sequestration on the planet, exceeding even the rate of rainforests. For this reason, preserving seagrass meadows is an important conservation priority.

Remote marine ecology interns assist monitoring of carbon sequestering to determine the productivity of seagrass meadows in different circumstances, helping to maximize efficiency and contributing to conservation techniques. Interns can also help to assess data from different seasons, measuring the effect of oxygen, temperature and light levels on sequestering rates.

Assessing seagrass habitats

Another important function of seagrass is as a habitat for a wide range of fish and macroinvertebrates. Seagrass meadows are highly successful nurseries for many different species, and research into these species gives valuable feedback on the richness of seagrass meadows. This is especially relevant for replanted meadows, as research helps to monitor how species establish themselves in new habitats.

Remote interns help to analyze video footage of new and existing seagrass meadows to inform research on species density and behavior. This research gives revealing insight into the health of individual meadows over time.

Invasive species analysis

Invasive species that spread throughout the Mediterranean can impact marine biodiversity and ecosystem services. However, there is relatively little information to provide insight into the ongoing spread and impact of invasive species.

Online marine ecology interns help to analyze film footage to identify and quantify invasive species in different habitats, contributing to action plans that mitigate the effects of foreign marine life. Information is used on an official scientific database that monitors the spread of invasive species all around the Mediterranean.

Artificial reef assessment

Artificial reefs play an important role in supporting populations of marine life that rely on natural reef habitats, which are in decline. Scientists are at an early stage of assessing the success of artificial reef establishment, and marine ecology interns help this analysis by monitoring video footage to determine the success of species populations in these environments.

This is valuable research contributing to a potentially exciting solution for reef deterioration, which is a pressing marine conservation concern all around the world.

Monitoring biodiversity

Monitoring fish biodiversity is an important way for assessing the quality of different habitats. There are many ways to do this, such as through snorkel surveys, underwater drones, or underwater cameras.

Remote marine ecology interns can be involved with analyzing footage collected through various means, to gather data on population density. Interns can also compare data from different collection methods to help to determine which is most efficient and accurate.

In all cases, interns should expect that the initial phase of their remote internship will focus on gaining some introductory knowledge. You may start by gaining an understanding or overview of what you can build upon, develop, learn, and contribute. Ensure that you ask questions and provide feedback during the introductory period, so that your supervisor understands how you’re progressing. This will help them to better understand important details, such as how quickly you learn, what you find challenging, what you find interesting, etc.

Understand and expect that individual internship experiences vary. Therefore, if you’re at a more introductory level, you should reasonably expect a more introductory internship. Likewise, if you’re interning for a shorter duration, you will have a different experience from someone who is interning for a longer duration. Placement preferences are considered but always subject to availability.

Career Benefits