INTERNSHIPS ACCOUNTS

Collette from USA: internships with the BDRI - 2007.

My two-month internship at the BDRI was a wonderful experience. I am a PhD student in animal behavior at Purdue University, and my goal for my internship was to develop a deeper understanding of wild dolphin behavior. I was pleasantly surprised at the high scientific standards of the BDRI's researchers and their dedication to what they do. Bruno, Andrea, and Luna (their dog - but a very enthusiastic dolphin observer) have dedicated their lives to better understanding the dolphins off Sardinia, and are doing an amazing job.
During my internship I learned a great deal about field research and I also met some incredible people. I also had the opportunity to learn about bioacoustics, photo-identification, respiratory patterns, social structure, dolphin behavior and general marine biology. Bruno is a wealth of knowledge and very fun to work with. I truly enjoyed the incredibly peaceful experience of being out to sea and the dolphins were amazing. I have the utmost respect for Bruno and all of his hard work, and I look forward to working with him again in the future. I am also grateful to Bruno for being so flexible with me, as I took my 1- year old daughter and my mother with me to Golfo Aranci. I highly recommend this experience to anyone who wants to learn more about dolphins.

Mandy from Scotland: internships and MSc Student with BDRI - 2007.

When I was fifteen years old, I decided that I wanted to be a marine biologist more than anything else in this world. Now, ten years later I have a bachelor degree in Marine Biology and am about to finish my Masters degree too. My three month long internship at BDRI was not my first experience in dolphin research and I hope it won't be my last. What I know for certain is that my time at the BDRI was one of the most enjoyable experiences in research I have had. I have had a great time, learned so much and as if that alone was not enough; I also did get to meet some great people.

Work at the BDRI comes in so many shapes and forms, which is what in my opinion makes it so interesting and exciting. The work is hard and often exhausting but to me what makes it all worthwhile, is knowing that it plays a crucial part in the protection and conservation of the animals. The thing that I enjoyed the most and that I do miss the most is going out on the boat, especially during night time hours. Apart from enjoying myself and the work at BDRI I also had the great opportunity to work on a research project for my MSc Thesis. I am so thankful for all these great things.

Kari from Canada: internships and MSc Student with BDRI - 2006.

I was an intern with BDRI for 3 months during the summer field season. This was my first field experience working with marine mammals and it was a great learning experience. I am an MSc student studying marine mammal science and I was doing research and collecting data on the dive behaviour of bottlenose dolphins in the area. There was nothing better than going out in the boat and being rewarded with a great dolphin sighting! It was amazing every time, whether it was before sunrise or after sunset, as each experience was completely different. My favourite sighting of the summer was at night, when we actually heard the blows of the dolphins before we spotted them. I learned more than I thought possible in my three months at BDRI, and this internship was a great opportunity to put me further ahead in my field!

Ivonne from Germany: internships and bachelor student with BDRI - 2006.

I had a great time at the BDRI working with Bruno and the other research interns! I really enjoyed meeting so many interns (I think we were 8 at that time) from different countries and with so different backgrounds and cultures. Unfortunately we had no sightings during my stay but I had the chance to analyse dolphin sounds at the computer which was absolutely amazing and good fun! Just imagine what strange sounds dolphins are able to create, you won't believe!!! So in the end I had nice data for my Bachelor-thesis. Bruno was a pretty keen supervisor and I really learned a lot about bioacoustic research on dolphins and how important the projects at the BDRI are. Thank you for a wonderful experience!!!

Anna from U.K: internships with BDRI - 2006.

As for the internship I had with you-- well, what can I say. It was a chance to gain invaluable experience in the very competetive marine mammal field; having a personal project on the photo-identification database gave me insight into a key tool used on almost every marine mammal research project and made me conscious of the problems small mistakes may make on the larger database (!) and in turn on future research projects. This internship made me more determined to follow my goal of being a marine mammal research scientist and the one-to-one attention and constant guidance from the chief researcher taught me both about the specific research collected at the BDRI and other relevant research.

I had a really great time with the BDRI staff--I really didn't know what to write but it really was a fabulous time and I learnt so much about everything including collecting research, making a database and just general information about writing a paper and being specific and of course my spanish!