So far, my internship consisted mostly of being in the laboratory analyzing samples, helping students, and organizing different sections of the biology department to work more efficiently. I had everything on my Wishlist ticked off, besides one; marine field work! Initially my goal was to get on the AB.203 6-day marine biology cruise – the main reason most of my study mates decided on coming to UNIS and taking the AB-203 course. Unfortunately, there was not enough space for me to join due to corona regulations. I also felt a bit relieved because I tend to get seasick and don’t […]
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As a student your responsibilities tend to affect just you, and you alone. Perhaps you will have a few unhappy study-mates if you don ́t contribute enough in a group, but the damage can often be disregarded. As an employee, you can’t afford to fall of the horse (at least not more than once). Your colleagues depend on you to get your work done, companies work like a machine, where each part has to work and contribute for a successful outcome. Working in the laboratory independently went from being empowering to feeling more lonely, and with repetition of the same […]
Whilst my supervisor named Stuart left on a week’s vacation, I quickly start to get introduced as“the new (mini) Stuart” by the biology department staff to the new arrivals. Since it feels likeStuart is the glue that keeps the department together I am honoured to carry this title for theweek. Before his departure he trained me in DNA extraction, PCR, and gel electrophoresis, to beable to distinguish between two different species of copepods, a project formerly worked on bya PhD student who is currently on a scientific cruise. I was thankful to be given so muchconfidence and trust to take […]
During my first week as intern I have been working closely with my supervisor. I was pleasantly surprised as I got to spend the entire week in the laboratory! We prepared many agents for a seawater nutrient analyzer machine, and then ran a few hundred samples from various biologist through it to test phosphate, nitrate, nitrite and silicate levels. I found it incredibly useful to see how an analysis as such is ran, as I have never gotten to experience it before; in a Bachelor program the “important/thorough” parts are done by lab technicians (students generally aren’t trusted not to […]
On the 17th of January 2021, I arrived in Lonyearbyen completely uncertain of what to expect. I am a biology bachelor student from Nord Universitet in Bodø, out on exchange for the semester. I consider myself extremely lucky, given that I’ve gotten a practical internship at UNIS’s arctic biology department during the mad times of COVID-19. The last months have been quiet and mostly spent at home (large parts of studying eventually happened in my blanket fortress), thus I expect one of my biggest challenges to be to start living by a routine again and show up refreshed and ready […]
When I arrived in Longyearbyen my expectations for the internship were quite high. I thought the internship would give me a lot of practical skills that would help me sort out which part of research I liked before starting my master degree in the fall. I was looking forward to helping out collecting and processing samples, learning more about how to run research projects in remote places and arctic conditions, maintaining lab and field equipment, and to utilize as many machines, instruments and methods in the lab as possible. The lab activity in January is less intensive than in the […]
Student culture versus employee cultures Even thought the employee culture at UNIS seems informal, being a student, I haven`t mingled that much with the employees more than during the lunch a couple of times. Still, my impression is that the environment is friendly and casual between the staff. On the other hand, the student culture is perhaps more family oriented since we live together, eat together, study together and socialize together. As many students have left their family and friends behind, strong bonds between the students have formed. How do you utilize your biological knowledge? When I, during my internship, […]
Two months have past, and I am almost half way through the semester. So far I have only touched on some of the tasks that a lab technician conducts. I have spent several hours calibrating pipets, cleaning labs, setting up new instruments and transferring some samples from one container to another. I am quite familiar at the lab already, and that feels good. I am happy to have started the work, but feel I am lagging a bit behind schedule, since I want to be done with my workload by May 15th when the class ends. My lecture schedule and […]
(Photo: The nutrient analyser – the diva of the biology department) Hi there! I am checking in on my blog to tell you a bit more about my internship. After my first meeting with my internship host, Stuart in January, I was eager to start working and getting to know my new workplace. I started early February, and from the beginning I felt very welcomed, and am really enjoying my internship this far. Since I’m only preparing my bachelor project in addition to my internship this semester, I have really appreciated some breaks from reading articles and doing something practical. […]