My Intern Experience with SRT
Written by Lukas.
When I was initially due to start my placement at SRT, I’ll admit that I didn’t have much in the way of expectations, since working at such an organisation was very much a new experience for me. However, to say that my experience working with SRT for the last four months blew any expectations I did have out of the water would be an understatement.
Almost every task I have undertaken with SRT has been a new and interesting experience. I have performed seal abundance surveys along the coast by counting, aging, sexing and identifying individual seals, worked with the vast SRT database and collated numerous datasets.
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Taking part in my first ever Boat Survey
Everything I have learned with SRT will no doubt be extremely valuable in my future studies and beyond. I have gained a deeper understanding of the inner workings of environmental organisations and conservation in general. I have familiarised myself with the many and varied behaviours of grey seals and become more proficient with computer programs through practice and repetition.
A particular highlight were the amazing people I have had the privilege of working with throughout my placement. From my very first day, they were accommodating, kind, helpful and committed to making sure my placement was as informative and valuable to my studies as possible. Everyone fostered a warm and friendly atmosphere, where I felt included and able to ask for help whenever, even when occasionally situations were not ideal.
Young persons Field Trip that I co-led on 13/04/2026
If there is one thing I would write in conclusion, it is that I hope the wonderful people at SRT consider taking on an intern again sometime in the future, as they are all exceptionally adept at making someone feel welcome, useful and valued and are dedicated to seeing that person grow and improve. Any potential intern, be they a student on a placement or simply someone extremely passionate about marine wildlife and conservation (or both, in my case) would be incredibly lucky to be afforded this once in a lifetime opportunity.
My leaving day lunch with Rangers Karen and Loz and Trustees Sue and Kate
You can help SRT by supporting their ability to facilitate future internships to help develop the next generation of marine conservationists. One way to do this is to join our Wild Seal Supporter and Adoption Scheme for as little at £3.50 a month or £35 a year. This is a win win! We get to help more people and seals and you get to adopt a real wild seal with quarterly updates about all our adopted seals!
https://www.sealresearchtrust.co.uk/collections/all-items/products/adoption-wws-1-year
