My year as an intern with SAEON’s Egagasini Node

Catherine presents a poster on her involvement with a pelagic ichthyoplankton project in collaboration with DAFF. Catherine with the SAEON Egagasini Node’s Education Officer and learners in the Node’s schools programme. Catherine (left) and SAEON Research Administrator Beate Hölscher sample vegetation plots on the eastern shores of Lake St. Lucia in KwaZulu-Natal. Catherine (right) and Beate Hölscher identify and process vegetation samples. Catherine (second from right) with fellow interns at the DST-NRF intern research day at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in Port Elizabeth in March 2013.

My year as a DST-NRF intern is drawing to an end and I wish to extend my greatest appreciation and thanks primarily to my host institution, the SAEON Egagasini Node, and to all I have had the opportunities of learning from, engaging and working with.

The main objective of the internship is to provide a platform for recent graduates to “find their feet” in terms of the potential workplace and explore options of continuing with academia or specific components of research in the work environment.

I came into this internship wanting and hoping to explore and experience as many different components of environmental research during this year as possible. I believe that acquiring skills and experience is beneficial to me no matter what aspect of research or career path I pursue.

I walked into this internship placement having just submitted my MSc and left university life. This was a year’s opportunity to grow both personally and professionally and develop my career views and interests. As an enthusiastic, willing-to-learn-and-experience-new-things intern, I soon got going with familiarising myself with my host institution and, no doubt, the paperwork logistics unfailingly required in the working environment. Developing my annual work plan and working out how to best manage the time and opportunities available to me was the start of the venture.

I have been involved in a number of projects and met many people. I have had exposure to a range of spheres including, but not limited to, data collation and analyses; environmental education outreach in collaboration with both the SAEON Egagasini education officer and the Two Oceans Aquarium Education Centre; pelagic fisheries research in collaboration with the Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF); benthic invertebrate research; basic GIS skills learning; statistics training; science communication; vegetation monitoring in collaboration with the SAEON Grassland, Forest and Wetlands Node; and networking.

‘Where talent meets opportunity’

In my final month, I attended the DST-NRF intern research day at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) in Port Elizabeth. This event brought together interns from across the country to share their experiences and research projects in which they have been involved. ‘Where talent meets opportunity’ was the programme’s slogan and my experience over the past year has been filled with many a wonderful opportunity.

We were welcomed by Xolisa Vitsha of the National Research Foundation (NRF), followed by a keynote address by Dr Phethiwe Matutu of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). Six delegates (selected interns) presented projects in which they participated during their internships.

After fellowship and networking enjoyed over lunch, Bukhosi Ndakisa of the Medical Research Council shared his perspective of being an intern within the DST-NRF programme. This was followed by the awards ceremony for completion of the DST-NRF April 2012/2013 internship, after which the due course of evaluation and feedback concluded the day.

Networking and sharing experiences with fellow national interns was an interesting and enjoyable experience. We entered the hall as a group of strangers but left as colleagues, having shared and learnt from each other and each others’ experiences. ‘We need our shades, because the future looks so bright,’ remarked Xolisa, expressing his outlook on the programme.

Approximately 150 of the near 400 interns hosted by institutions nationwide attended the research day in Port Elizabeth.

Farewell

All in all this internship has provided extensive exposure and experience bridging academic and working life. We often learn more by looking for the answer than in finding it. I have learnt that it is fulfilling and mutually beneficial to keep an open mind with a willing-to-learn-and-do attitude.

Thanks to all who have played a part in making this experience possible. To the DST and the NRF for funding my internship, to the SAEON Egagasini Node for hosting me during my internship, to manager Dr Juliet Hermes and mentor Dr Lara Atkinson and the Egagasini family for your guidance and support of my experiences and opportunities. I wish you all everything of the best and will cherish memories of my time spent as part of the Egagasini family.

Hopefully our paths will cross again in the future, until then, farewell. I wish to leave you with three of my favourite quotes:

• "In the end, we will conserve only what we love, we will love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught." (Baba Dioum)
• "We make a living by what we do; we make a life by what we give." (Winston Churchill)
• "Do what you like and like what you do."