Environmental Engineering student and Marine Conservation Intern
Internship Summary
During my International internship I worked at Ieranto bay, a stunning park that is open to the public. Ieranto bay served as a limestone quarry from the years of 1925-1952 until it was abandoned. The land was then bought by the Fondo Ambiente Italiano which translates to Italian environmental fund. After the FAI bought the land in 1986 they began to restore the land and clean up the mess left behind from the quarry. Then in 1997 the Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella was established and Ieranto bay was included in the 31 kilometers of protected coast line. In Ieranto our main task are information, monitoring, and conservation. For information we educate park guest at our info point, lead snorkeling and kayak excursions, and have Marine Biology lectures for students. For monitoring we collect data on the number of boats and people that enter the park, as well as population numbers of organisms in the bay. For conservation our main assignments are to reduce numbers of boats and anchors, clean trash from the beach and sea, and to raise awareness of the damages humans have caused to the area. Me aswell as the other interns worked together each day to carry out all of these goals. My main project here was cleanup, every day I helped Micheal Demercurio with his research project on Marine Litter. This was an incredible project because everyday we cleaned the water and beach of trash which benefits the environment. However the data we collected on the litter benefitted Micheal's project and gave us insights on how to prevent litter in the future. Although the research project was my main task I also did extensive work at the park info point and in the kayak patrolling for illegal boats. At the info point I assisted park guest with any questions they may have, as well as educating them on the history of the park. During boat patrol I take the kayak to the sea and communicate with the boat captains. My job was to be friendly while informing the captain that motorized boats are not allowed in the park. I also ask which port they departed from and if they anchored or not. After they leave I report information such as the number of people on the boat, how big the boat is, where they came from, and if they anchored.
Internship Reflection
Over the course of my international internship I faced some obstacles but also developed some skills to overcome those obstacles. In this section I will reflect upon my internship experience and analyze some challenges as well as how this experience will carry over into my future.
Challenges
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Language Barrier
One of the main challenges I faced in this experience was the language barrier. During my time working in Ieranto I had to help many non-english speaking park visitors while running the info point. However through this I have discovered many ways to communicate outside of spoken language. While I have learned some Italian words and phrases, I have learned ways to communicate with Italian speakers via hand gestures, facial expression, and body language.
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Time Management
Another big challenge I faced during my time here was time management. The main concern was in the first five weeks when I was taking my culture and communications course with Jacksonville University. While it was one of my favorite classes I have ever taken it was very time consuming, with multiple field trips per week, two classes per week, and assignments it was a challenge to balance it with the internship. However I found many good ways to balance these two responsibilities such as planning my weeks ahead of time, doing schoolwork while commuting, and staying in touch with my professor and supervisor. Proactive communication was the best way for me to balanced this time crisis, both my class professor and internship supervisor were very understanding of my situation and gave me a heads up for upcoming assignments and even granted me some extra time if I absolutely needed it.
Skills
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Teaching and Learning
Another personal value I have improved upon is both teaching and learning. Throughout this experience I have had to learn about the Marine Protected Area and its history, then go teach it to park visitors. This has been very unique as I am teaching and learning with people who speak a different native language. This came very easy for me because the natural world is something I am very passionate about so I was motivated to learn more about Ieranto. Additionally it was very rewarding to see park visitors interested in learning about the area.
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Communication
One skill that has been crucial for me in this experience is active communication. As stated before the two big challenges I faced were time management and the language barrier however improved communication skills allowed me to overcome these obstacles. Working in Ieranto I developed innovative ways to help the non-english speaking park visitors such as using hand gestures and even utilizing the little bit of Spanish I know. Also proactive communication with my Sant'Anna professors and supervisors allowed me to manage my workload better. Keeping close contact with the Sant'Anna staff helped immensely because they were all very understanding and willing to assist me with any problems.
Moving Forward
In my final week of my Internship I have put much thought into how this experience will impact my future. In short I think this internship was life changing and definitely makes me view my future from a different perspective. The connections I have made in the Marine Biology community will definitely play a role in my future. Additionally the international work experience will definitely set me apart from other job candidates in the future. Also my work cleaning up the Mediterranean Sea has inspired me to bring that work back to Florida and I plan to assist on beach cleaning projects this upcoming semester at Florida Atlantic.
STAR Internship Assignment
For this weeks assignment I have been tasked to reflect upon three of my personal skills developed in my international internship and analyze it using the S.T.A.R method. Which stands for Situation, Task, Action, and Result. The first skill I will discuss is the ability to communicate through language barrier. As I stated before there have been many instances where I must help out a park guest, despite there being a language barrier between us. For instance a man came to me speaking Italian so I told him in Italian that I do not speak the language and asked if he knew English. He said he did not so I asked if he understood any Spanish as I have studied Spanish in the past. Luckily the man was from Argentina and spoke Spanish. I used the Spanish I remembered from my studies to give the man a brief explanation of the park and its layout. Using effective communication skills and practicing patience allowed me to complete by job as a park intern despite a large barrier in communicating. Another skill I have improved upon through my internship is working with a team. An example of this is when my fellow interns and I clean the seafloor. Cleaning the seafloor across a large area with just trash bags, a kayak, and snorkel is no light task. To complete this I coordinate with fellow interns Ashlynn and Micheal to establish a plan. After discussion we decide we must keep one person in a kayak to hold a garbage bag while the other two hold their breath and dive down to collect litter from the seafloor. After taking shifts at different positions we finish as a group, finishing the task far quicker than if we were alone. The final skill developed I want to discuss is cultural flexibility. I have already stated before that setting aside expectations and being open minded has helped me through this experience. However being embracing various cultures and languages has been a significant factor in my ability to communicate well. In my time working in Ieranto I have collaborated with individuals from Spain, Germany, Latvia, Belgium, Turkey, Poland, and Italy. Working alongside a large group who all have entirely different cultural backgrounds has been very enlightening. An example of this cultural mash-up occured one day where my supervisor was from Belgium, I am an intern from America, and the new volunteer I was helping was from Spain. Three people all from different cultures collaborating together in a country none of them are from, truly incredible. All together we understood six languages making it very easy to communicate with park visitors no matter where they come from. The ability to embrace linguistic and cultural differences, and conquer them together has been truly life changing and will benefit me for years to come.