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This internship so far has been a great opportunity to widen my scope and learn about new areas of Science. Throughout my studies, I've had a focus on Human Biology through Genetics and Immunology and have never completed an Earth and Environmental Science unit. This internship is within the Water and Coast team within the Climate Change and Sustainability division and my primary role is working under my supervisor Hayden who is responsible for the Beach Hand Cleaning Trial, a 12-month trial of hand cleaning 100% of Mornington Peninsula beaches to determine its efficacy and sustainability when compared to the previous method of mechanical raking. Within this role, I'm involved in site visits for the testing of microplastic and wrack presence through different monitoring methods. All the data collected is accumulated in an Excel spreadsheet and from this I will represent this data and provide a summary document to serve as a progress Report, to be made available on the Shire's beach cleaning webpage to the general public. There have been community concerns with this trial since its commencement, having been the first council to introduce a 100% hand-cleaning methodology and the importance of the coast to the way of life on the Mornington Peninsula. I'm currently completing one full day in the office (9 am-5 pm) per week on Tuesdays and will involved for more days in the larger monitoring rounds the week of mid-semester break.

Challenges

A major challenge I have faced is feeling that I lack relevant knowledge of the role. During my interview with my now supervisor, I informed him of this and the whole team have been supportive and wanting to help me learn and provide me with so much knowledge. The team have each involved me in their roles getting to see different sites and learn more about the coast including conservation, coastal erosion, coastal risk, coastal planning, flooding and drainage. Despite lacking experience I have learned so much and now I'm feeling more confident in my abilities and feel that I have more to contribute to the team.

Expectations vs Reality

I didn't know what to expect within a council office and did not truly understand the processes and the structure of the organisation. I have found it interesting to learn about the political dynamics within the council and the process of receiving funding for projects. I've found that within each small team individuals curate and present projects to councillors for funding and where approved seem to be tasked with this individually with help from the team where possible. I expected that within funding there as greater allocation to certain causes such as maintenance and safety of coastal property and structures and more importantly the preservation of the coast through coastal erosion prevention strategies.

Feedback

My supervisor and I recently had a progress meeting to talk about how each of us was feeling in the internship. This was a great opportunity for some validation of my professional skills, communication, teamwork and adaptability while being able to ask questions about my expectations and plan out my role and deliverables each week.

Growth

So far I think this has been a great experience to put me out of my comfort zone and test my abilities to work within a professional environment, gel with coworkers work on projects that I don't think I otherwise ever would have and gain knowledge. I think have grown in confidence within the workplace and my abilities and think it's providing valuable insight into the science industry as well as the government sector.

Despite this internship being so far from what I'm studying I've realised it's the day of the week I most look forward to. I like the dynamic working schedule between in the office and out on site and it provides the opoI'm invested in my project and the organisation and would love the opportunity to extend my internship or stay with the project in a different role to see it through until the 12-month trial is over.

I gained a deeper understanding of the coast and the environment, and it’s really shaped how I now view and engage with my local environment. The knowledge I’ve gained has also influenced my personal values, making me more conscious of how my actions impact the world around me.

Working within local government was also a highlight. It was really interesting to learn more about how the council operates, the local election process, and the steps it takes for things to actually get done. Seeing the decision-making process up close was eye-opening, and it gave me a better appreciation for how local governance works.

I feel very fortunate to have been paired with a supervisor who not only made me feel comfortable asking questions but also helped me develop my professional skills and deepen my knowledge in environmental science. They played a big part in making this such a positive learning experience for me.

Fitting in with the rest of the team was easy, and while my supervisor was away, I had the chance to work with other team members and assist on different projects, which gave me more opportunities to learn and grow. Overall, I’m really thankful for this experience and everything it taught me.