2 May 2023: Blog – My time at NAMMCO
Background
Already during my bachelor’s in environmental science, I learned about NAMMCO and used their species distribution maps in my presentations. The timing was always off to apply for the internship but finally when I finished my master’s I seized the opportunity. I have always loved snow and wanted to experience the Arctic winter and the northern lights, so it was a no brainer to apply and move up there. When I arrived in September, I saw the transformation to autumn which was so beautiful and already worth the move!
About my internship
The first week of my internship was remote and I was immediately involved with preparing documents for the Annual Council Meeting which was held early September 2022. When I arrived in Tromsø, it was not even 2 weeks before we went to Oslo for the meeting where I was responsible for the technical aspects from our side. In general, I was lucky to be able to attend many meetings and was involved in many projects during my time at NAMMCO. I was also fortunate to be trusted with the maintenance of the MINTAG website as well as being able to be a co-author of the review of Bearded seals in the Atlantic Arctic which was published in NAMMCO Scientific Publications. A very new and challenging but fun task was to organise the fifth Marine Mammal Student Symposium for which I found a great team of students of UiT. Additionally, I got involved in the preparations of the Panarctic Bearded seal workshop and even held a short presentation during the workshop. On top of that, I was responsible for the #FunFactFridays posts on Facebook and even launched the Instagram account of NAMMCO.
Challenges
Navigating through periods of high workload and stress was the biggest challenge for me during my time at NAMMCO because I was not used to this kind of work after my rather relaxed studies.
Life in Tromsø
Even when you are not the biggest outdoor enthusiast but just enjoy nature it is a great experience living up here. The nature surrounding Tromsø is wonderful, and the amounts of snow we got during winter were amazing. There was a lot to see, and my highlights were breaching humpback whales as well as strong northern lights just outside my apartment. Here in the Arctic the sky had the most beautiful colors during sunsets and sunrises I have ever seen. During winter, the darkness was a lot to handle but, in the office, my best friend the daylight lamp helped me to survive.
There is a big international community in Tromsø which is easy to meet through volunteering at events and the city has lots to offer!
Learn more about the internship here
