All the way from Europe


Jack, Lucie, Nick and Lonne, our four new interns

 Recently, the project has welcomed four interns from different corners of Europe who have been doing a great job so far, especially with the construction of the two coral growing tanks ( which are going to be ready soon ....)
Here they are! 
Lonne, Aishah and Carolyn working on one of the two coral growing tanks
Hello, my name is Lonne! I am 19 years old and am interning with MCSS for 20 weeks as apart of my University’s course content. I study in The Netherlands in a University of Applied Science called Avans, and am currently in my third year of the ‘Environmental Science for Sustainable Energy and Technology’ program. During my internship with MCSS I will get the chance to work on various really exciting projects that are currently up and running. A few of these include the Coral Nurseries at Fisherman’s Cove, Terrapin Monitoring down at Anse Forbans, Wetland Research Project, among others.I have so far completed my first week working at Fisherman’s Cove and have had the opportunity to learn a vast amount about various corals and fish, the threats they face, methods of monitoring growth, rehabilitation and more. I look forward to seeing what the other projects have in store for me and all the new experiences I have yet to gain :).


Lucie cleaning the glass of a tank
Heya I’m Lucie, a second year BSc Ecology and Environment student from the University of Sussex in England. I’m working with MCSS in the Seychelles for nine and a half weeks as a part of a placement year in industry before I move on to Cambodia and Madagascar for more marine conservation later in the year. The Seychelles has already become my home and I’m endlessly taken aback by the stunning nature and wildlife here. I’m really enjoying my work with the MCSS team and I’m very excited that in just a weeks time I will see the construction of the on-land nursery at Fisherman’s Cove. Once the nursery is built I will begin collecting data on the growth rates of the coral nubbins for my third-year dissertation which I am most looking forward to! In addition to this, I’m keen to develop my coral and fish ID skills and hope to learn more about conservation in the area. 

Hallo! My name is Nick, I am 22 years old and come from the wet and flat Netherlands. I will spend 20 weeks here in the sunny Seychelles with MCSS for my internship. I study Environmental Science in the Netherlands, currently I’m in my 3rd year. I came to Seychelles together with Lonne and Jack, they are also studying Environmental science and are in the same year as I am. I love the relaxed life here and being able to spend a lot of time in and near the sea. I don’t have a lot of knowledge on coral yet, but it is really interesting and I’m getting to know them bit by bit. So far I have seen quite some interesting animals like, squids, rays and turtles and I hope to see a lot more! The two biggest differences with home are the weather and the mountains. I’m glad that I will be spending September to January here and I miss out on the very wet and cold autumn (even though it will be quite a shock when I arrive back in back in the Netherlands in the winter). Also walking up and down hill everywhere you go takes some time to get used to, but it’s not that bad to be honest.

Jack and Nick getting ready to apply the glass on the tank

Hi my name is Jack, I’m here in the sunny Seychelles on internship for my environmental science degree. I study in the Netherlands and come from Northern Ireland where you can also find white sandy beaches but the water temperature is a lot less desirable! I am working at Le Méridien, Fisherman’s Cove on the coral nurseries project. I have only been here for two weeks but already feel like I have learnt so much! I’m still working on my coral identification but it’s coming along well (thanks to my very knowledgeable supervisor). It’s great to get to know more about these amazing marine organisms and their vital importance to the ecosystem. We have been busy working hard to complete the on-land coral nursery which has included gluing in glass window panes, painting, and drilling holes for the filtration tanks. It has been really nice to see it all coming together through some perseverance and is very rewarding to know that this will not only be helping to restore these vital marine organisms in the reef but will also provide a platform for further research on coral nurseries of the future. 

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