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There are a few important rules to identifying invertebrates: firstly don’t leave your microscope light on if you are called away, or you may well end up with a lightly sautéed shrimp and secondly,  if your specimen is live, don’t forget to put a lid on the petri dish if you need to leave, even for a moment, or your beastie may scarper! After being told this information along with a few more specifics, I was let loose in the lab.

The family keys we used for identifying invertebrates were straightforward, although the species keys were more formidable. With others’ advice I quickly picked up skills and knowledge, and learnt how to use descriptions to check my identification. For example, it’s important to check the distribution of the species you have just identified and the habitat in which it is found. If your specimen came from a chalk river in Kent and you identify it as a species that is only known in two Scottish tarns, it’s possibly a fault in the key, or perhaps even a new species, although chances are you’ve made a mistake.

Testing water quality

In 2000, the Water Framework Directive (WFD) was adopted. This directive established the aims of attaining “good status” for all surface and groundwaters in Europe by 2015. My role within the Environment Agency was ‘data analyst/freshwater ecologist’, and I was based in the Ghyll Mount regional offices in Penrith.

The first week was a sharp learning curve, and I was constantly forgetting people’s names, and vice versa (to this day I am still called Arthur by one of the secretaries). My main tasks during the internship was to analyse data collected by field equipment and manual sampling, and to produce reports. This included the completion of WFD investigations. Where a water body appears to have declined in quality, a type one investigation is required, which uses past data to confirm the failure, or explain why there has been no decline.

For those water bodies confirmed as failing, an investigation into the reasons for failure is then produced. It was really interesting to analyse the data at different sites along a water body, and then link it to the context of the water body in terms of stresses and land uses using GIS (Geographical Information Systems).

One water body I investigated was Fine Jane’s Brook, which runs past a historic landfill. I found that the input from landfill caused the water quality to drop from ‘good’ to ‘poor’ status. Dissolved oxygen significantly decreased as a result of leachate inputs containing high concentrations of nitrogen, with ammonium increasing to more than eight times the concentration believed to be harmful to fish!. 

The report that I produced took a long time to finish, but it was rewarding to know that the information I was collecting and reporting would be used by others to inform policy and management in these catchments.

Fieldwork, environmental policy and training courses

During my six weeks at the Environment Agency (EA), I also gained practical fieldwork experience, and the opportunity to learn new programmes such as the Catchment Planning System (CPS) and Easimap (a form of GIS). The fieldwork largely consisted of wearing some rather fetching waders, and tromping through the undergrowth with equipment to find a good spot to place a sonde and telemetry box. When placed in a stream or river, a sonde collects water quality data. The sonde is linked to a telemetry box (I’m next to one in the photo) which is basically a mobile phone with a large aeriel and battery, which sends us the data.

The internship, which I found through the Lancaster University Science and Technology Internship Programme, also developed my understanding of environmental policy and law. I completed a number of courses, and received training in invertebrate identification - an invaluable skill as I explained earlier. I found the invertebrate training to be simultaneously the most painful and interesting course I completed during my time at the EA - the preserved leaches looked more like blue tack than anything in the keys.

Overall, my understanding of hydrology, policy, and catchment management improved during the internship. I learned many new skills and have a much greater appreciation of what it is like to work within the EA, how it is organised, and the skills that they are looking for in applicants.

I will undoubtedly use these skills during my Masters in International Innovation. My module choices have also been affected, as I have enrolled on the catchment protection field course, and a lake ecology module which I am really enjoying. I am currently spending the money I earned on climbing kit and I am reflecting further about my career and the future.

Find out more about studying Biology or Ecology at the Lancaster Environment Centre including the Environmental Biology BSc or the International Innovation MSc

If you would like to offer a Lancaster student an internship please contact the Lancaster University Science and Technology internship programme