Biodiversity Monitoring Internships

Biodiversity monitoring in St Andrews does not stop at the Biodiversity Literacy VIP. Each year, six students are selected to undertake monitoring of species on university-managed land over the summer.

This is an incredible paid opportunity to develop teamwork and conservation skills beyond the university curriculum. Species identified range across insects, plants, mammals, birds, amphibians and fungi.

The internship is designed so that identification skills can be developed with the aid of tools such as iNaturalist and FSC ID guides. In addition to observation, techniques include moth trapping, camera trapping and bird and bat transects with a detector. Species are inputted into Q-GIS, a mapping software, which is valuable for future employment in ecology and conservation.

This information is then used to calculate a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) score. This gives an indication of how biodiverse university land is and can be compared over time. The internships started in the summer of 2023, with applications to apply for each year being advertised at the end of February/ start of March on CareerConnect. Preference is given to students who have already participated in the Biodiversity Literacy VIP, but other applications are still welcomed.