The Hydro-JULES Intern programme offers students from hydrology and environmental science backgrounds the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working at UKCEH alongside a diverse and collaborative team of Hydro-JULES scientists.
Interns will get experiential learning opportunities in the scientific research sector and a meaningful internship experience that will support their academic, professional, and personal development.
Rain didn’t deter members of the Hydro-JULES team when they launched our Acoustic Remote Control (ARC) boat on the Thames at Wallingford during a recent fieldtrip for two interns.
Senior Hydrometric Scientist Nick Everard and Research Associate Data Scientist Doran Khamis introduced interns Felipe Fileni and Danny Cooper to the boat and its equipment, explaining what it could measure and how.
They learned how an acoustic sensor measures the depth and speed of the water, calculating the discharge of the river, while GPS location reveals the exact location at every data measurement point.
The boat was then launched it into the river near Wallingford bridge where it completed several widths to gather information, with Felipe and Danny getting involved. The pair were able to initiate the data collection via the laptop before watching the measurements transmitted from the boat appear live on screen.
Back in the classroom, team members discussed the use of the software before quality-checking the measurements and revealing the story shown by what proved to be a good set of data. In particular, they noted how the arches of the bridge were affecting the flow of the river, with faster flows recorded between the arches where the water was not obstructed.
The Hydro-JULES team would like to thank Nick and Doran for putting on such an excellent fieldtrip and a very successful introduction into the ARC boat and its capabilities.
Waterborne: Nick (left) and Doran launch the boat into the river Thames at Wallingford
Watching the river flow: Nick, Felipe and Doran monitor data transmitted from the ARC boat.
After six weeks of hard work and immersion into UKCEH science, our two Hydro-JULES interns completed their placements with us on 18 August by presenting their work to members of the Hydro-JULES project team.
Danny Cooper mentored by Brenda D’Acunha and Ross Morrison presented his work on ‘quantifying water productivity and carbon intensity of food and bioenergy production systems' and Felipe Feleni, mentored by Amulya Chevuturi, Doran Khamis, Gianni Vesuviano, and Matt Fry, presented his work ‘Exploring the drivers of variability in flood events across the UK’ first.'.
Quantifying water productivity and carbon intensity of food and bioenergy production systems
I really found it useful seeing the working of the workplace with project hours etc and very much enjoyed seeing how data science and statistics is applied to different fields.
- Daniel Cooper, UEA
The project was interesting and provided an opportunity to chat with people that I knew from my PhD, as well an opportunity to meet another research environment. Doran and Amula have been great supervisors on all matters, from technical knowledge to help with my integration with the workgroup and workplace. My advisors Gianni and Matt, have also been involved in the project and have supported me with technical knowledge when needed.
- Felipe Fileni, U. Newcastle
Congratulations to both Filipe and Danny for all the work they managed to achieve in their short time at UKCEH and for their excellent presentations.
The Hydro-JULES summer internship is an annual programme. Applications will open in Spring 2024. For enquiries, please contact us at hydrojules@ceh.ac.uk.