Internships

Why marine conservation internships?

Having gained a degree in Marine Biology and his diving instructor qualification, Guy spent autumn 2009 until summer 2011 living and teaching scuba diving in Labuan Bajo, on the Indonesian island of Flores. Whilst there he helped set up MantaWatch, an organisation dedicated to protecting the endangered manta ray through tracking, research, management and conservation.

The Guy Joseph MantaWatch Awards

Despite the huge importance of the ocean environment to Indonesia, the country suffers from a shortage of marine science graduates. In 2012 Guy’s Trust decided to honour Guy's commitment to MantaWatch by funding four annual Guy Joseph MantaWatch Awards for deserving and academically gifted students to spend a month working with the organisation.

This has been repeated annually at a cost of approximately £16,000 per annum. We have now funded 33 students and the programme has gone from strength to strength with several alumni regularly returning to mentor new interns.

The internship programme offers an unprecedented opportunity and for many of the interns has lead to advanced study, careers and international awards in marine conservation. For two it has even led to marriage! The interns also played a vital role in helping to conserve Indonesia’s marine wildlife when in 2014 their work contributed to the Indonesian Government declaring manta rays a protected species and creating the world’s largest manta ray sanctuary.

In October 2019 Guy's friends trustee Joely Brammer and supporter Ange Stone made a surprise visit to join the interns in Labuan Bajo. You can read Joely's moving report here.

Sadly Covid restrictions prevented us from running the programme in 2020, 2021or 2022 but we hope to run two programs in 2023.

2013 MantaWatch interns searching for mantas, Komodo National Park, Indonesia
2012 and 2013 interns together
2013 interns learn camera skills
The internship comes to an end
Hammad feeds the rays

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