Students of the Erasmus Mundus Master's Degree in Marine Biodiversity and Conservation have joined an internship program at the Sven Loven marine research laboratory in the Tjarnö Island, Sweden. Lecturers Consolación Fernández and José Luis Acuña, from the Department of Organisms and Systems Biology, have been in charge this year of delivering the practical training of this course.

 

For two weeks, students have studied the distribution of marine algae, the effects of invasive species and micro-plastics on the local fauna and flora, the recovery of the ecosystem from the pollution generated by coastal industries, the improvement of the fishing creels to catch local species or the effect of the low salinity of water on the physiology of marine species. All this information is aimed at elaborating a catalogue of the marine species of this privileged natural environment. 

 

For these internships, the University of Gothenburg has provided the students with several outboards, two coastal boats, an oceanographic vessel, laboratories and all types of technical equipment. As part of their activities, the students have recorded their daily experiences and work in each of the groups. 

 

The University of Oviedo delivers this master program under co-supervision in collaboration with the universities of Ghent, Bremen, Algarve, Paris VI and Galway. It is one of the international programs that are fully taught in English and it is coordinated by PhD Eva García Vázquez. Part of the students who have done these internships will undertake their second year of the Master program at the University of Oviedo, where local students have the opportunity to enjoy an enriching international atmosphere, as there are students from all parts of the world including Canada, the United States, Mozambique, India or Morocco.