Erasmus+ intern completes 5-month internship at PICRC

PICRC hosted Rubén Barriuso Álvarez, an undergraduate student from the University of Vigo in Spain, from October 19^th, 2023, to March 30^th, 2024, for an internship on reef fisheries monitoring and research in Palau. Rubén had a scholarship from Erasmus+ which allowed him to travel to Palau and complete his internship.

During the internship, Rubén was involved in all aspects of the ongoing reef fisheries projects at PICRC. He gained extensive fieldwork experience including SCUBA diving to conduct fish aggregation surveys, marine protected area surveys, and exchanging acoustic receivers, current/temperature meters, and pressure sensors, as well as assisting with fish market surveys at the JR5 market and the acoustic tagging of fish.

In the laboratory, Rubén helped with the biological sampling of fish, including taking length and weight measurements, and the sampling of gonads, otoliths, and fin clips. He also assisted with data entry— downloading data from marine monitoring equipment and using the EventMeasure program to analyse fish videos. He conducted statistical analysis on the data collected at the Ngemai Conservation Area in 2022, and wrote the technical report, which has been published on PICRC’s website. Rubén also assisted with outreach activities including PICRC’s annual fundraising gala and education carnival in January 2024, during which he helped deliver an activity on the fish market survey. Finally, Rubén had the opportunity to join the National Geographic Pristine Seas cruise from March 10^th to 19^th 2024, where he learned about offshore research activities, including PICRC’s eDNA sampling.

Rubén now plans to complete a master’s degree in a related field back in Spain. He was a great addition to the research team at PICRC and we wish him all the best in his future endeavors.