Recent Batch-15 (2020) graduate, Benjamin Black from the UK, reflects on his MESPOM internship experience in Cambodia, in the summer of 2019 when the world was a slightly different place. He was very inspired by his internship experiences, and ended up doing his Master’s thesis research focused on avoided deforestation generated by protected areas in Cambodia.
Year 1 Summer (Internships)
Summer Internships (4 ECTS credits). In Summer between years 1 and 2 MESPOM students have mandatory internships typically hosted by MESPOM Associated Partners and other organizations identified by students and through the Alumni network. MESPOM also offers an opportunity to do research internships mentored by research-oriented Associated Partners or by MESPOM faculty, and thus preliminary explore their potential thesis topics.
Internships news and stories
May 24, 2020
MESPOM students have to do a mandatory summer internship component between the 1st and 2nd years, which is aimed at enhancing their professional development. Current 2nd year student Tabby Njung’e from Kenya reflects on her MESPOM internship experience
February 4, 2020
Current Manchester-track student Joel Gordon reflects on his MESPOM journey over the past 1.5 years as Batch-14 settles into their thesis semester.
December 27, 2019
Nacanieli Bolo (Batch-12) talks about his Fijian journey after MESPOM.
After completing MESPOM in 2018, I returned to Fiji and worked as a consultant for UNDP in the field of risk (climate and disaster) and development nexus and then later joined the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office as a policy analyst supporting UK’s climate and ocean governance work in the Pacific.
December 5, 2019
Current 2nd-year MESPOM student, Josefina Achaval-Torre talks about her experiences along this journey Photo: Exploring different ecosystems after a week of intense fieldwork collecting data on invasive species control (Mariepskop, South Africa)How did you find out about Mespom, and how has your experience living in 3 different l
October 24, 2018
"My advice to future students? Use the time of the internship between the two academic years to focus on your field of interest, experience something you have not done before (for me, it was working in a think tank), and choose something, which will be useful when the time to decide what you will do after your studies."