Animal ecology and Physiology

Animal ecology and Physiology - Diet of the Common Starling 

Anonymous 
I am comparing the diet of the Common Starling with invertebrates present in the area surrounding the nests. To be able to do so, I set up different types of invertebrate traps at different locations, I weekly observed the nests of Starlings and the state of the nestlings. In the lab, I identified all samples until family level. 

Learned techniques
Mainly, the internship teached me how to identify several orders of invertebrates. 

Tips 
Choose a topic you are interested in. You do not need to know all about it, as you will learn a lot during the internship. 

 

Animal ecology and Physiology - The role of cell size in temperature tolerance in larval zebrafish

Tim te Morsche, t.temorsche@gmail.com  
Exploring the relationship between cell size and temperature tolerance in larval zebrafish. To this end, we used diploid and triploid fish (more DNA translates to bigger cells), and exposed them to different heat stresses for a range of durations.

Learned techniques 
To think of, and perform experiments more independently. Main techniques I encountered were a range of histological stains, flow cytometry, confocal microscopy and just general lab work.

Tips 
It may help to contact people that you (sort of) know. So, for example, student assistants you had some contact with that now maybe do a PhD, and just generally people whose interests/research you like as well, that you encountered during courses.