Marine interns 2026 - Sink or Swim? | Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust

Our Marine Futures Interns always get thrown in at the deep end. Read on to find out whether this year's intake sank or swam through the first couple of weeks of their internship

As the sun beat down on us and fat droplets of sweat pearled lazily on our foreheads, we made our way slowly across the Hawkwood institute grounds, fighting our way through the palpable heat towards the main marquee for the opening talk of The Big Wild Gathering.

In June 2026, Wildlife Trusts’ members, staff and trustees came together for their biggest ever gathering - a three day event at the Hawkwood Institute in the stunningly beautiful Stroud hills, to attend workshops, talks and panel discussions and strategise about nature conservation.

Opened by Craig Bennett, The Wildlife Trusts’ CEO, and featuring a variety of guests speakers from experts on systems change and the economics of nature, to prominent voices such as Feargal Sharkey, Megan McCubbin and Simon Orpher MP, and of course, many of the Trusts’ staff, often experts in their own field and with inspiring conservation projects and ideas to present.

Marine intern Mona at the Lincolnshire Show 2026

My name is Mona, and along with George, we are this year’s Marine Futures Interns. Both from unusual and not strictly scientific backgrounds, we couldn’t believe our luck when we were invited to attend The Big Wild Gathering on our second week at the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Our first week, like many interns before us, had mainly been spent at the Lincolnshire Show, thrown in the deep end and made to ‘sink or swim’ as Tammy Smalley, Head of Conservation, is fond of saying with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. I’m glad to say we swam. With an extensive knowledge of local animal excrement to prove it.

The Big Wild Gathering was a fantastic introduction to other staff members and a great bonding experience with fellow nature nerds. The timing of the event in regard to weather seemed appropriate - if bordering on unbearable. Indeed, nothing illustrates the crux of the nature conservation conversation, i.e. the climate and biodiversity crises, like a sweltering, record breaking heatwave. Unfortunately, this also meant the event was cut short by a couple of hours - crucially, the very time at which George and I were to be sitting on a panel discussing evidence gaps in conservation presented by Tammy. Talk about sink or swim.

Thankfully, we were able to take refuge inside the Hawkwood House, which featured the Marine Room where we spent most of our time listening to marine experts and aficionados describe their seagrass restoration projects, expose the disadvantages of floating wind turbines or even expose the microscopic teeming life that exists between grains of sand - a favourite of many, presented by Hampshire Wildlife Trust’s Dr Tim Ferrero.

Among other great speakers on matters of the seas featured Ruth Williams, George Short and Dan ‘Shark Man Dan’ Abbott who delighted us with stories of his shark encounters.

Overall, we had a wonderful time and left full of newfound knowledge and interests, inspired by the many smart and committed actors working in and alongside nature conservation, and most importantly with a sense of belonging to a wider community of nature lovers and protectors.

It was a fantastic opportunity and an unforgettable experience.

Mona

Marine intern George at the Lincolnshire Show 2026

As Mona was off gallivanting on her annual leave in the 40-degree heat en France I attended the ReMeMaRe Conference in Scarborough on behalf of both of us.

Upon arrival the fact that I had secured the internship really began to set in for the first time. I couldn’t believe my luck when I realised that this was my new job. I’d gone from working under the fluorescent lights of my local supermarket in an endless monotonous routine to “working” under the Scarborough sun by the sea. And this was still early days too.

From my experience I always pictured conferences as being cold and corporate events, in this case I was happy to be proven wrong, and I was happy to find that The Big Wild Gathering was not just a one-off. Being able to meet people that work in the same industry and share the same interests as I do was fantastic. Similarly to the Big Wild Gathering, I don’t think I have ever been in a place where I can walk up to someone and even though they may be totally different to me or have totally different knowledge and skills, we could come together and be united by a common interest.

I also knew in advance that some of the other marine interns from around the country would be attending ReMeMaRe and this was a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know some of them in advance of our trip to The Crown Estate later in the month. I went for a meal with current interns and past interns, and it was so valuable for me personally to get an insight into everyone’s background and their story, where they had come from before the internship and what they were currently doing.

During the conference itself I was blown away by some of the work people were doing, having the opportunity to listen to some of the most intelligent, hard-working people around talk about their various projects. However, the most interesting part for me was the arts section of the conference, having come from an arts background.

There were some brilliant films but for me the highlight was the Clown Dance Seagrass Project (which I would highly recommend looking up if you haven’t heard of it before). As a project it was extremely memorable and it also showed me a “different perspective” on conservation that I hadn’t considered before. It was also just really amusing watching everyone participate.