To broaden and develop our teams’ collaborative skills while offering visiting students the chance to expand their scientific networks and gain cultural experiences, BRT encourages students to join our team for internship opportunities. These internships aim to facilitate idea exchange, foster professional growth, and create opportunities for collaboration.
Meet our summer intern joining our team from the United States, Emma Jackson!
Hi! My name is Emma, and I am here in Prague for the summer all the way from the United States for an internship with BRT. I am currently in the last year of my bachelor’s program at George Mason University, studying evolutionary biology. I am interested in the evolution and behavior of animals to hopefully aid in conservation efforts and would specifically like to work with large marine carnivores. I am planning on pursuing a doctoral degree after my bachelor’s is complete. With conservation being such a collaborative field, the opportunity to travel and experience the work being done in another country with an international team was incredibly appealing when deciding to join BRT for the summer.
I love animals and spend lots of my time with them. At home, I currently have two dogs (Adeline and Sebastian) and have had pet rats, fish, hermit crabs, and a salamander in the past. I especially love horses and have been riding them for around 9 years. I spent six months working on rehabilitating rescued horses, donkeys, and mules. In addition, last summer, I interned with an equine veterinarian. Most of my animal experience is from the 8 years I spent working on a farm. I took care of around 100 animals including cattle, swine, sheep, goats, horses, turkeys, peafowl, chickens, rabbits, and cats. I was responsible for their daily feeding and cleaning as well as veterinary work. I delivered babies and treated a variety of wounds and illnesses. I also learned to drive both antique and modern tractors. I even originally applied to college to study animal sciences, focusing on livestock production but changed my mind to focus on evolutionary biology and behavior instead!
My hometown in the United States is 20 minutes away from the capital, Washington, D.C. In my free time, I love to paint and spend time outdoors. I live in between a mountain range and beaches so during the summer, I like to go hiking in the mountains and swimming in the Chesapeake Bay. Music is a large part of my life and I taught myself to sing operatic arias and ballads. I also can play piano and guitar, although not so great. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled all over the United States and two U.S. territories. And I have been to Czech Republic a few times before as my mother is Czech and I have family living here in Prague!
Despite my career aspirations of studying megafauna, the BRT’s work, especially with bacterial anaerobic digestion, is very intriguing to me. At my university, we learn theory and techniques, however I am excited to see that theory in actual practice. My background in agriculture also makes me interested in the work BRT focuses on. A highlight so far during my first couple of weeks with the team has been spending time in the lab. I am excited to gain experience in as many aspects of the team’s projects as I can and look forward to my time with the team, learning as much as I can! I am so glad to be here!
