Second year BSc Cell and Developmental Biology student Janice Sim recounts her time interning at Malaysia’s Palm Oil Board. In this article, she describes not only the amazing science she learnt about, but also the skills she developed by completing this internship in person and online. Alongside the incredible work Janice undertook, she details the pressures of completing this internship during lockdown and end-of-first-year exams.
I was not able to travel to the UK to attend my first year of university in person because of the pandemic. So, having to study remotely, all my lectures, Q and A sessions, and even lab practicals were conducted online. Since I did not experience first-hand most of the materials taught to me, I decided to apply for an internship with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) to enrich my knowledge. MPOB is a government agency that oversees the development and promotion of the Malaysian Oil Palm industry. I submitted my application via email, and after a few days of restless waiting, I received amazing news. I was accepted for an internship with MPOB!
On my first day of work, I was so excited but nervous at the same time and I could barely sit still. I was thrilled to finally be able to work with the lab equipments I saw recorded in the online practicals. First, my supervisor showed me the ropes, demonstrating the dos and don’ts of the lab. It was really an eye-opening experience for me to learn the functions of various lab equipments. Furthermore, my supervisor also brought me on a tour around the department, where I was able to observe how oil palm clonal propagation was performed by the other staff.
After I had familiarised myself with the lab, my supervisor assigned various tasks for me to complete. I had to organise my time to ensure I completed all of the tasks within my internship period. The tasks that were given to me ranged from DNA extractions of oil palm tissues, to performing real-time quantitative PCR on new primers that my supervisor had designed. The extracted DNA would later be utilised in further research experiments on whether there are epigenetic changes in oil palms in relation to flooding stress. I also had to evaluate whether the primers designed were specific and sensitive. Primers that were specific would later be used in absolute qPCR experiments.
Although I was really elated to be given the chance to intern at this government agency, it was also stressful for me. My internship period was from May to July, meaning I had to sit two of my examinations amid my internship. To ensure I had time to complete all the tasks given to me, as well as revise, I had to multitask and organise my time well. Therefore, through this internship I was able to hone not just my organisational skills, but also my time management skills. It also gave me a better insight into the possible work life I would encounter if I pursued this field of career in the future.
Just as I was starting to get the hang of things and really enjoy my time in the lab, the Covid situation in my country worsened. Hence, I was forced to work from home as our country went into another lockdown. From that point I was given computer and analysis work, emailed to me by my superior, as I was not able to carry out any lab work. I was required to annotate and analyse the predicted mRNA targets for small RNAs isolated from the oil palm. With the help of different websites and the GenBank information, I labelled the mRNAs’ details onto a list generated by my supervisor. Following that, I reorganised them into a new table for submission.
Though I was slightly down that I had to work from home, I had hoped that I would be able to return soon. However, as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, my hope slowly dissipated as my internship was near its end.
I ended up working from home for the last two months out of my three month internship. However, I realised that this experience of working in the lab and from home was a rare and unique experience. I’m grateful that I was able to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience.
If you enjoyed Janice’s article and want to get in touch, you can email her via your UCL email address.