Med aprilom in julijem 2025 je v okviru projekta Life For Seeds nemški študent Malte Knöppler opravljal prakso na Kmetijskem inštitutu Slovenije. Malte je magistrski študent programa na temo varstva narave in urejanja krajine na Tehniški univerzi v Münchnu. Objavljamo prispevek o njegovih vtisih o študijski praksi.

I am studying at the Technical University of Munich (Germany) in the Master’s program Nature Conservation and Landscape Planning. As part of this program, an internship in a study-related field is required. For me, it was immediately clear that I wanted to complete this internship abroad to gain cultural experience and explore new landscapes. I discovered the project “Life for Seeds” on the EU website listing all LIFE projects and was excited right away, as I have a strong interest in restoration ecology and for plant and grasshopper species identification. This is how I came to do my internship with the project partner Agricultural Institute of Slovenia from April to the end of July.

During April and May, I spent a lot of time cleaning seeds collected in 2024. Once that was completed in mid-May, I moved on to the next steps leading to the creation of the final seed bank. I had initially worried that this part of the internship would mean sitting alone in a dark room all day, but actually I enjoyed this work. Because we always spent this time as a team, cleaning seeds turned out to be far less monotonous than I had expected.

In addition, part of my work involved data analysis in R and preparing data for that purpose. I also regularly gained insights into the organization and challenges of a large-scale conservation project like this one.

Still, what I enjoyed the most were the vegetation surveys on the restoration sites, which became the main focus during the second half of my internship. Since the sites were spread across much of the country, I got to know the exceptional diversity of Slovenian nature and was able to expand and deepen my species knowledge. Many of the habitat types I had never seen in this form before. Examples are the alpine calcareous grasslands in Triglav National Park, the dry grasslands with Pannonian influence in Goričko Nature Park, or the wet grasslands at the temporary karst lakes and so I encountered many plant species for the very first time.

For me it was ideal to discover species which have been completely new, but also observe others which I can find in Germany, too. This allowed me to explore exciting new species from different regions, while also contributing with my knowledge to the field surveys and deepening my skills with species relevant for Germany. Another enjoyable aspect was that during the surveys and later during seed collection there was always enough time to observe the many grasshoppers. Even though they were not part of the monitoring this year it’s a group I am particularly enthusiastic about and I found many interesting species I had never or only rarely seen before.

Overall, I am very happy with my decision to do this internship in Slovenia. The incredible biodiversity in Slovenia compared to Germany left a lasting impression on me. This is partly due to the country’s different biogeographic regions (alpine, Dinaric, sub-Pannonian, and sub-Mediterranean), which all meet in this relatively small country. But another big factor is the still widespread extensive land use in contrast to countries with mostly intensive agriculture like Germany.

One of the greatest aspects of the internship was how much of the country and its stunning nature I was able to experience. Slovenia turned out to be the perfect place for spending my free time outdoors – whether hiking, climbing, or cycling. Also important were the wonderful people in the Life for Seeds project. I felt welcome from the very first day, and without these great colleagues, the internship would never have been as nice as it was.

Thank you for this amazing internship!