Many around me seem to have enjoyed teasing me about my internship at Bioretur. “En ekte drittjobb?” they´d ask and laugh. I am a little over halfway through my internship now, so it´s about time for an update on the blog! And in case you´re also wondering, no I do not spend the whole day shovelling sh*t.
On my first day, I was welcomed and introduced to the entire team – there were only six of us, including myself. Since then, we have had another one joining in the team. Such small group is perhaps common with startup companies. Everyone has critical roles in the running of the company, from processing and production, to administration and marketing. Sometimes, we have to be a bit of a ‘Jack/Jane of all trades’. Ideas are often thrown and shared around the lunch table. Priorities may shift from day to day, so one needs to follow the developments that unfold and be flexible with tasks. It´s dynamic, positive and exciting – I have so far enjoyed working in such environment!
1. Raw material feeding into the system
2. Drying
3. Filtering and pelleting
4. Heating
Voilá!
As for myself, I have been given the responsibility of learning as much as I can about fertilizers and everything that falls under the topic of plant agriculture. I am then expected to disseminate my findings and opinions to the rest of the team. The learning curve has therefore been a steep one, as I have to familiarize myself with all aspects of a very broad field, including – but not limited to – the factors that affect the health and condition of soil and the different nutrients that plants need. As such, I find it useful and beneficial to have background knowledge in ecology. My understanding and concern for the human impacts on ecosystems underlies every choice and decision I make throughout my time at Bioretur.
Aside from my involvement in developing a product line of manure-based fertilizers (naturgjødsel), I am also encouraged to take the initiative of developing experimental projects to further test the qualities and properties of their fertilizer, Equus. Let´s see if this plan will materialize. Maybe I´ll talk about it in my next blogpost?