Undergraduate Research Assistant

Get field research experience with academics and field biologists

Undergraduate Research Assistant

Operation Wallacea is a network of academics from European and North American universities, who design and implement biodiversity and conservation management research programmes. Research is supported by students who join the programme to strengthen their CV or résumé, gain course credit, or collect data for a dissertation or thesis.

If you have an enthusiasm and interest in conservation and research and have a good level of English you can join the expeditions as a Research Assistant. Relatively few people have field experience working alongside real research projects and the Operation Wallacea research programme offers the opportunity to work with a range of academic teams to strengthen your CV (résumé) or to help you decide whether tropical field work is of interest for your career. Research Assistants are involved in a wide range of tasks on each research topic and help to gather primary data. It is also possible that your own university will award credit for joining as a Research Assistant. Some universities will award their own credit for joining the programme as Independent Study or as an Internship. However, it is not necessary to register for credit – many students join the expeditions just for the unforgettable international experience in beautiful parts of the world.

Opwall is hosting it’s first ever Optoberfest scientific mini-conference (Thursday 10th – Friday 11th October 2024)! Optoberfest is a chance for us to showcase some of the amazing science stories and research results from our global network of field sites, and for you to ask our speaking panel of international scientists questions about their work.
Sign up at opwall.com/optoberfest

Attend a free webinar to find out more about our expeditions by clicking here or view our 2025 research assistant brochure here.

Key Features/Facts/Benefits

Build your CV or resume
Gain experience in field research
Training in SCUBA, survey techniques and jungle skills
Huge range of projects
Contribute to active research and conservation

I would highly recommend being a research assistant in Peru! The large selection of surveys available gives a huge appreciation of the amazing biodiversity present in the Amazon as well as giving you experinece at a large variety of survey skills. Beneficial as well as unforgetable.

Victoria Curley
University of Aberdeen
Having done other conservation projects with other companies before, I thought I knew what to expect, but this Opwall project couldn’t have surprised and blown me away any more. I’ve fallen in love with Romania, beautiful landscapes, animals and all of the inspirational team members.

Grace Padden
University of Newcastle
When you come on expedition you think you know what you can do but each day in Mexico you discover a new part of you that stays with you forever.

Vicky O’Brien
University of South Wales
Preparing for an expedition can be daunting but there is a lot of support from the staff. This was my first time travelling without family and I absolutely loved it. I’m really glad I did this expedition.

Isobel Uusitalo
University of East Anglia

Locations

Croatia
Honduras
Indonesia
Madagascar
Mexico
Romania
South Africa

Croatia

Croatia is situated between the Balkans and central Europe with a long coastline on the Adriatic Sea. Encompassing more than a thousand islands it is also crossed by the Dinaric Alps and is geographically diverse, featuring craggy peaks, caverns, river canyons, waterfalls and picturesque lakes. The country covers an area of 56,600 square kilometres and has a population of more than 4.5 million. Croatia has a rich cultural legacy which is well in evidence in its largest and capital city, Zagreb, the historic coastal city of Dubrovnik and the Roman ruins of the ancient port city of Split. ...
Learn about Croatia
Honduras

Honduras is a small country roughly the same size as England but the population is much smaller than that of England. In fact, according to 2017 estimates, it has a population of around 9 million people which is a similar size to the population of London! It is the most mountainous country in Central America, and there is a great fact that 70% of the country is at more than a 30 degree angle. Spanish is the most common language across Honduras but there is also the Garifuna language along the Caribbean coast, and English is spoken widely across the ...
Learn about Honduras
Indonesia

Indonesia is an incredibly large country, made up of approximately 18,000 islands, and stretching across 5,000km! It has a population of around 260 million people. As Indonesia is so diverse, there are around 730 different languages spoken. On the islands where we work, people will speak a slightly different language to those living in the next village to them. However, the official language of Indonesia is Bahasa Indonesia, which is generally spoken by everyone.
Learn about Indonesia
Madagascar

The country of Madagascar is the fourth largest Island in the world, just off the southeastern coast of Africa. Despite its large size the country only has a population of 29 million, roughly one-third that of the UK. Madagascar has been isolated from other land masses for over 135 million years and was inhabited by humans relatively recently, both of which have contributed to what makes Madagascar so unique today. 90% of the flora and fauna found in Madagascar is endemic, meaning most of the animals and plants you see here are found nowhere else in the world! Lemurs, ...
Learn about Madagascar
Mexico

Mexico is a large country with a population of over 120 million people though this is largely concentrated in densely populated cities with over 9 million of living in Mexico city alone. Mexico is a country famous for it's amazing beaches, fantastic wildlife, Mayan temples and of course the fantastic food! Spanish is the most common language across Mexico though in some of the areas we work then various dialects of Mayan are also very commonly spoken.
Learn about Mexico
Romania

Romania is a country in southeastern Europe, roughly the same size as the United Kingdom albeit with a much smaller population. One of the more recent members of the European Union, it is currently going through an economic upheaval and has one of the highest GDP growth rates on the continent. Although modern Romania was only formed as recently as 1859, the region has a long and fascinating history as it is on the traditional border between large western germanic cultures and eastern cultures like the Ottomans. The Romanian language is also shows this cross cultural history, ...
Learn about Romania
South Africa

South Africa occupies the southern-most tip of the African continent and as such supports a huge diversity of flora and fauna. Once named as the sixth most important biodiversity hotspot in the world, it is home to over 850 birds species and 9% of the world’s plant species. But it’s high density and diversity of large mammal species is what most people recognise this area for. A combination of national park and privately-owned reserves have protected and nurtured these species, and now tourists from all over the world flock to catch a glimpse of the notorious ...
Learn about South Africa

See wildlife as nature intended

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Undergraduate Research Assistant