Each year we ask our interns to write a post reflecting on their time working in the DH Lab. Here is the first of this year’s from Natasha:

I’m Natasha, a third year Archaeological Science student. My internship here at the Digital Humanities Lab is coming to an end but working alongside the DH team has been the most incredible experience for gaining new skills and has provided me with the opportunity to collaborate in a range of projects with my fellow interns.  

With weekly training by members of the team, I have worked on different projects including photography, photogrammetry, and Reflectance Transforming Imaging (RTI) of Archaeology Teaching Packs, digitalisation of Exeter Theatre Playbills, and recording audio cassette tapes. I was also encouraged to try individual work and put these skills into practice with objects that I own, allowing the ability to explore personal interests. This includes using the 3D resin printer to reconstruct biface tools and completing RTI on a coin I own that had unrecognisable features before processing with RTI software, RelightLab.

Additionally, working once a week on the advisory desk has given me more confidence in the background administrative work that occurs for research projects and day-to-day support provided by the lab, including equipment hiring, assisting in queries, and setting up seminar rooms for conferences. 

This internship has allowed me to engage in innovative digital preservation, meet new people and learn skills that previously, I had no experience in. I hope to pursue my masters programme at Exeter using the tools I have acquired, focusing on digitalisation and preservation of archaeological artefacts. I am so grateful for all the support the DH Team has given me this year, and I could not recommend enough joining this internship to see what projects you could get involved in!