Ocean Modelling Industrial Placement Review

For my industrial placement I spent a year working for the Met Office as the Ocean Modelling Industrial
Placement Student, working within the Ocean Climate & Cryosphere (OCC) team. My main focus was
on utilising the Earth System Model Evaluation Tool (ESMValTool) to develop diagnostics in Python to
read and process model output. The Met Office encouraged me to pursue opportunities that enhanced
my personal development, allowing me to gain valuable skills and knowledge in scientific software, ocean
and climate sciences, and work collaboratively with world leading climate scientists.

My main responsibility was to contribute to the Met Office ocean assessment and evaluation tools, with
a focus on advancing diagnostic tools within the ESMValTool community. I collaborated with ocean
and climate scientists to address technical challenges and actively participated in the scientific software
community. This year also allowed me to network with other placement students, graduates, and Met
Office scientists, helping me explore potential career paths post-graduation

ESMValTool - An introduction to the open-source community-developed diagnostic.
• Git & GitHub - Useful for my project for version control, management of my project and con-
tributing my work to the open-source repository.
• Meteorology - An opportunity to learn the basics of all things meteorology.
• Machine Learning - Developing a solid grounding in machine learning techniques, and their
application for weather and climate.
• Python - Improvement in Python Programming skills.

I received check-ins with my manager, early careers, project manager and some from university. Some other placement students received significantly more support from managers and university so on this front it could have been improved.

The company allows for flexible working, operates on trust and has a really lovely atmosphere. In-person events in the office, seasonal market days and awards evening/ days. You are trusted to work your hours and treated like a full time member of staff. Everyone is lovely and I was one of 28 placement students so the support network was excellent.

I really enjoyed my placement year. I was given so many opportunities, was able to network, live in a new place and gain an invaluable year of experience before finishing my degree. So grateful for the year and an amazing name to have on my CV. The trust given to us as placements without having a degree is phenominal.

Yes