Almost done packing, I swear

Phew… it’s been 2 weeks of hardcore supply shopping/ reading/researching/citation writing (so. many. citations.) and it still hasn’t sunk in that I’ll be in Belize tomorrow afternoon. The closest I’ve gotten to the tropics is the 100%-humidity streets of Hangzhou, China, so I have no idea what to expect– but I am prepared at least for action packed days and aching feet, maybe like hiking Big Bend?

My goals for this trip are to experience firsthand what it’s like to be a field researcher. I’m hoping to become a zookeeper or museum curator, which both can have elements of field research, so after this trip I’ll be able to decide if I really love it and maybe want to do it full time.

I think I’m most nervous about snorkeling, as I’ve never done it before and only recently got the hang of breathing. Hopefully I won’t be slowing down the rest of the group… And my ears are still not used to the pressure in deep water. Another thing is that I haven’t actually taken a proper biology course since high school, so I feel a bit rusty on some general conceptual things, like how taxonomy works. I’m nervous about possibly getting something wrong in my presentations especially.

The thing I’m most looking forward to is exploring the caves, thanks to my topic assignment! There are so many freaky unidentified creatures down there; maybe I’ll see some bug that no human has set eyes on before. Also, I love the eerie atmosphere of a cave, like a bubble completely sealed off from the rest of the world. Even though most nutrient sources come from outside, if we’re being picky ecologists here.  And the specific animals I want to see: any classic rainforest animals, like big cats and primates, bats, and the humble fungus gnat (makes strands of silk that hang from cave ceilings).

 

Belize: the Country, the Myth, the Legend

In 14 hours, I’ll be on a Southwest Airlines flight, hopefully in an aisle seat. Unfortunately, that dream has never been a reality. But tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow is the day I fight anyone and anything for that beloved aisle seat covered in rich velvet and provided with technologies such as extra leg room and a free arm rest. Oh, tomorrow will be the day I come, see, and conquer. After that, I’m going to Belize.

I’m not really too sure what to expect out of this two week journey. I’ve never been to the tropics or a reef before, and there are so many variables that’ll be thrown at me all at once in such a short time period- the sights and sounds of a new country, the vast unknown of the tropical rainforest, and the shimmery blue depths of the reef. I’m pretty pumped for the sensory overload and figure it’ll be an awesome experience. Reading the book and researching my lecture topic/taxon assignments prepared and provided me with somewhat of an idea of what Belize has to offer, but experiencing everything firsthand will definitely be eye opening.

Honestly, I hope I can identify piscivorous fish and arachnids when I get to that jungle of a place. The piscivorous fish finding should not be too bad because they’ll be in plain sight underwater, but arachnids might be a bit tough. There are so many of them that’ll scurry past before you can identify them and a lot of them are hidden under rocks/debris. But where there is a will, there is a way.

I’m the most nervous about snorkeling. I don’t have too much experience with it and mainly need to work on depressurizing my ears. That being said, I’m really excited to venture out into the tropical rainforest and walk under a canopy of leaves while surrounded by massive, towering tree trunks. I really hope I can see an ocelot- if not in real time, at least from a camera trap. Also, I’m weirdly stoked about getting down and dirty on the forest floor to identify some arachnids. I’ve never been to the tropics before, but I also never rode a bike until I rode a bike.

Watch out Belize- Deepu Karri is coming to town. On a Southwest Airlines aisle seat.

 

I’m Procrastinating Packing by Writing This Blog Post :)

As I sit here on my couch watching a segment called “Extreme Ironing” on Ellen, the pre-departure anxiety is starting to set in. Do I have enough sunscreen? What if I have no coral-identifying skills? What if Scott and Adrienne ask us to iron a shirt while kayaking?

While some of these anxieties are slightly more realistic than others, I know that once we’re on our way, my worries will be gone. I have come to terms with the personal fact that sunburn is unavoidable, and I have spent a significant amount of time creating taxon sheets and Powerpoint presentations to help me with identification. I feel pretty prepared for this trip after doing the required readings and extra research.

As an aspiring marine biologist, I am obviously jumping for joy at this opportunity to experience field work at a real coral reef. However, the required readings have gotten me incredibly excited to experience the diversity of the rainforest as well! I honestly can’t pick one thing that I am most looking forward to. My biggest goal for this trip is to get a feel for field research and make sure I would be happy doing it for the rest of my life.

After all this preparation, I cannot wait to get to Belize! I’ve been to the tropics before on family vacations, but I’m thrilled to visit again with the perspective of a researcher, rather than a tourist. I’m excited to see all the things I’ve spent so much time reading about up close and in the flesh, and I’m ready to completely immerse myself in the ecosystems we are there to study. The only thing left to do is pack!

Belize it or not! I will be in Belize in less than 24 hours!

I am very excited for this trip to Belize. I think that it will be an amazing experience through which I can learn a lot about the coral reef and tropical rainforest environments. I haven’t had any experience with tropical rainforests, so it will be fascinating to see this environment up close. I expect that this course will be a very fun and enriching experience even though it involves a lot of hard work and early mornings.

I hope that I will be able to find and identify the amphibians and herbivorous fish that I learned about for my taxonomic briefings. For my topic lecture, I learned about the multitude of different factors affecting coral reefs today and the techniques that are being used to study them. I hope that I will be able to apply this knowledge during our time at Glovers.

The only thing that I am slightly nervous about are the mosquitos. Although we are traveling in the dry season and mosquito populations should be small, they always seem to find me. I hope that I will not come back from this trip as one giant mosquito bite.

I hope to learn more about the realities of doing field research in the tropics. I am still trying to decide what I want to do in the future. I believe that through this trip, I can get a better understanding of how to perform tropical research and hopefully decide if I want to become a marine biologist or go into medicine in the future. I believe that this trip will show me both the positive and negative qualities of becoming a tropical field researcher. I am the most excited to learn how to apply field research techniques on the coral reef and in the rainforest.

Fortunately, I have visited the tropics and Belize before. All of my immediate family members are avid scuba divers and we have taken family diving trips in Cancun, Florida, and Bonaire. It will be very interesting to learn more about the coral reef which previously I have only admired for its aesthetic beauty. A few years ago, my family took a trip to Belize, but we primarily stayed on the resort. I am excited to stray away from the more touristy parts of the country. Overall, I can’t wait to experience everything Belize has to offer.

Belize is almost Here … and We’re Almost There!

This time tomorrow, I will be in Belize. That’s pretty wild, but to be honest it really hasn’t hit me yet. I have been putting so much of my time and thought into preparing for the trip that I haven’t had time to really think about what an exciting and fun experience it’s going to be.

As far as expectations go, I sure hope that the course itself will be less stressful than the time leading up to it has been. I am really excited to get to spend a lot of time on the reef, and I am expecting that I will be able to appreciate it much more than any other snorkel trip I’ve been on. While I’ve visited reefs several times before, I never have been able to experience one through the eyes of being a tropical field biologist! I’m especially excited because I learned so much about reefs in the Coral Reef Ecosystems class this past semester. I’m expecting to see a lot of things that I won’t recognize initially, but I hope by the end of the week on the reef I’ll have a much better idea of what I’m looking at.

In the rain forest, I expect to learn a lot. I’m expecting the days there (and the days on the reef too, I’m sure) to be extremely tiring, so I’m hoping I don’t have any gear issues that make things at all more difficult. I think the last time I was in a rain forest I hadn’t realized that I was blind yet, so I couldn’t see anything. I still don’t have the best eye for detail, but now that I wear contacts I can actually see and I’m hoping I’ll be able to notice things hiding in the trees or underbrush (especially snakes!!)

What I’m hoping to learn from this course is what it’s like to be a field biologist because that’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m also excited to learn about the intricacies of the rain forest and the coral reef, two of the world’s most amazing and threatened ecosystems. In preparing for this course, I took Dr. Correa’s class ‘Coral Reef Ecosystems.’ I’m really hoping I’ll be able to apply what I learned last semester to the reef we’ll be studying, and that I didn’t forget too much of the course material by this point in the summer. I’ve also taken other basic EBIO courses, and hopefully those prepared me well in terms of field techniques we might use in the rain forest.

I am nervous that I will not be able to spot any Orthoptera species at all. I am also nervous that I’m going to have trouble identifying species, of both Orthoptera and Green Algae. I’m also nervous about having difficulty staying underwater long enough to get anything done. Luckily, I have prior experience with snorkeling so I’m quite comfortable with that, it’s just the time spent underwater where I struggle sometimes. I’m also nervous that I will be ill prepared in some way. I really really hope I did not forget anything important.

I have a little previous experience in the Tropics, but only as a quite young tourist. I visited the Cloud Forest in Costa Rica with my family one time. I’ve also been to Mexico and snorkeled on reefs and in cenotes in the Yucatan more recently.

I am most excited about seeing unique tropical organisms. I want to see some Christmas tree worms, and maybe some Parrotfish on the reef. In the rainforest, it’d be amazing to see a scarlet macaw, a monkey, or a big cat, but I know that probably won’t happen. And as long as they don’t bite me, I’m exciting to see the snake species we saw during our visit to the Houston Zoo Herpetology exhibit. Finally, I’m exciting to grow close to my fellow Tropical Field Biology Classmates. I can’t believe this course is about to start!

Pre-Trip: The Countdown

I’ve been to Canada twice. Those are the only times I have ever left the United States. Tomorrow, my list will be longer. I will leave the U.S. for Belize.

Belize will provide me with an unique opportunity to learn about new living things in new settings. As a lover of nature, viewing the coral reefs and rainforest Belize offers will be a fulfilling experience. I have never seen coral outside of a fish tank or on a piece of jewelry. Likewise, it has been a long, long time since I have seen a tree taller than 50 feet. I am excited to immerse myself in the unique land- and seascapes and gain perceptive of the natural wonders that lie outside of an American cityscape.

I am most excited to see Belize’s natural colors – the lush green of the rainforest canopy, the crisp blue of the Caribbean sea, and the plethora of new colors I have not yet anticipated.

My concerns? Just the uncertainty. There are a lot of unknowns. However, the uncertainty does not deter me. I am determined to grasp every opportunity, see every site, and learn as much as I can about each living thing I encounter.

I’ve had my passport printed and ordered boots and fins and a snorkel and special adventurer pants. I’ve read hundreds of pages of facts. I have, for the most part, packed. I am ready.

Nature is calling, and I am calling back.

Here’s to Belize!

 

Belize Bound

After taking my first malaria pill and finally finishing up all my assignments, it’s beginning to finally hit me that tomorrow is the day we take off for Belize. I’m lucky enough to say that I have traveled to Belize and other parts of the Americas before, but I don’t think those trips will compare to this one. Having access to some of the most pristine habitats that can only be accessed by special groups such as ours is a privilege that I can’t wait to seize. I am especially excited for Glover’s Reef. I have always been enamored by marine life, and I take any chance I can get to dive or snorkel.

With that being said, I know this trip will not be all fun and games and that I’ll have to wake up early, take good notes in my field notebook, and write these blogs every day. Our preparations of making taxon sheets, doing readings on the environments we will encounter, making power points, and searching for gear have made it clear that this will be a fast-paced trip, but one that will also teach me a lot. I hope that the trip will give me a good idea of what it is like to be a field biologist, something that has always been alluring to me but that I don’t have firsthand experience doing. I don’t find myself too nervous about anything we will encounter except for the large amount of insect bites that I already know I will have to endure.

I do have a lot of experience traveling, especially in the last year or so, but seeing a new place never seems any less appealing to me; in fact, the more I travel, the more I want to see, and the more I want to have different experiences. I am most excited this trip because research is the focal task, unlike any trip I have ever taken before. Rather than traveling primarily to observe, I am now traveling with the primary purpose of actively interacting with my environment.

Belize, here we come

The day after tomorrow we fly to Belize! I’m pretty pumped.

I expect to learn about a huge variety of rainforest and reef organisms, both from lectures and in person. Reading the book beforehand was unquestionably valuable, but I think that I will learn so much more by being in the ecosystems of Belize.

I hope to improve my snorkeling skills, and I hope to correctly identify some sponges and bees! I’ve been researching both taxa for some weeks now, and I am crossing my fingers for some orchid bees (Euglossini tribe) and a chicken liver sponge (Chondrilla caribensis). I also hope to get to know everyone on the trip and learn how to work together as a team.

I am most nervous, and also excited, about snorkeling on the reef. I am especially excited to see, in person, some of the species we talked about in Coral Reef Ecosystems. All semester I have been looking forward to seeing the coral reef, in all of its glory, in real life. I hope I’ll be able to identify some of the coral species that we learned this past semester. I am especially nervous about the reef slope, which is heaven for coral but maybe will require deeper diving than I have practiced/done before. Hopefully, I can keep up with the experienced snorkelers!

I don’t have much experience in the tropics, especially not related to tropical ecology. I am approaching this experience with an open mind, ready to soak up as much knowledge as I can. Like, say, a sponge. This is a really cool opportunity, and I am glad that I am able to take this course during my time at Rice.

I Can’t Believe I’m Almost in Belize!

There’s only a few days left before I leave or Belize and it really has not hit me yet.  I am still in Chicago where it was 40 degrees last week and in a few days, I will be in the tropics?! However, I am extremely excited to have this opportunity.

I expect this trip to give me a good look into what field research would be like.  My goal for the summer is to figure out what I want to major in because I am currently stuck between biochemistry (bioc) or ecology and evolutionary biology (ebio).  I hope this trip gives me a good idea of what research in ecology and evolutionary biology would be like.

So far I have been preparing by reading up on Belize and my assigned organisms.  I now know more about crustaceans and birds than I ever thought I would especially since I grew up in downtown Chicago where all I would ever see was maybe a pigeon.

My mother is very nervous about the snakes or random risks associated with the trip, but I am not.  I feel like all the animal planet and discovery channel television shows I watched when I was younger about venomous snakes or deadly trips people took in forests should make me think twice about my safety; however, I am more excited than nervous.  My only concern is about my dietary restrictions.  I am gluten and dairy free and a little nervous about not getting enough food or accidentally eating something contaminated and getting sick.

I am most excited for snorkeling and the caves.  I absolutely love being in the ocean and watching all the marine species.  Sharks are my favorite animal and I am really hoping to see one.  I also think caves are so interesting because they are a hidden form of beauty and shelter.  I went in a crystal cave in Bermuda when I was a lot younger, but I have not been since.

My don’t have much experience in the tropics.  I have been to the Bahamas and Turks and Caicos which are tropical, but I think they feel different knowing you are on an island.  In the Bahamas, I stayed at a resort and did not really explore much of the ecosystems.  I went scuba diving in Turks and Caicos and that was amazing.  I saw two sharks!! I have never been in a tropical forest which will be super interesting.  Overall, I am super excited to go to Belize and learn all about the ecosystems and field research.