All posts by Maggy

2022

Bye Bye Belize

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Hi everyone!

Our 2022 TFB adventure has come to an end. Yet, this adventure leaves me with so many great memories. I have got to say that coming into the course I was a little nervous about several things.

First off, going on a trip with many people, that I had either never met or did not know very well at the time, was a little nerve racking. Yet, this itself turned out to be a great opportunity to meet so many new people with awesome talents and personalities; with this trip we got to form a little TFB community of our own. I recall that the first few days we were all a little awkward with each other, yet I think facing challenges together made us all come together much faster than the usual.

Another aspect that was a little daunting to me was doing fieldwork in two completely new environments, the rainforest and the reef! Most of my lab work has been bench work. By taking this class, I knew I would be challenging myself, yet I knew it would also be perhaps my only chance to experience a completely different side of research before graduating. I am so, so glad that I took a leap of faith in myself and did not back up from the challenge, as our experiences together were beyond amazing! Even as I am typing this I can’t believe that just a few days my friends and I were out there snorkeling near coral reefs with transects and quadrats or that we were hiking in the rainforest, observing its amazing diversity.

Something else that also made me slightly nervous was the food. As someone that is vegetarian, I have found that generally trips are not the best for someone with dietary restrictions. I was (very shocked) and so happy when I realized that on this trip it would not be a problem. Every meal was absolutely delicious! I am so grateful for the accommodations that those at the research stations did, it really made me feel at home.

One aspect that I originally was not worried about, yet became increasingly worried about was blood sucking insects (flies, sand fleas, and mosquitoes.) Yet, I think in general I’m lucky, I don’t think they find my blood all that tasty, as I got very few bites!

In general, mosquitoes and all, I am so grateful for this beautiful experience! I got to meet so many amazing people and got to experience a new form of research. I also got to spend time in Belize, a place were I continuously felt cherished by the people living there!

Thank you Belize! Thank you TFBs! And thank you Dr. Correa and Dr. Solomon!

2022

D-11 The queen and the toad

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Hello everyone!

Today, during the first half of the day, we went out for a second experiment at the rainforest. We were first told that for this experiment we would use pee. Hearing this I began to mentally prepare myself to literally pee in the rainforest, thankfully our instructors had other plans in mind. Their plan was much more simple, it involved us taking a small flask and peeing into it in the restroom, then planting it in the floor of the rainforest, and placing another flask of pee on the trunk of the tree. By doing this we would be able to estimate the biomass of arthropods in the Chiquibul (at least in the trees we sample!) The use of pee would help us see in what region, whether trees or the ground, arthropods sought out nutrient rich material. This time around our trekking was made really interesting by several sightings! We saw two snakes, a jumping pit viper and an eyelash viper. After placing our containers, we went back to LCRS to get lunch, which was delicious!

After lunch we all headed out again, yet this time our aim was very different, we were all seeking leaf-cutter ant hills! We eventually found one that was about a year old. Using a small shovel we reached the inner chamber of the nest where the fungi is harvested. We even found the queen!

Then we went to inspect a much larger ant hill, yet no ants came out, instead we found a Mexican burrowing toad!

We released the toad and continued our search for a hill!

At the first ant hill I saw one of my taxa, a western honey bee. It became attracted to my backpack and begun hovering around it. I’m not completely sure what attracted it, but I have a theory that it was the Gatorade in one of my bottles. I didn’t get a good photo of the honey bee, yet throughout the day I saw a few others that I was able to photograph! For example, here is a bumblebee that I saw!

And here is a photo of a type of stingless bee not found on my taxon sheet!

2022

D-10 the bird tower trail

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Hi everybody!

Today was such an eventful day! We started our day by developing a research question regarding the movement of the biota of the Chiquibul  and spent most of the rest of our time setting the gadgets out in the field to collect data during the next few days. It was during our time in the forest that we went to the Bird Tower, which has now become my favorite stop of this trip. Although we did not actually get to see birds from the tower, the view we got was still mesmerizing. From the top of the tower you could see many hectares of rainforest to any and every side. There was also spots with fog that just made the view even more beautiful. One thing about the tower is that the hike is a bit challenging, particularly when the ground is wet; some of us had trouble with the slippery slopes coated with mud, yet thankfully everything went well! Although a bit difficult in some places I would definitely recommend this hike to anyone coming to the Chiquibul forest, personally I plan to come back just for that hike!


The Bird Tower trail also leads to a really cool cave. In the cave you even get to see remnants of Mayan pottery!


Another great thing that occurred today is that I got to see many of my taxa before even leaving Las Cuevas for our two hikes. Three of the species I got to see include the Carpenter bee and the Red-tailed stingless bee. Here is a photo of the Carpenter bee!

Also as an aside the food here is really amazing. Here is a photo one of the vegetarian meals I got yesterday!

2022

D-9 a bumpy ride to Caracol

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Hi everyone!

Today was really great, yet also very tiring! We were traveling from the Tropical Education Center (TEC) to the Las Cuevas Research Station (LCRS). Yet, along the way we made a stop at a place that I absolutely loved! We stopped at Caracol, a Mayan Archeological Site.

There we were given a tour by Leo, who was super knowledgeable about the site! He told that he was even part of the archeological team at some point of the excavation. He led us through a couple of sites, including one that the Mayas would use as an observatory. I thought that was the coolest of the structures, especially after Leo mentioned that the Mayas could use those buildings to track the passage of the months; according to Leo the Mayas could tell the time of the year by the position at which the sun rose relative to their observatory. It was at this same observatory that I got to see one of my taxa. I saw a carpenter bee. I was able to identify it by its bulky size, it’s black coloration and it’s fluffy appearance! It was doing quite a weird behavior, it was carrying a small branch.


Although I still do not know if this is common behavior in this species, I will Google this next time I have internet!

2022

D-8 traveling to las Cuevas research station

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Hi everyone!

Today has been a super long day! We woke up at our normal time (7 am breakfast) and ever since then we did not stop. After eating breakfast we all hurried to the boat, which we rode to Belize City. It took about 4 hours. Although it was a long ride, I can’t complain, the views were gorgeous! Also, thankfully most of us took Dramamine to avoid any chance of seasickness and it appears to have worked, as no one experienced nausea this time around! In fact, most of our crew was able to sleep throughout most of the ride!

After getting back to Belize City we ate at Calypso, a restaurant near where we were dropped off. The food was quite good, I got the pasta primavera! One interesting thing about the pasta was that it had a lot of pickles, something I hadn’t seen before in a pasta primavera; typically I’m not a fan of pickles, yet I think it made the pasta more flavorful!

Also, I thought for the remainder of this trip I would no longer see mention of my aquatic taxa, piscivorous fish, yet it seems like mentions of the lion fish continue haunting me.

After eating at calypso we quickly headed out to get to the Tropical Education Center, where we are spending the night. Yet, before getting to the TEC we made a stop a local store to get supplies for our time in the rainforest! Personally, the only thing I needed was bug spray, yet how could I say no to cookies, so I got some of those as well!

After our stop we then made it to the TEC where Dr. Aravalo talked to us about the Scarlet Macaw. The manner in which he presented his data made me very emotional for some reason. I was hoping to ask more questions, yet today we were on a roll and we could not prolong our Q&A for too long. After our talk with Dr. Aravalo we got dinner, out of which my favorite was the cake! After dinner we headed straight to the Zoo, which was a quick drive from the TEC. At the Zoo we got to see many of the nocturnal animals in the exhibit including the Jaguar and the Tapir and even a four-eyed possum (which was not a part of the exhibit).

I almost forgot to mention that earlier in the day, when we arrived at the TEC I saw really beautiful flowering plants, yet no bees nearby to indicate bee pollination.

At night while writing my blog I was a little sad I had not gotten to see bees today, yet things often occur when you least expect it! Tonight while showering I actually got to see my taxa. It wasn’t near any plants it was hovering over the light of my shower stall! Although it was too far up to get a good look I believe it was a Concave Nose Striped Sweat Bee.

2022

D-7 Lion Fish Ceviche, Finally!

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Hi everyone!

Today marks our last full day at Glover’s and our last day of snorkeling!


Being our last day of Glover’s means that we have to begin packing and be ready to become immersed in a completely different ecosystem: the rainforest. Yet, I am getting ahead of myself, before we can start something new we have to finish our older projects. This was precisely the goal of today’s snorkel. We visited another non-marine protected area to collect our fourth data set. At first I was a bit skeptical about whether we would be able to collect the data with the weather conditions as it looked fairly windy. Yet, thankfully our skills have highly improved! After having gathered our data for the remaining site we all got to enjoy a fun snorkel.

It was during this second snorkel that I got to see a grey triggerfish. It was hiding behind a large patch of coral and it only came out after I swam by. It was a bit larger than I had anticipated, yet its approximate size fits between the size range I encountered during my earlier research on piscivorous fish of Belize. I am glad that I got to see another fish on my taxon ID card, and I hope to get to see the remainder on my next trip to Belize!

Our team also managed to catch yet another lion fish during our leisure snorkel. We see this piscivorous fish nearly at every patch we visit; after all, that seems pretty fitting of an invasive species! This time the lion fish was very small. After dinner we made use of all three fish that were captured during our time here. Yet before eating them we dissected them, gendered them, and removed any contents such as fat, liver and stomach that are commonly not eaten in ceviche.



Then Chef Solomon took over to make the ceviche. Here is a photo of the lion fish ceviche that was made!

2022

D-6 Fossils, trash, & a naked crab?

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Hi everyone!

Much like other days today was great! Early in the morning we got to go to the fore reef which was a little intimidating at first but also super cool! There we got to see a green turtle at the bottom and many, many sea walnuts (which were beyond adorable.) I am so glad we visited although we were only able to stay for a short while due to the weather conditions of the atoll at this time of the year. Even though I loved the experience I will say one thing: I am so grateful I decided to take Dramamine during breakfast. I think I would have felt seasick if I had decided to tough it out!

After we got back to Glover’s we all did a group clean-up of the beach. Together we picked up around 65kg of trash; I’m pretty proud of us! In the process, we also collected data on how much of the trash could be disposed of here at Glover’s and how much would have to be shipped to the mainland to be disposed of. Yet, perhaps the coolest part of our findings is that different areas of the island allow for different efficiency in collecting said trash, therefore if there is limited man power, we found that there are certain areas were effort should be a priority! While cleaning the coast, one member of our team found something that kind of shocked us all:

We are still unsure of how this level of preservation happened but it is so pristine that we were able to identify it as a type of box fish. During this trip I had heard about box fish, yet I didn’t know too much about them as they are omnivores and therefore not part of my taxa, piscivorous fish. Yet, seeing this little guy prompted me to learn a lot more about these fish, and honestly they are really cool!

Making today even better, before dinner we saw a hermit crab switch shells; I thought I would never get to see this, but this trip truly is full of surprises at every turn!

2022

D-5 Barracuda:1, Maggy:0

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Hi everyone!

I’m so glad to say that our team has actually gotten so much better at using our tools out in the field! We went out today to two more coral reef patches and were able to collect data the first time it took 40 minutes and the second time it took 30 minutes, both of which are a great improvement from yesterday’s hour long data collection at a single patch! I was also super glad to see some of the Tunicates Sophie talked about in her taxon lecture last night. Considering how small they are I thought I wouldn’t spot them, but the second patch we visited actually had a ton laying around in many of the corals. Our group also saw and captured a second lionfish today. This one was much smaller than the one collected yesterday. But mostly everyone in the group seems very excited to have lionfish “ceviche.” Regarding our sea urchin collecting we were able to find a lot more than at the patch we visited yesterday! That either means we were at patches today with lots more, or that we are getting better at finding their hiding spots. Today I also happened to (for the first time) slightly rub against some fire coral. It hurt a bit right after I came in contact with it but it got a little more painful once I was out of the water. Thankfully the burning sensation subsided in about half an hour! Another new experience I had today was seeing a barracuda for the first time! It was actually huge and really intimidating. I was kinda shocked by its behavior as well, but I could see how it is fitting of a piscivorous fish! While most fish I have encountered so far on this trip tend to see any of us and turn and swim the other way, when the barracuda and I made eye contact instead of swimming away it began swimming towards me. Let me tell you as soon as I saw that I started swimming the other way! After seeing that barracuda I had no idea I would see another one, but I happened to see yet another at the Glover’s reef gift shop!

2022

D-4 Impaling my taxa :’(

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Today the day started pretty wonderful, we got to bring many organisms from the local coast to the wet lab and have the many experts in our class identify them and tell us a little about each species. From this activity I really liked looking at things under the microscope, specially I got to look at a cool coral fragment that someone found! I also got to see a mantis shrimp for the first time!

Later in the day, we came up with a new question and went out to test it on different corals than those we had explored earlier in the week. With our research we want to understand if there is some sort of correlation between the amount of sea urchins observed and the amount of live coral. Our question originates from how sea urchins burrow into the corals which may weaken the coral and leave them more susceptible to disease. During our time on the reef patch we collected enough data, yet collecting that data was sure an adventure. The waves were way stronger than we had anticipated and we were constantly pushed into corals or our partners before we got to get the information we needed. Yet thankfully we were able to get data and also collect some urchins which we later examined back in the lab. (Don’t worry, we are taking good care of the sea urchins and will return them home tomorrow!)

We then went to a second patch this time not to work but to do some relaxing snorkeling. It was during this second snorkeling that I was shocked to see a lionfish flopping mid air on a stick. I was sad to see a member of my taxa of interest (piscivorous fish) that way, yet I also know that these can be really damaging to biodiversity, so I am glad that our team could contribute to improving the probability of many other species to survive via this kill of an invasive species. Also I am glad that some member of our group who really really want to try them will have a great dinner tomorrow(?)!

Also regarding tomorrow, I’m nervous but I also can’t wait to continue researching our question about corals and sea urchins to see what we discover!

2022

D-3 Marine Quadrats and a Coral Gravesite?

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Hi everyone!

Today was pretty great, we got to do a bunch of new things as a group! For example today we worked with transects and quadrats under water for the first time. At first it was a little challenging, specially with two new devices and a clipboard to carry while swimming yet working as a team definitely helped. With a little bit of practice it got easier for me and my partner to place the quadrats correctly and then assess the amount of green algae in that patch. Although we were all able to gather data, our data ended up not proving our initial hypothesis. Originally we predicted that we would see a decrease in green algae as we moved further from shore, yet the opposite appears to be true. Although we do not know why, we infer that it could be due to over-competition from the sea grasses.

Later on in the day we went to what Dr. Correa called the coral graveyard. I thought it was so amazing how well preserved so many corals were after being fossilized. We had a small learning activity there in which we learned to pair some corals with their species name. Although many people got the names down quite quickly I can’t say I was one of them. Yet, I took photos of them and their respective names and plan to study them! I really enjoyed everything we did, yet I think working on our poster to present our data was my favorite part!

Regarding my taxa, I didn’t get to see any of them today. I am sure I will have a greater chance of seeing piscivorous fish whenever we go to greater depths!