Tag Archives: Belize

2016

It’s finally here!

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When I was a sophomore in high school, a friend told me about a summer course at Rice University. Students had the chance to spend two weeks in Belize, hiking, snorkeling, and learning about the tropics. I couldn’t imagine anything that sounded more amazing. At that moment, I knew I needed to go to Rice.

Tomorrow, we will be in Belize. I can’t believe it. This will be my first field research experience, and I am so excited to learn more about tropical ecology! I am doing research in a lab that studies tropical ecology, and my work is currently all data analysis on the computer. I’m looking forward to seeing the other side of my project learning about how all the data I’ve been working with was collected!

I have visited several tropical countries, and I drag my parents hiking wherever we go, so I’m not too nervous about the animals we’ll encounter. I do hope to avoid getting sick, and I’ve gotten quite a few immunizations in the last couple of months. In preparation for the trip, I’ve been doing lots of reading, and I have learned a lot about the incredible diversity of plants and animals that call Belize home. It will be awesome to put faces to all of the names I’ve been reading about. I recently realized how little I know about individual bird species, and on this trip I hope to learn more about the birds of Belize and be able to identify some of them. I know I will learn a lot about the ecology of Belize from this course. Even more than that, however, I hope to learn about ecology research and get a tiny glimpse into the life of a field ecologist.

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The Calm Before the Storm: <24 Hours Until Departure!

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Hi everyone! Welcome to my very first blog post (disclaimer: I’ve never written a blog before but I’ll do my best) about my soon-to-be tropical field biology adventures in Belize! I, along with thirteen other students and two professors from Rice University, fly out tomorrow (!!!), and I am both excited and nervous.

Oddly enough, a part of both of those emotions come from not quite knowing what to expect. Though I have been speaking with other students who went on the trip last year to try to prepare myself and gain insight on what might be useful to bring/do, I feel like there is no way to completely know what is going to happen these next couple of weeks.

That aside, most of my excitement stems from being able to explore new ecosystems and learning firsthand about a variety of organisms that live in those ecosystems. I hope to learn a lot about the different aspects of the rainforest and the coral reef and be able to identify some species that live in each of them. On the other hand, I am slightly nervous because some of those organisms are definitely not things I would normally prefer to interact with (i.e. spiders and snakes) and because I have no previous experience conducting research in the tropics.

In an attempt to prepare myself for such an adventure, I have been doing some research on my assigned topic (marine debris!) and taxa (echinoderms and beetles!) to prepare for the presentations we will be giving, but I am sure that the actual experience of finding and identifying these species will be quite the learning experience in itself. I have also purchased all of the required equipment (and lots of other things we may or may not need) and practiced with the snorkel gear. Still, I know that despite any and all preparations I could make, there will undoubtedly be surprises once we arrive and are actually immersed in both the rainforest and coral reef.

For right now, my bags are packed, my presentation PowerPoints are finished, and by the time I make my next post, I will be in Belize amongst the rainforest creatures! See you all on the other side! 🙂

~Stephanie

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^Everything is clean at the airport on day 1. 🙂
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Pumped for Belize

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Tomorrow I will be fulfilling the promise I made to myself a little less than two years ago by going back to Belize. After my first experience in Belize, I am more than excited to return solely for the purpose of studying the country’s biodiversity, especially its coral reefs.

Experience is the greatest teacher and I am prepared to go into this trip with an enthusiastic mindset in order to come away with a greater understanding of the tropics. This lab course is the result of a culmination of many months of preparation and reading. I purposefully chose to take EBIO 213 and Coral Reef Ecosystems this past spring semester, and also chose stony corals and bleaching as my topics for lectures, in order to glean as much as I could this semester.

I have several goals: attract an orchid bee, find an Acropora palmata or Acropora cervicornis, and identify at least seven different species of stony corals correctly. The only thing that makes me nervous is the bugs. I know they are there, just waiting to bite me. That is one of the reasons I love the ocean. No bugs. I am most excited to stay at Glover’s Reef.

My experience in the tropics is minimal I would say. I’ve been to Hawaii, Belize, and the Bahamas. In every location I have sustained numerous, if not catastrophic, amounts of bug bites. This time I am armed with hydrocortisone. The good news is that I love humidity and can adapt fairly easily to hot and muggy conditions.

I am so excited for this trip and I hope to soak up information like a sponge! Get it 😉

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Photo by moi. Jun 9, 2014.

Here is the sea turtle I met from my first visit!

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T minus 36 hours

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I don’t think that I’ve fully processed the fact that I’ll be in a completely different country and culture in less than 48 hours. Going into this course, I am extremely excited to have the opportunity to explore a region that I have never experienced before. The closest I’ve been to the tropics is Hawaii, which is different from continental tropics because it is so isolated and the land mass cannot support the same level of biodiversity.

I am expecting Belize to have an amazing amount of biodiversity, which makes preparing the taxon identification cards very difficult. All I can hope for is that we’ll spot most of the trees and green algae that I included on the cards! I can’t wait to see what all of my classmates have been learning about for their taxa. I feel like I’ve learned so much from A Natural History of Belize but I’m sure that I’ll learn much more during our stay at Las Cuevas Research Station. I also was able to take a course on coral reefs this spring with Adrienne Correa. I am looking forward to using what I learned during our stay at Glover’s Reef.

One of the things that I am most excited for is staying at the Belize Zoo. It will be interesting staying in the midst of so many animals – and knowing that they’re there! I wonder if I’ll feel more or less surrounded by animals in the zoo than at Las Cuevas…

I have to admit, I am a little nervous about insects and spiders that we aren’t looking for. I should be protected from biting creatures, what with my new field pants, rubber boots, long shirts, and bug spray. I’m still expecting to get bites, but not serious ones.

I can’t wait to be immersed in the forests and reefs of Belize!

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Two Days!

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As someone who came into Rice knowing exactly what she wanted her major to be, I have been looking for ways to work this course into my curriculum since the beginning. While my certainty in EBIO has never wavered, I am not a place to definitively say what kind of research I want to go into. That’s where EBIO 319 comes in. I expect that this course’s broad nature will give me a more comprehensive view of the field that I will eventually be going into. Do I want to focus on terrestrial or marine systems? Ecology or evolution? What specific system? These are questions that I hope to at least make some progress on. I also expect that I will be underprepared for the trip in some large way. On similar trips, I have found this to be true. I’m not too worried about this; everything works out in the end (and you get great stories!) I love going on trips like this not only because of their educational value, but because of how they bring the participants together. I fully expect that we will find the trials and tribulations of the rainforest and coral atoll material for bonding. I cannot wait to get to know these people better.

The last couple of days have been very hectic for me, as I’m sure they have been for all of my classmates. I think we are all feeling increasing pressure to have everything perfectly in order. Getting proper fins has been a particular struggle for me. I think that I might end up carrying them in my lap on the plane! While there have been many logistical hurdles to clear, I have also been preparing my knowledge of the country.  The book, while definitely long, has been a valuable resource in explaining the important biotic and abiotic factors in the region. At the same time, I don’t want to remain too reliant on the book to prepare me. Words can only do so much. I’m prepared to have many of my assumptions be proven wrong upon arrival.

In addition to hopefully providing some clarity on what I want to focus on in my EBIO curriculum, I hope that this course give me a immersive view into an ecosystem. After spending two years learning about ecosystems interactions from afar, I am excited to be right in it for two weeks. I think that this will greatly flesh out my current EBIO knowledge.

On the other hand, I am worried that I’ll get all of the way out there and be completely lost in the myriad of topics that we will be covering. It is possible that the breadth of the course will further my confusion on my specific interests. On the logistical side of things, it is very possible that I will forget something crucial (deodorant? pants?). Ah well, neither of these worries overshadows my overall excitement for the course!

I know that I am going to enjoy this trip. Travel is one of my favorite things to do and when combined with the subject that I love, I know that this will be an experience that will remember even when I have left Rice. A couple of years ago, I went on a scientific/tourist expedition to the Galapagos Island with National Geographic. While I was probably too young to fully appreciate the impact, it definitely peaked my interest in the biological sciences. Later on, I traveled with my high school to Peru for a more service oriented trip. Both trips to Latin America were great experiences. I am looking to continue this trend. In the end, I am most excited to simply be in Belize. I can picture myself waking up for breakfast, not in Martel College but in the rainforest/coral reef. The calmer moments before we leave for the day’s research will likely be what I remember most. Well that and the academic clarity I hope to find. I can’t believe it’s only two days away!