Tag Archives: Pre-departure

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PRE-TRIP EXCITEMENT

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Hi, everyone! I’m Michiel, and this blog will record my experience in Belize as I study mammals and herbivorous fish with the rest of my class!

In only a couple of hours, I’ll be on my way to ABL, fighting sleep, to meet with the rest of my class before we start our journey to Belize. I’m excited to get to explore the country, swim through the reef, and I expect that the physical exertion required of this class will be gratifying, but I most look forward to getting exposed to field research. It’s something I know very little about, and I had not imagined I would ever do anything outside of a lab before this class. I hope that this pushes me to continue to push my boundaries and explore topics in science that aren’t necessarily related to my field of study. I also expect that, through the exploration of different ecosystems and study of different taxa within the country, this class will create a deeper love and gratitude for biology within me.

I’ve been preparing for this class for months – buying equipment and getting my passport – but I began to start preparing mentally about a week ago. I got really nervous about going to a new country and staying out in the wild instead of the city, and I still am a bit nervous, but I’m confident that the leadership from my professors and companionship of my peers will help put me at ease. Other than that, I just flew into Houston from El Paso in order to meet with the rest of my class, and I have been packing all day, racking my brain about the smallest things I may forget. I’ve been thinking a lot about the unbearable heat and humidity we’re going to endure. Coming from a desert, the Houston humidity is often too much to handle, and the closest I’ve ever been to the tropics is Cancún, Mexico, which was filled with many more opportunities for relaxation than I expect we will encounter in Belize. However, I’m hopeful that I will quickly get used to it so that I may put my focus to the work we will conduct.

Though I have bits of anxiety about the trip here and there, I am very excited for our trip and hope to return a changed person.

2022

First Blog: Pre-Departure

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Hello everyone! I’m McKenna, and I can’t wait to leave for Belize tomorrow! I’ve done very little traveling in my life, so I have been feeling some nerves for the past few days. However, I expect all of my worries to subside once the trip has started and I am overcome with excitement!

The preparations for this trip have filled my time over the past few weeks. One practical and slightly embarrassing preparation was breaking in my rubber boots. More than once, I went to the gym and walked on a treadmill in my boots and hiking socks for an hour. I’m so glad I put my dignity aside and dealt with the blisters beforehand rather than in the field. Additionally, the assignments and readings for this class have prepared me with background knowledge about Belizean reefs, tropical forests, and cultural history. Through the upcoming trip, I hope to expand on this foundation through in-the-field studies and build a more in-depth understanding of the ecosystems and landmarks we visit. I look forward to treating each day as a day-in-the-life experience as a tropical field biologist, and I hope this trip will help to enlighten me of my interests and passions to possibly put toward my future career.

As someone who finds comfort in routine, I am a bit uneasy about the plethora of unknowns that these two weeks present. However, my nervousness is outweighed by my enthusiasm to see and do things completely new to me. After having taken Dr. Correa’s lecture course on coral reefs, I am especially excited to snorkel at Glover’s Reef! And after taking Cin-Ty’s birding class, I am also excited to visit the rainforest and see and hear tropical birds! I have zero prior experience in the tropics, and my little experience with fieldwork has either been on or around the Rice campus or with Dr. Solomon in Brazos Bend State Park. Despite my little experience, I feel prepared and am more than ready to gain some real experience through BIOS 319!

In less than 24 hours, I will be on a plane headed to Belize. Here’s to my awaiting travels!

2022

The Pre-Departure Anticipation!!

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Hello there! My name is Sophia Figueroa and welcome to our Belize Blog!!

The day is finally here! Tomorrow we are officially leaving for Belize and I absolutely cannot wait. It’s so crazy to me that it’s already time for the trip as summer feels like it has moved so quickly. The build up to the actual trip is always the most nerve wracking, with lots of questions filling in my brain about all of the different possibilities of what I might come across. In all honesty, I think this is the worst part about trips but I know that as soon as I meet up with everyone on Wednesday, it’ll all go away.

I’ve been packing for the last week or so, and after putting the last few items in my bag, I realized that this is really happening! I’ve been working on my taxonomic lectures and topic lecture for the past month, reading lots of different journal articles and researching for hours on end about Red Algae, Tunicates, and biodiversity in cave systems. I expect this trip to be pretty intense with lots of lectures and presentations that everyone has been working hard on; but I’m also excited to see and learn about everyone else’s research. I expect to gain many different skills while on this trip, both from the lectures and also from the on-hands experience of being out in the field. I believe that there’s no better way to solidify what you learn in the classroom than going out and applying it in real life. I’m really excited to go to a new country and environment and be able to understand more about what being a field biologist looks like with people who share the same excitement of EEB as I do. While I’m obviously excited for the hands-on work we are going to be doing, I’m also really excited to get to know everyone and make new friends (cheesy I know, I’m sorry).

I think the main thing I’m nervous about is that I may not be able to identify many things from my taxonomic groups. I know that after a while, I’ll be able to recognize more species, and I recognize that it’s impossible to put all of the common species on my taxa cards; but it’s still a little nerve-racking to see if I put enough information on them and to see how many on my card actually appear in the field. I don’t have any experience in doing fieldwork really, I’ve only really worked in a lab setting so I’m very ready to go outside and apply what I know and gain even more knowledge. I’m also trying to mentally prepare myself for the humidity we might face, telling myself it can only be as bad as Houston humidity, but we’ll see… I’m definitely ready to start getting into the swing of things with work, assignments, and getting to know people so that these pre-trip nerves go away!

See you in Belize!

– Sophia

2022

Pre-departure Excitement! Less than 36 Hours to Go!

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Hi everybody! My name is Rusty Ludwigsen, and I am truly excited for the unique experience to travel to Belize and explore, examine, and appreciate both Glover’s Reef Atoll and The Chiquibul Forest. I am excited to approach these environments from the perspective of scientific understanding and discovery, and not simply as a tourist. My past experience with the Caribbean has been through highly commercialized endeavors, and with BIOS319 I hope to appreciate not only the beauty and wonder of these two environments, but also the vast amount of information and knowledge tied to these complex ecosystems. Much like being immersed in a new country can dramatically assist in the mastery of a second language, I think traveling to the ecosystems I have admired from afar in textbooks and documentaries will provide me with a new understanding of their function.

Yet, I expect this trip to be incredible, but also at times difficult. As a desert native, the humid weather of Houston is not my favorite, and traveling to remote regions of Belize will be a different animal. The humidity, heat, bug bites, early mornings, and sheer stickiness of the air are things I expect to not really enjoy. However, to travel to these remote regions, which appreciate their distance from civilization, requires contending with these environmental factors. Two weeks of some physical discomfort are well worth a lifetime of memories and knowledge. My past experience snorkeling in the Caribbean consisted of rubble with a few scattered Gorgonians (which I now know were covered in purple spots due to Aspergillosis) and Porites colonies. I hope to see a more intact reef in Belize, although I know it is not removed from anthropogenic damage.

The time to leave is approaching very quickly, and I am finalizing my suitcase with only a few hours to spare. I am looking forward to the early morning wakeup to begin this incredible adventure!

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It’s Almost Time!

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Hi! I’m Liliana, and I’m so excited for this trip and the chance to learn and explore someplace I never would have gotten to go otherwise!

I can’t believe that we’re going to be there so soon! At the beginning of the summer this trip felt like it was ages away but the time flew so quickly and now it’s only 2 days away! I am expecting this trip to be pretty intense, a whole course in such a short time sounds like a lot, but I think I’ll be so caught up in the excitement of everything we’re going to learn that it won’t even feel like work. I’ve done the pre-trip readings and presentations and everything I’ve learned about from that makes me even more excited to finally see what we’ve been reading and learning about in real life. I am especially excited for Glover’s Reef, I’ve always loved marine biology and the ocean but I’ve never been snorkeling before. I have some basic familiarity with ocean ecosystems and organisms from being an intern at the New England Aquarium, but my knowledge is pretty limited to New England, since I live in Boston. I can’t wait to experience a whole new part of the world and everything new that lives there! My taxon is crustacea for that part of the trip, so I will probably be digging through sand and looking under rocks to see if I can find anything cool, I especially love tidepools, looking into a tidepool is like staring into a portal to an entirely different world!

I will admit I’m a little bit nervous to travel internationally. I haven’t been anywhere but Boston and Houston since COVID started, and before that I hardly ever went outside the U.S., and if we did it was probably driving through parts of Canada. I’m not too worried though because even if I’m nervous I think there will be plenty going on to distract and interest me. I can’t wait to meet everyone else on this trip and get to know them better, and to learn from our professors and guest speakers and from everyone’s presentations! Also shout-out to my high school teachers who really pushed my love of the ocean and ecology! I hope you’ll follow along with us on this adventure!

2022

Almost time to depart! (Day 0)

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It’s thrilling to think that in just 1 week, I will be on the shores of Glover Reef learning about the delicate coral reef ecosystem.  All summer, I have been reading up on and studying  Belizean reptiles, echinoderms, flora, illnesses, and traditional medicines, and I hope to put this knowledge to good use.  When I was younger, I visited many tropical countries like Costa Rica, Belize, Bonaire, Honduras, and Peru, yet I’ve never gone on a research-based trip. Therefore, I’m excited to revisit Belize and develop a newfound appreciation for the Mayan forest’s biodiversity.

Admittedly, I am a little nervous about lionfish, venomous snakes, mosquitos, and ants. Belize has 8 different types of venomous snakes, and although they all have antivenoms, I still don’t want to get bitten by accident. Also, tropical mosquitos like the Aedes aegypti carry tons of illnesses that I would hate to host. However, I’m sure that we can avoid any dangerous interactions with proper equipment and vigilance! I think the only non-environmental concern I have is being able to identify my taxa. I’m so worried that something may pop up, and I’ll have no clue what it is. I can only hope my Taxon cards are enough!

My goals for the trip are as follows:

  1.  Find a Holcosus festivus aka the Central American Whiptail. Whiptail lizards are my favorite species and their colorful variants are only found in tropical areas
  2.  Find a West Indian Sea Egg (Tripneustes ventricosus) and name them “Fuzzy”
  3. Identify a few traditional medicine plants, and maybe use one if it is safe. (For context, medicine is a niche interest of mine)
  4. Learn about the tropical bats in Belize and how they differ from “old-world bats”
  5. Gain research experience and better understand  how research is conducted:  the environment, tasks, etc.
  6. Better understand the Ecology and Bioscience fields (my major!!!) as a whole

I’m most excited to see the wide variety of fauna and walk through the rainforest. The ocean is great and all, but as a Floridian and an experienced diver, I have already visited very diverse reefs. So, I am way more excited to be immersed in an unfamiliar ecosystem like the jungle. Also, the professors keep mentioning cave systems and Las Cuevas, and caves mean my favorite animals, BATS!!! Lastly, I’m hoping to get some great photos to paint when I get back in July.

Even though it’s a week away, I’ve been studying, planning, preparing, and packing , so my suitcase is already stacked for adventure!

Wish me luck, because the next time you will hear from me I’ll be in the tropics! Till then!!!

I’ve had this suitcase packed for weeks now, slowly adding to the collection as gear came in the mail!!!

-Faith

 

2019

I can’t Belize we leave tomorrow- (Pre-Departure)

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It feels like yesterday that I was sitting in on the information session covering what prospective students could expect from EBIO 319. I remember thinking, “This seems like a really interesting class, but there is no way I am going to end up going” – little did I know. We leave for Belize early tomorrow morning and it doesn’t feel real!

The reality of the trip will likely set in when we all arrive at Valhalla and set off to the airport. At that point, there will be no going back, which is slightly unnerving but incredibly exciting. I have never been to Belize, or anywhere in Central America in fact, except for a brief stop in Mexico, so I am excited to get to travel somewhere new while at the same time learning and experiencing all that I can. I hope to learn as much as I can about what conducting field research is all about as well the fauna of Belize.

I can’t wait to discover all that both Las Cuevas and Glover’s Reef have to offer, and I can’t wait to get to point out species from my chosen taxon! What I am most uneasy about is the fact that I’ve never lived in research stations for two weeks in a foreign country; however, I feel that through our readings and by gaining a deeper understanding of Belize, both about its history and its fauna, everything will turn out great.

I think that I am most excited for the Reef aspect of our trip, as ocean life is something I am particularly interested in and I have always loved the ocean. I can’t wait to get into the water! Overall, I am incredibly excited about our trip and all the adventures that lie ahead. In less than 24 hours I’ll be in Belize and I can’t believe it!

 

 

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In 24 hours we’ll be in Belize!

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My snorkel gear has been bought, the rain boots packed, and now I have a blog… it looks like I’m ready to go. Tuesday, May 14th, I’m going to be heading out to study ecology in the rainforests and coral reefs of Belize. More specifically, our group will be spending the first week at Las Cuevas research station in the Chiquibul Forest before moving to Glover’s Reef Atoll for the second week. This is an experience which I hope will help me decide whether I’d enjoy field research in ecology after graduation.

My two previous experiences in the tropics consist of a family cruise I went on in high school in which we were whisked between touristy beaches and all you can eat buffets, and a mission trip I went on to urbanized Honduras in which I spent the week knocking cockroaches off my suitcase and desperately trying to avoid ingesting tap water while in the shower. Neither of these experiences lend me much relevant knowledge for our research, however, the former did provide me with at least a background in using a snorkel and fins.

In preparation for this trip I have read A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest by Samuel Bridgewater, a book that gives a broad overview of the history, geology, and biology of the area of rainforest we are studying. If nothing else, the book has provided me with enough fun facts about exotic plants and animals to last a lifetime. I also have read up a bit about types of corals and the threats they face due to storms and human activity. I am going to be focusing on amphibians in the rainforest and crustaceans when we go to the reef, and so have prepared cards to help me identify them. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are a seemingly endless variety of frogs and toads that I could see, well 22, but that’s still a whole lot of frogs. Do a rain dance for me so they all come out, because I would love to see a Mexican Burrowing Toad.

A couple weeks ago we practiced our snorkeling skills in the Rec center pool (I’m sure much to the delight of those who wanted to take a swim) and went to the Houston Zoo as a group to get a visual for the kinds of snakes to expect, especially the ones that are venomous. Not usually one to feel uneasy in the woods, the idea of a lancehead bite has certainly given me much to think about since then.

In addition to not wanting to be medevaced out of Belize, another source of uneasiness in my preparations is about the rigor of the schedule. Though I am one to appreciate nature and am excited for this adventure, I’ve been informed us that the days tend to be quite full and so I’m a little worried about not getting enough sleep. But, at the same time, it’s only 2 weeks, so even if it is exhausting I can tell myself that every morning when I am forced to rise before my prefered noon wakeup.

I am so very excited to get to go to Belize (and miraculously get credit hours while doing it!). Of the hundreds of things I am excited for, I am actually most excited to hear the noises of the Chiquibul at night, because at least according to what I’ve read, this is when you can hear the monkeys, frogs, and insects off in the distance, a chorus foreign to me, as I have only slept outside in east coast deciduous forests populated by few species of animal and many loud hikers.

 

2019, Uncategorized

Pre-departure blog

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Super excited for Belize, which will be in less than 24 hours!! I am expecting to meet new people, ready to learn more about the diversity of the rainforest, and to experience firsthand fieldwork. I am ready for this humidity to hit me since I am from Memphis, TN, and Memphis weather is crazy. It is very unpredictable but never really humid. So you can say I have prepared by drinking LOTS of water. Overall, I hope to gain an insight on what the fieldwork life is like and to see if it is something I would be interested in continuing forward.

Not having been to Belize makes this more exciting, and as I am packing right now, all I can think of is whether or not I have everything. I just finished my shopping today and let’s just say it was a journey. Oh and I promise I did not push this aside.  I am excited to see hundreds of species of life, and experience something that I have yet to do.  The readings did provide LOTS of descriptions, but I am ready to firsthand see these beautiful species. More of a visual learner I would say.

In preparation for this course, I have learned about identification of species from looking at images from multiple sources, and I can say that there are thousands of species and variations among both epiphytic plants and segmented worms. I looked at many pictures of epiphytes and annelids and let’s just say that both are extremely diverse, extreme as in like the phylogenetic trees are just crazy!

On a final note, I hope my blogs will become more interesting, but for now, time to meet up with the gang and head to Belize. Hope to see you for day 1!

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Pre-Departure: Belize here I come!

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This morning I got the notification that our flight to Belize is less than 5 days away. I have never been to Belize, and in fact, I have never really been out of the country on a trip like this before,  so I am definitely excited. Ah! My first trip to the tropics!

Sitting on my couch watching Blue Planet episodes of the tropics in HD has given me some pretty high standards for the beauty of these places, so I have high hopes for what I might encounter. Also, I totally plan to channel my inner David Attenborough for this trip. However, I am still a little nervous about how it’s going to go.

I am the taxon expert for arachnids and green/red algae. My family thought it would be funny to make me watch the 1990 movie Arachnophobia in preparation for my trip. Let’s just say that I found it…. a little… less funny. I have never really been scared of spiders before, but last night, I had a dream I was attacked by a giant spider,  so it is safe to say I am a bit wary.

I have done my best these past few months to ensure that I am prepared for this trip. Aside from the packing and organizing of all the snorkel/rainforest gear, I prepared myself through the taxonomic research, the readings, and the creation of the presentations. I am hoping that I can identify both arachnids and algae in the field.  My biggest worry for the trip is that either Dr. Solomon or Dr. Shore is going to ask me about a certain organism and I am going to stare blankly back at them like a deer in headlights. I have my fingers crossed that this won’t be the case! Not to mention, I have had to mentally prepare myself for the humidity we are going to endure. For this trip, I am most excited about experiencing fieldwork for the first time. I have always been limited in learning about the natural world from books, videos, or short field trips, so 14 days in the tropics is something I am looking forward to. It feels like it has been centuries since I first started dreaming about doing fieldwork. Overall, I hope this trip will give me some insight into what a career involving fieldwork might be like, and if this could be a career path for me. I think it will be, but you never know until you try it.

On a final note, I grew up on the Texas coast my whole life which makes me accustomed to one thing: murky ocean water (Thank you Mississippi river sediment!) So,  I cannot wait to put my feet into the ocean and be able to see my toes clearly!

 

Wish me luck!

-Bella