My name is Ava and I can’t wait for our trip to Belize!

I expect that I will see tons of interactions/animals/and things that I have learned about in my courses at Rice but never seen firsthand. After taking coral reef ecosystems this past semester, I am excited to witness some of the species we have discussed as well as many of the reef interactions we learned about (like maybe some reef diseases!). Likewise, I am excited to see lots of weird and interesting insects, maybe some of which I learned about in insect biology!

Mainly though this course, I am hoping to gain fieldwork skills in tricky environments. Most of my previous research has been in a lab, so I am very excited to spend lots of time in the field and start learning about the unique challenges fieldwork presents. I have never been to the tropics, so I am also excited to explore this habitat type for the first time!

I am sure the trip will be pretty exhausting, so I’ve been trying to rest up in preparation. That being said, I can’t wait to see and experience everything that Belize has to offer.