Tag Archives: Pre-departure

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Pre Departure Blog

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Hello! My name is Claire C, and I am a rising sophomore at Sid Richardson College. My major is biosciences with a major concentration in integrative biology, so naturally, I LOVE ecology and the outdoors.

I am so excited for this trip and cannot wait for all that I will learn in Belize! I am looking forward to learning about and seeing all sorts of plants and animals. While I have always loved the ocean more than anything in the world, I am most excited for the rainforest part of the trip. I have experience snorkeling and being around reefs, but I have never been to a tropical rainforest before.

I hope to learn a ton about how rainforest ecosystems and field research works. I expect to see some of the coolest ecosystems and organisms I have ever seen in my life. Being as isolated from other people as we are should let us see some fascinating animal interactions both within the rainforest and in the ocean. While seeing any animal is cool, I most want to see rays in the ocean. Whether they are spotted eagle rays, manta rays, or stingrays, I love seeing them swim through reefs.

I finished packing all of my gear last night, and I traveled to Houston today, so I am finally ready to go to Belize! My duffle is quite heavy, but that just means I have fun gear inside!

On this trip, I hope to learn how to keep myself safe and comfortable while doing field work. I also hope to learn some field research techniques that cannot be taught from a classroom.

That all being said, I am slightly nervous for how isolated we are going to be. I know we will do everything to keep ourselves safe, but being in a new and extremely disconnected ecosystem from people is still scary despite how fascinating and fun it will be.

I have been lucky enough to have been on in other international marine ecology field research class through my high school. The class took place in Baja California Sur which is a desert on land and is is home to the “Aquarium of the World” beneath the water. Through that class,  I learned how to do an underwater transect and fish census along with other techniques. While this class was definitely not exhaustive, it did give me some experience doing labs in the ocean that I can build off of in Belize.

I am so excited to wake up bright and early tomorrow to go to Belize!

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Off we go!

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Hey hey hey! My name is Sam Forman, and I’m a  rising Junior at Jones College! Some facts about me: I’m from Tampa, FL, I like to swim (good thing we’re spending a week at Glover’s!) and I am an Environmental Science major with a minor in Business!

In November, I heard about this class, applied, and made my friends apply too. In January, we were accepted. In February, we met to assign taxa and topics and introduce the course. In April, we met to look at snakes and check that our equipment worked. And now, in May, we depart for Belize tomorrow!

My expectations for this course, in truth, are limited. I expect to have fun, and beyond that I barely know what to expect. I have experience in the tropics, as I took a vacation to the Galapagos in 7th grade, but I am also fully aware that this will be about 1-5% like that trip. I also have visited the Florida Keys as part of a 6th grade school trip and done some snorkeling and marine biology exploration there, but nothing to the level of what we are going to do in this class. I know I will see things I’ve never seen before and do things I’ve never done before, and I’m excited about that. That’s pretty much all I’m expecting. I’m expecting to be wowed, the mechanism by which this will occur I cannot foresee.

A lot of this course consists of things I have generally heard about. I have heard about tropical rainforests and studied them in class, and I have extensive experience snorkeling around coral reefs. I’m excited to marry the two. The course has us learning in depth about the ecosystem through lectures and primarily through experience. I have not experienced experiential learning to this degree, so I’m quite excited about that. Accomplishments-wise, I see great potential for this course beyond tropical field biology-related educational growth. I am going to live in a rainforest with no AC and many other things I operate daily with. There will not be a Target 10 minutes away if I need anything. These two weeks will be an accomplishment in the sense that I will have lived without these things I “need.” That’s an accomplishment in and of itself. Tropical Field Biology-related foreseen accomplishments include extensive fieldwork, among others. The most fieldwork I’ve done has been in BIOS 213. Time wise, BIOS 213 Labs were probably 5-10% of the time we will spend in the field in Belize. And it will be condensed much more. I’m excited to run field experiments, (as the ant-man I have to look forward to the pee one, right?)

Pee-gets us into the “what I’m nervous about” section of the post… I’m nervous about accomplishing what I described above. It seems like it will probably be fairly difficult. The bathrooms, among other things, will likely not be similar to what I’m used to. I’m also nervous about my 3 presentations, on Ants, Wrasses, and a longer lecture on Wrasses, but that is likely the same as any pre-presentation nerves. I feel well prepared, as all of the prep work for this class has indeed felt like a full time job this past week. Between actual coursework (Taxon ID Cards, slideshows, reading) and the many shopping/ pharmacy trips, the course preparation was quite intense. Even just packing was intense, as I tried my best to finagle everything into the waterproof luggage & water-resistant backpack I have while leaving room for the helmet and sleeping bag. And, in general, I’m just jittery. So, after cautiously but hurriedly packing my bags and setting things out for myself for tomorrow (pictured below,) I’m gonna go to bed and…

…see you tomorrow for the DAY ONE RECAP!!!

<3 Sam

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Pre-Departure Prepping: Fulfilling my Planet Earth Aspirations

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Hey y’all, my name is Sadhana! I’m a rising junior from Lovett College studying Bioengineering. Our trip to Belize is literally one day away (eek!) and I’m so so excited. We had an information meeting around the end of the spring semester, and since then I’ve been getting my snorkeling gear in check, and am about to start packing. Which… considering the state of my room, may take a while. Not to fret, a whole 24 hours await 🫡

Alongside gear, we’ve had a ton of pre-work to get ourselves familiarized with flora and fauna around Belize’s Las Cuevas Research Station and Glover’s Reef (representing portions of the rainforest and coral reefs respectively). I’ll be the first to say–I massively underestimated the time it’s taken me to get through it. But it’s been so, so worthwhile. In the rainforest, I’ll be scavenging for fungi and lichen, and in the reefs, I’ll be grazing for parrotfish (puns intended if you find them). 

Learning about the taxonomy and sheer variety of species has been insane. I am absolutely in love with fungi and I could barely fit all the species I wanted into my taxon ID sheet. As a tropical habitat, Belize has so many niches that the fungi occupy. And don’t even get me started on the cool cellular adaptations lichen have, merging algae and fungi into one superbody. On the other hand, I didn’t know much about parrotfish before starting on my reef taxonomy presentation. I’ve come to internalize how important parrotfish are as a keystone species, not to mention their interesting jaws. They serve the purpose of maintaining reefs, but they’re also so flamboyant, I love it. 

I think it would be amazing to find any of the species I have on my ID sheet, but I’m even more excited to find ones I haven’t seen yet. However, I have absolutely no experience doing fieldwork, so figuring out what to look for, what to remember, and how to maintain field notes will all be challenging, and I’m a bit nervous about that. But I did live in the tropics of India, so I’m used to similar climates. This is my idea of all the David Attenborough Planet Earth documentaries I’ve grown up watching, so I can’t wait to put in the work, no matter how intense it might get. We’ve got a lot planned, and I just know it’ll be a trip to remember.

p.s. The state of my packing at 11 pm the night before we leave (this was the better part…)
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Pre-departure: Caecilians, Coffee, and Packing Chaos

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Hi everyone! My name is Elise Trenk. I’m an environmental science and economics double-major, and I’m a rising sophomore at Brown. We are now two days out from departing Houston for Belize and I am incredibly excited! So far, I’ve been focused on researching my taxon groups, amphibians (rainforest) and angelfish (reef), and preparing my topic presentation on tropical parasites, diseases, and medicinal plants. I’ve greatly enjoyed the process of researching in these areas thus far and have learned (what I would consider) some pretty interesting facts. Here are a few:

1) There is an amphibian called a caecilian that gets around by feeling with a tentacle region on its head. Its appearance is in between a snake and a worm and it lives in the moist forest undergrowth. I am desperate to find one and I will promise you now that if I do, I will write the longest blog entry you have ever seen about how cool it is.

2) Some of the angelfish species that we may see in Belize (like the gray angelfish) can be up to 2 feet long (60 cm)!

3) Certain species in the plant family Rubiaceae (which encompasses many medicinal plants) can produce products such as quinine and coffee.

I fear I may have made one mistake as a result of spending too much time learning about caecilians and other cool species: I have not focused on packing nearly as much as I should have. The scattered clothes and gear across the floor of my room serve as a testament. Tonight will be a long night, I’m sure…but spending the time learning about caecilians will be worth it (I hope). I leave for Houston tomorrow afternoon and will stay the night before meeting with the group on Friday morning.

Overall, I am most excited to encounter some amazing species while hiking in the rainforest and snorkeling on the reef.  I am a bit nervous about the snakes, but I’m sure that we will be fine as long as we stay alert and [leaf] them be : ) I have experience camping through Scouts, but this will be my first time doing field work (outside of the BIOS 213 Intro Lab to Ecology and Evolutionary Biology), snorkeling, and visiting the tropics,. I’m looking forward to learning as I go. I expect that I will return to Houston not only with a better understanding of the complex species relationships that I have only read about in textbooks previously, but with some incredible stories to tell. I hope to learn as much as I can while I’m there and enjoy this adventure of a lifetime!

[Updated May 15th]

Packed Bags

Pre-departure coffee run

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Pre-departure excitement!

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Hi everyone! My name is Adam and this is the first of many blog posts recording and reflecting on my experiences during this amazing field camp in Belize. I’m sure you’ll get to know me very well over the next couple of weeks.

This whole trip is so exciting and I’m looking forward to spending time in Belize studying and appreciating the beauty of both the rainforest and the reef. I’m an Environmental Science major, and this is an amazing opportunity to immerse myself in and learn about a rich and beautiful ecosystem. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve spent time doing research and preparations, learning as much as I can about the ecosystems we’ll be experiencing and getting all the gear I’ll need for hiking in the rainforest and snorkeling off the reef. I was paying particular attention to trees and cryptobenthic fish, which I’ll be the expert on in when we’re in Belize. I learned a lot about the different species we should see in Belize and I’m excited to identify some of the ones that came up in my reading. I also did some research on the biogeographic history of the region, and how different species came to be distributed as they are in the region. I’m can’t wait to share what I’ve learned and hear about what my classmates have been learning about.

I’m excited for how immersive this trip should be. Since we’ll be in remote scientific research stations, our entire days will be jam-packed with scientific field work. Last summer, I did a field camp study abroad program which took me to Greenland and taught me some of the basics of ecosystem monitoring, and I imagine that (although the ecosystems will be radically different) some of the skills I learned will carry over. I’m a bit nervous about the physical requirements of the trip—hiking, swimming, and generally being outside in hot, humid tropical conditions all day might be taxing. I think I’ll be able to manage; I just want to be very conscientious that I’m hydrating and getting enough rest.

Overall, I’m super excited to get this opportunity and I can’t wait to embark on this adventure—I hope you’ll follow along!

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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!