Program dates: 01/13/2018 – 04/19/2018
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Students participating in this program will learn about Australian culture, history, and indigenous Australian studies. This program also focuses on biogeography and venom biology.
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Diving Deeper into Coral Reef Ecology at Lady Elliot Island - Another day in paradise. Today marked our third day on Lady Elliot Island, and it’s easy to see that we’re all getting used to this. Waking up early isn’t a challenge with the bright sun and the cacophony of seabirds, but for once no one is upset, as our first activity is a quick snorkel […]Journey to the top of Queensland – 5/4/18 - Today marked our last day at Carnarvon, with our next stop to be the Great Barrier Reef. Although we’ve stayed at Carnarvon Gorge longer than expected due to the cyclone off the eastern coast, it allowed us to explore even more of the beautiful park. We were woken again by the sounds of Laughing Kookaburras, […]
Great Times at Great Kepple - April 7, 2018 Our first full day on Great Kepple Island! We spent the morning in lecture learning about coral, coral reefs (there’s a difference!), conservation and the general weather trends that can dictate the biogeography of the ocean. While some had come into this program with invertebrate knowledge from classes at Lewis and Clark, […]
Planes, trains, automobiles and the amazing reef! - On April 10th I woke up to the sound of the train wheels clacking. It was 5:30 in the morning. I was so tired but also so thrilled to be traveling to a new destination. Soon after we woke from the comfy and unique accommodation of the train, we all gathered our belongings and hopped […]Scrum! Scrum! Scrum! - Go Reds! This Friday we attended a Queensland Reds vs Australian Capital Territory Brumbies rugby union game. Before attending, we had a “crash course rugby” lecture by local rugby fan Ken (Nat’s partner). I’ve included the highlights from the lecture for your future rugby needs. Basics of the game There are 15 players on the […]
Sailing to Straddie - February 24: Sailing to Straddie Today we left our cozy apartments in Brisbane and headed east for North Stradbroke Island. The island, which is a large tourist destination for many Australians, is a sand island across Moreton bay. To reach it, we took a short ferry ride and hopped off on the island, but it […]
Rescued Devils and an Introduction to Muwinina Country – 2/9/18 - As I begin this post, I’d like to acknowledge the Tasmanian Aboriginal Community and the people of the Hobart area, Muwinina country. As we spend time in this area, we bring with us respect and acknowledgment of the true people of this land. Today we made our way to Hobart, leaving behind the platypus […]
A Day in the Rainforest: Lamington Plateau - Waking up in Lamington Plateau means waking up to brilliant sunshine and the chorus of hundreds of birds singing in the trees above your head. The air smells like the rich soils still wet from the overnight storm, and you can hear the sweet sound of bacon sizzling in the kitchen tent. As half the […]
A Walk Through the Mangroves - For our second day at North Stradbroke Island, we had a lecture where we learned about the flora of the island. For example, the mangrove forests and the 18 mile swamp. We then visited the mangrove forests after morning tea. At the mangrove forests we walked down a small creek and noticed how the species […]
2/16/18 – Lamington Plateau Day 4 - Our final day at Lamington Plateau began with a morning full of field activities and invertebrate study. We learned how to gather arachnids such as the funnel web spider by digging into the ground with a trowel and removing the spider from its burrow. We learned how to sift leaf litter and soil to look […]