Program dates: 01/05/2015 – 04/10/2015
A group of 25 students studied the interplay of isolation, colonization, and extinction on the islands. Cultural ecology, colonization by Polynesians, and secondary colonization by Europeans, as well as biogeography, evolution, and physiological ecology is the focus of this program.
Recent posts [display all posts]
Kauri Tree - The 2015 program launched today with students arriving and seeing our first massive Kauri tree. We’re in Warksworth and tomorrow head north to the Bay of Islands.
Post #4: Wildlife Focus and Project Time - Our second field trip went by so fast. On this field trip we made our way down to the south island, stopping at places like Picton, and Lake Rotoiti in Nelson Lakes National Park. While in Picton, we focused on agriculture and conservation efforts. We visited fish, oyster, mussel, and paua (abalone) farms, and a […]
Post #3: Windy Wellington Wonders - During late January through the first half of February my classmates and I spent about a month in Wellington, a wonderful little city filled with many fun activities. Every single student in our group got a single as a room in a residence hall named Te Puni Village located at the top of a hill. […]
Rotoiti Field Research - The gifts of Aotearoa ask very little from the passive observer; the ones who gaze with a complete loss of words through no fault of their own but from the simple fact that there exists no language, no combination of words, nor any string of adjectives that can truly capture the beauty of the land. […]
Veggie-Mites unite to take on Rotoiti - The year is 2015. The setting: Lake Rotoiti, New Zealand. A group of 4 intrepid explorers are tasked with an important… task. Doing science. And if they weren’t sure what kind of science they wanted to do yet, they at least knew that they wanted their study to involve plants. And bugs, too. And so […]Rotoiti Science Challenge! Team Worm and Fuzzy - For our Science Challenge the Worm and Fuzzy Team (Kamylli, Lisa and Jake) decided to explore worm densities, a topic not yet fully explored in New Zealand. Worms were a point of interest for us because they improve soil properties and help increase plant production. We were interested in seeing if worm density could be correlated […]
GROUP LOVES MAMMALS - Have you ever tried to differentiate between a bell bird call and a Tui call? It is difficult. This was the challenge of our science challenge. We did not discover this until 24 hours into our time at Rotoiti where we conducted our study. Despite these obstacles, we did our best to answer our research […]
Lakeside Science - (pictures coming!) Lake Rotoiti is located in the north west of the South Island, New Zealand. Much of the land surrounding the lake is covered by the Department of Conservation’s (DoC) restoration efforts. In NZ, restoration primarily means pest control because the country has been overrun by four legged, furry, mammalian pests. The invasion began […]
Lake Rotoiti: Lichenophilia - I vaguely remember our group being told a story about the creation of the South Island while we were all back in Portland, excitedly anticipating what this place would be like. The story explained how the South Island was given beautiful beaches, tall mountains, and plentiful sea life. However, this place could not be perfect, […]
Post #2: Describing the first fieldtrip! - Whānau (pronounced ‘Fano’ and means Family in Maori), friends, and others, I made it to New Zealand! During our first field trip (a total of 13 days), our team (25 students + additional staff + kiddos) bonded tremendously while exploring the wonders of the North Island. We visited Warkworth, Paihia, Waitomo, Taupo, and Ohakune. In […]