Ian Matthews

Overseas program(s): New Zealand Spring 2015
Overseas project(s):
Expected graduation: May 2015
About me:

Maungatautari - Welcome to Jurassic Park. Our bus screeched to a halt at the base of a looming mountain entrenched in green trees, and encircled by a foreboding fence. We hadn’t been given much information during our long saga towards the center of the North Island, but as we hastily applied sunscreen the guides filled us in. […]

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 […]

Under the Milky Way Tonight

On April 3, 2018 we stayed at the Takarakka bush resort in Carnarvon Gorge. One of the many highlights of Carnarvon George is the sky. Specifically, the entire Milky Way. Which, as our tutor brought up, used to be a sight that everyone could see. It is because of our cities light pollution that […]