Katarina Grohs

Overseas program(s): China: Jinan Fall 2015
Overseas project(s): team 3695
Expected graduation: May 2017
About me: I am a junior in college studying International Affairs and Chinese. My hobbies include traveling, reading, playing the piano, and listening to rock. I am spending this year in China and will be studying at Shandong Normal University in Jinan as well as the Beijing Institute of Education.

Climbing The Great Wall: A Childhood Dream Come True - During this past week, our group travelled to Beijing. It was an amazing trip, as we got to see some of the major historical, cultural, and political sites. We saw Tiananmen Square, the National Museum, Peking University, the Summer Palace, and other famous attractions. Perhaps one of the most memorable visits was our trip to […]

November in China - This past month has been CRAZY. So much going on as we end enter the final stage of our program. In these past few weeks, we have travelled to Qufu, done a home stay, taught in an elementary school, and begun to wrap up our research projects. Perhaps one of my favorite events of this […]

The Moon Festival and Chinese National Holiday! - These past couple of weeks have been packed with adventure and new cultural experiences. One of the most important festivals in China is the Moon Festival, or Mid-Autumn Festival, which occurs on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. This year it was on September 27th. It is at this time that the moon […]

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 […]