Field work experiences
My research has enabled me to conduct field work in the Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cameroon and Gabon. On this page, you will find a short description of each experience along with some photos.
Cameroon, Summer 2014I recently spent two months in the Cameroonian Highlands collecting dung beetles for my thesis research. It was a wonderful experience climbing mountains, riding motorcycles, and seeing animals in nature. I had a great team of supporters with me, without whom the trip could not have been as successful as it was. Here are some photos from my field travels.
Gabon, Summer 2013This past summer, I worked with a team of 12 people in Gabon, West Central Africa, on a project that aims to map adaptive evolutionary potential in the face of climate change. We collected Stella wood mice, golden-puddle frogs, and duiker feces samples from Ossele village and the buffer zones of the following national parks: Mount Birougou, Lope, Minkebe, Moukalaba Doudou, and Monts de Cristal.
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Cameroon, Summer 2016This past summer, I spent two months in Cameroon again collecting dung beetles for my thesis research. I sampled dung beetles in and near Dja Wildlife Reserve and Lobeke National Park. As soon as we arrived at our camping site in Dja, the bees and other insects arrived too by the hundreds! Every morning, the bees would arrive at 5:37 a.m. and leave around 6:30 p.m. Everyone on the team got stung by the bees multiple times! It is unsurprising that we spent most of our time at camp hiding in our tents.
En route to Lobeke National Park, I got very sick with malaria and the local student who was working with me got typhoid fever -- enough said! The rest of the trip was a struggle... PICTURES COMING SOON... Thailand, July 2011In July, 2011, I went to Thailand as part of my participation in a "Buddhism and Biodiversity Conservation in Southeast Asia" project. My role was to assist in interviewing forest monks and villagers on their perspectives on biodiversity. Although I did not speak a word of Thai, my colleague and his girlfriend, translated for me. I wish I spoke some Thai so that I could have interacted more with the locals. It was an amazing opportunity to travel around Thailand, visiting different forest temples, and experiencing the Thai Buddhist culture. I was able to make some comparisons between Thai Buddhist culture and Sri Lankan Buddhist culture.
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