Arizona
You never know where a class lecture might lead. For Professor Tim Whittier’s biology students, an impromptu discussion on the Grand Canyon inspired a week-long adventure. Whittier, who taught in Arizona for 10 years, included other locations rich in history and biology. A visit to the Sonoran Desert Museum offered hands-on exhibits and viewing opportunities of plants and animals. Just 15 miles from the Mexican border, students spent three days hiking, exploring Brown Canyon in the Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge. The area is so remote, native jaguars, Coati, ringtails, Gila monsters, and other animals rarely heard of in the U.S., still roam freely. Home to more than 14 hummingbird species (Kentucky has one), students hung feeders during the day to observe. At night, they watched nearby as nectar feeding bats came to the feeders.
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Gulf Coast
UPIKE students worked their way through Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, the panhandle of Florida and Georgia on an intensive 14-day journey to study ornithology and observe wildlife and ecosystems along the Gulf Coast. Taught by Professors Darla French and Mathys Meyer, the fieldbased class focused on bird biology, behavior and identification. With the coastline as their classroom, students put the observation techniques they had learned in class into practice. Several days of camping were built into the trip, along with an introduction to Louisiana’s Cajun culture while birding for two days at Lake Ponchetrain. The last night of camping, students hosted an evening of skits around the campfire that incorporated experiences throughout the semester.
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Costa Rica What better way to spend part of summer break than in Costa Rica, living “La Pura Vida?” The once-in-a-lifetime adventure had students hiking through the rain forest, zip lining near an active volcano, relaxing in thermal pools and touring coffee and pineapple plantations.
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Led by Professors John Howie and Chandra Massner, the study abroad trip featured classes in intercultural communication and a special topic in psychology, “Ecotherapy with Nature in Mind.” Students volunteered at a women’s recycling cooperative and studied plant nutrition and water conservation with local university professors. While visiting paradise they saw monkeys, snakes, iguanas, crocodiles … and a sloth. FALL 2017 | UPIKE MAGAZINE
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